Chapter 1

Marcus wanted to go to headquarters for advanced training and asked me to temporarily take over his work.

When I refused, he started making things difficult for me.

For five straight months, I worked overtime without a single day off. It drained all my energy and even ruined my relationship.

I finally snapped and texted my best friend during a meeting:

"I honestly don't know how he can pretend so well."

The moment I realized I'd accidentally sent it to the wrong person, I looked up at his increasingly dark expression. My mind short-circuited, and before I could stop myself, I added another message:

"But somehow, you still can't pretend to keep me in your heart."

I woke up in the infirmary.

The smell of disinfectant mixed with Marcus's crisp sandalwood scent, flooding my nostrils together.

I snapped my eyes open to meet his unfathomably deep gaze.

He was sitting by the bed, his suit jacket perfectly pressed, though the look behind his glasses carried a hint of scrutiny.

"Awake?" His voice was low, emotionless.

Those two death-wish messages from the meeting room instantly came flooding back.

I remembered how he'd stared at me in shock, while the surrounding colleagues all turned to gawk at me with their gossip-hungry faces.

In my panic, I'd shot up suddenly, which triggered my low blood sugar. My vision went black and I fainted.

I jolted upright, my brain racing.

"Mr. Marcus, I... that was..." That was because I got my head caught in a door, got my brain zapped by lightning!

"Your true feelings?" He cut me off, his tone flat but sending a chill down my spine.

True feelings? Truly calling him pretentious, or truly wanting him to pretend his way into my heart?

Either one was a death sentence.

Could I really tell him the truth---that my stupid mouth was just used to trading cheesy lines with my best friend?

I opened my mouth but couldn't squeeze out a single word. Finally, I just buried my head in my knees and played dead.

"Susanna." He called my name. The volume wasn't loud, but the pressure was overwhelming. "Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

I jerked my head up and forced out a smile uglier than crying:

"Mr. Marcus, I just admire you so much that I got overexcited and started talking nonsense. Please don't take it seriously!"

He said nothing, just looked at me quietly.

That gaze seemed to pierce through my skull and see every thought in my head.

Just as I was about to faint again from his staring, he finally spoke.

"Rest well."

With that, he stood up, straightened his already wrinkle-free cuffs, and left the infirmary.

I let out a long breath and collapsed back onto the bed.

I survived.

I thought this incident would blow over like a passing breeze.

But I underestimated the speed and power of workplace gossip.

The next day, when I walked into the office with dark circles under my eyes, I was greeted by knowing looks from all directions.

"Susanna, wow! You've been hiding your talents!"

"Right? You always seem so quiet, but you're brave enough to go after King Marcus!"

"Tell us, what happened? Did he accept?"

My colleagues surrounded my desk, every face screaming "Spill the tea!"

I was speechless, could only laugh awkwardly: "It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding."

No one believed me.

My best friend Lily sent me a message:

"You're famous. I heard you confessed to Marcus in front of everyone and he didn't reject you?"

I was near tears: "I sent the message to the wrong person! I meant to send it to you."

Lily: "Then how do you explain the second message? Can't pretend to keep you in his heart? Susanna, did overtime scramble your brain?"

Me: "...My fingers moved faster than my brain!"

No one believed me, including myself.

What was more terrifying was Marcus's attitude.

He never asked me to work overtime again.

Not even once.

In fact, one time near the end of work hours, he deliberately walked over to my desk and tapped on it.

"If there's nothing urgent, leave on time."

Everyone in the office instantly gave me looks that screamed "shipping it."

I froze in place, watching him walk away.

This was unbearable.

For a whole week, I enjoyed the divine treatment of nine-to-five hours with full weekends off.

The price? I became the focus of the entire company.

Everyone looked at me like they were looking at the future boss's wife.

Even the tea room lady, when making my coffee, would add an extra spoonful of sugar and say with a smile:

"Susanna dear, get some extra sugar. Dating takes brain power."

I was going crazy.

That night, I tossed and turned in bed, my mind full of Marcus's expressionless face and my colleagues' knowing smiles.

I couldn't just sit here and wait for death.

The grudge from five months of overtime had to be settled.

The resentment from my breakup had to be vented.

I sprang up from bed and opened a delivery app.