Chapter 1
My boyfriend knew I was vying for a promotion, yet he turned off my alarm. Because of that, I was late and missed my chance. When I confronted him, he said it was because he cared about how late I had worked and wanted me to sleep a little longer. That night, while we were giving each other the cold shoulder, I saw a message from a female colleague on his phone:
“Darling, you did the right thing. A woman with too much ambition is unattractive. I just want to be your sweet little wife.”
The next day, I was unexpectedly transferred to my boyfriend’s department.
As I stared at that flirtatious message, I couldn’t help but sneer.
“She doesn’t understand your good intentions. You did nothing wrong.”
“A woman with too much ambition is unattractive. I just want to be your sweet little wife.”
Yesterday was the day of my promotion interview. I had been working overtime an average of three hours a day for the past six months to prepare, with my performance consistently in the top two in the department. Yet, Greyson Martínez turned off my alarm, causing me to miss it due to being late.
When I confronted him, he said, “I was just worried about you working so late last night. I wanted you to sleep in a bit longer. Aurora Smith, I can’t believe you’d doubt my intentions. I’m truly disappointed in you.”
After a day of silent treatment, I came home to find him showering, and on impulse, I opened his phone.
I saw a message from Molly Parker, a female colleague from his department. So his recent coldness was because there was someone else on the side.
Initially, I’d planned to break up with Greyson, but after seeing this, I wanted to play along a little longer.
Chapter 1
I walked out onto the balcony and called my father.
“Dad, I want to transfer to the Procurement Department to gain experience in different areas. This way, I’ll be
I’ll be prepared to take over our company sooner.”
Greyson continued his silent treatment, responding to me with indifference.
Just as he was about to leave for work, I walked up to him and stretched out my hand, “Hand over the car keys.”
His expression changed as he reluctantly placed the keys in my hand, his smile tight. “Aurora, don’t you usually take the other car?”
I had two cars–a modest one I used for work to avoid drawing too much attention and a luxury one I’d given Greyson to drive, thinking he’d enjoy the prestige.
Greyson followed me to the garage, watching as I started the car. He slid into the
seat.
passenger
I turned to him, “Get out. Take the subway to work yourself.”
“Aurora, just drive me to work today,” he replied, trying to sound casual.
“We need to avoid suspicion, remember? Even though we’re in different departments, office romances still aren’t ideal.”
With that, I pushed him out, hit the gas, and sped off.
In the rearview mirror, I could see Greyson standing there, clenching his teeth in frustration.
He’d never once driven me to work; his excuse was always to avoid suspicion due to our office relationship. Looking back, I realized he was just mooching off me.
I arrived at the office half an hour early, said goodbye to my former team, and prepared to report to the Procurement Department. Since my father had already made arrangements, I
12:17
Chapter 1
went directly to the office of the Procurement Manager to wait for the announcement of my arrival.
From inside the office, I had a view of Greyson’s workspace. He had arrived and was already greeting his colleagues with charm, a tray of breakfast laid on his desk by a new intern.
“Greyson, how come you didn’t bring your sports car today?” a male colleague asked.
Greyson awkwardly rubbed his nose, “The engine had a little issue, so I took it in for repairs.”
“That’s going to be expensive! But don’t worry, you’re likely getting promoted to supervisor today, so money won’t be an issue,” his colleague teased with a smile.
Trying to look humble, he waved off the praise, but walked over to the group congratulating him, promising to treat them all to a meal after his promotion.
Greyson’s rise in the company in just six months owed much to his “wealthy” persona. The luxury cars and designer watches? All mine, though I didn’t mind letting him borrow them.
Just then, a shy female colleague walked up, casting him a flirtatious glance from behind the crowd. He responded with a knowing smile.
So, that must be Molly, the one who sent him the message.
Today was supposed to be Greyson’s promotion day–if everything went as expected.
12:17
