Chapter 2

Daisy's POV

Monday morning, I badged into the office right on time.

The snow had long since buried the spot where I burned nine years of memories.

I rubbed some analgesic ointment on my ankle and hid the swollen joint under wide-leg trousers.

Calmly, I worked through the backlog of emails.

Checking my watch, the hands pointed to 9:57 AM.

I gathered my folders, stood up, and walked toward the CEO's office to remind him of the upcoming meeting.

The office door was cracked open a sliver.

Just as I raised my hand to knock, my eyes caught what was happening inside.

Madison was sitting on Sean's lap, feeding him a piece of strawberry shortcake with a fork.

Sean always kept his shirt buttoned up to the very top.

His desk was usually so immaculate that even a stray strand of hair would bother him, yet right now, he was smiling, leaning down to take the bite.

After swallowing, he even leaned in to gently kiss the tip of Madison's finger.

"You said two days ago you craved that bakery's soufflé. I stood in line for four hours starting at five this morning. Does it taste right?"

Sean's voice was softer and gentler than I had ever heard it.

"Delicious. Tastes just like back in college,"

Madison mumbled around the pastry, leaning lazily against his chest.

"You're a CEO now, why bother doing that yourself? You could have just sent an intern."

Sean rubbed her calf, his eyes dripping with affection.

"If it's about you, I want to handle it myself. I don't trust anyone else with it."

Madison giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in for a kiss.

Sean cupped the back of her head, deepening it eagerly.

Standing outside, my stomach churned violently, a suffocating tightness squeezing my chest.

I dug my nails into my palms, using the sharp sting to force my breathing steady.

The clock struck ten.

I raised my hand and tapped firmly on the door.

"Mr. Vance, the video conference for the cross-border merger starts in three minutes."

Hearing the knock, Sean paused, about to pull back and stand up.

Madison instantly tugged on his tie, clinging tightly to his waist and refusing to get down.

"I'm not letting you go. You promised you'd spend the entire day with me in the office."

With a pout from her, all the sternness on Sean's face melted into helpless indulgence.

He looked up toward me at the door.

"Push the meeting back three hours."

I stayed rooted by the door.

"Mr. Vance, the VPs from the partnering firms are already in the conference room. The overseas team coordinated across time zones just for this—"

"Sean, does your interpreter have zero common sense?!"

Madison frowned, snapping irritably.

Sean's expression instantly turned pitch black.

"Did you not hear me? Push it back three hours."

"No work is more important than Madison."

Looking at the chilling face behind the desk, my throat felt clogged with cotton.

Without another word, I pulled the door shut and turned away.

Everyone in the industry knew Sean Vance was an absolute workaholic, the kind who would pull an all-nighter reviewing balance sheets with a 102-degree fever.

Leaving executives from several publicly traded partners waiting in a boardroom just for a woman's pout—this was truly a first.

I composed myself, pushed open the boardroom doors, and bowed respectfully to apologize to all the corporate heads present.

Unable to vent their fury directly at Sean, they unloaded all their frustration and scathing insults onto me, the interpreter.

I stood in front of the projection screen with my head down, enduring two and a half hours of relentless scolding in complete silence.

Only after the executives stormed out with dark faces did I drag my aching legs out of the boardroom.

Just as I reached the hallway, Madison intercepted me in her stilettos.

"You're Daisy, right? Sean says you're quite capable."

Madison crossed her arms, looking me up and down.

"Everyone looks tired from the meeting. Head to the breakroom and prep drinks for the entire floor. I want freshly squeezed orange juice. Extra ice, no sugar."

I gave her a flat look, said nothing, and turned toward the pantry.

I sliced fruit and operated the juicer, standing in the breakroom for the entire afternoon to churn out over a hundred cups.

Placing the cups on trays, I distributed them department by department, finally bringing the reserved cup over to Madison.

Madison took a tiny sip, and her face darkened instantly.

She grabbed the heavy glass and hurled it straight at my face.

The thick glass base struck my temple with a brutal thud.

Blood burst instantly from my split skin, trickling past my brow bone and down my cheek.

A muffled groan escaped my lips as I stumbled backward, hitting the edge of a desk.

Still unsatisfied, Madison picked up the remaining cups from the tray and dumped them directly over my head.

Glasses shattered on the floor, the icy, sticky citrus mixing with warm blood to soak my white blouse.

Flying shards sliced several stinging cuts across the backs of my hands and forearms.

Curling inward from the agony, I instinctively shielded my head.

The entire open-plan office fell dead silent. Dozens of employees sat at their cubicles, none daring to step in.

The CEO's office door was thrown open, and Sean strode out.

Seeing the shattered glass, spilled juice, and me curled on the floor covered in blood, his brow knotted into a tight frown.

"What's going on here?"

Madison immediately threw herself into Sean's arms, her eyes welling with tears as she whimpered.

"Sean, I just asked her for a glass of juice. She knew it was the first day of my period, but she deliberately packed it with ice! I took one sip and my stomach is cramping terribly!"

Sean took one look at Madison's teary eyes, and the air around him plummeted to freezing.

He glared coldly down at me on the floor.

"Five years at Vance Corp, and you can't even handle a simple task like this?"

"Or do you have a problem with Madison and are targeting her on purpose?"

I lifted my blood-smeared face, parting dry lips to explain.

Sean had already turned to the HR director standing nearby.

"Daisy violated company protocol by deliberately harassing an executive's family member. Suspend her pay for one month and revoke all quarterly bonuses."

"Issue a company-wide reprimand. She is to submit a three-thousand-word formal apology at next Monday's all-hands meeting."

With that, he stripped off his suit jacket, wrapped it tightly around Madison, scooped her up into his arms, and walked straight toward the private executive elevator without looking back.