Chapter 3

In an instant, only the three of us remained within a ten-meter radius.

When someone had mentioned her divorce earlier, Serena had lowered her head slightly, a touch of embarrassment on her face.

Now, as she looked at Julian again, her eyes were brimming with tears.

Her voice, laced with a hint of grievance, trembled slightly. "Julian, please don't misunderstand. I just wanted to come back and see how you were doing."

In such a dramatic scene, my presence felt incredibly awkward.

After all, no one ever considered the feelings of the stand-in.

I excused myself to the restroom, but in reality, I slipped out to the balcony to hide.

Then I went online to find a resignation letter template.

Preferably one that highlighted my dedication.

After finding one, I made some quick edits and sent it to Mrs. Sterling.

Her reply came swiftly: [Stay put for now.]

"Looks like the little assistant got dumped, huh?"

A lazy, teasing tone wrapped around a hint of mockery. Without even turning around, I knew it was Blake, the young master of the Blake family.

I turned sideways, directly facing his leaning-in face.

"There are plenty of beauties in the ballroom tonight, Blake. How can you bear to miss such a good opportunity and come bothering me?"

He leaned in a little closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"Isn't the most beautiful one right in front of me?"

I raised an eyebrow.

Blake's eyes twinkled with even greater amusement, his fingertip lightly tracing the rim of his glass.

"Want to consider switching jobs? I'm much easier to please than Julian Sterling."

Julian's voice cut in before I could reply.

"Chloe."

Not far away, he stood under the lights, clearly showing a hint of anger.

I suddenly felt a little guilty.

I wondered if his anger was because he knew I hadn't told him about Serena's return right away.

On the way home, he didn't say a word.

I remembered my mission.

My eyes misted over, and I said sweetly, "Julian, I didn't mean not to tell you about Ms. Vance's return."

"I just..." My voice was so choked with emotion it was almost a sob.

"I was just afraid you'd leave me once you knew Ms. Vance was back."

"I just wanted to stay by your side a little longer, even if it was just one more day, one more hour, one more minute."

After saying all that, I didn't dare breathe.

Julian remained silent, offering no response.

My mind raced.

My golden ticket was definitely gone.

How could I negotiate a larger severance package from Mrs. Sterling?

Once we got home, Julian hoisted me up and tossed me onto the bed.

He didn't say a single word throughout.

But his actions were rougher than usual.

I interpreted it as deliberate retaliation.

At the height of our passion, on a whim, I asked him, "Julian Sterling, do you know who I am?"

The words were barely out of my mouth when I regretted them.

He seemed to freeze for a moment but didn't answer.

Then he gripped my chin, kissing me back with a retaliatory intensity.

In that moment, I got my answer.

Just before I drifted off into an exhausted sleep, I thought I heard him whisper something in my ear.

The next day, he uncharacteristically didn't go to work.

First, he took me to get my waist-length hair curled.

Then he took me shopping for clothes at the mall.

As I stood in front of the changing room mirror, in a red dress with chestnut-colored loose waves.

It felt like a strange twist of fate had brought me back to how I looked three years ago, when Mrs. Sterling first found me.

Julian wrapped an arm around me, approvingly murmuring, "Beautiful."

The first love returned, and the copycat was sent back to her original form.