Chapter 1

I went with my secret boyfriend, Alexander Reed, to inspect a construction site in Boston's Seaport District.

When the scaffolding came loose and came crashing down, I ran over and shoved him out of the way almost on instinct.

When I woke up, I pretended the blow to my head had given me amnesia.

Softly, I asked him what we were to each other.

His fingers paused. He looked up at me, his eyes calm as still water.

"Ordinary superior and subordinate."

...

I lay in the hospital bed, the wound at the back of my head still throbbing faintly.

But when Alex said the words "superior and subordinate" in that cold, distant voice, the pain in my head suddenly seemed like nothing at all.

Maybe I really had damaged my brain.

Otherwise, how could my memory be so confused that I had mistaken our "bed-partner arrangement" for a real relationship?

I had loved him in silence for seven years and gotten nowhere.

Two years ago, I finally decided to give up. I booked a flight home, ready to settle down and marry someone who actually liked me.

But the day I handed in my resignation, those eyes of his, always cool and detached, watched me in silence for a long time.

"Don't go. Stay with me."

The company had a clear anti-workplace-romance policy, especially forbidding relationships between executives and direct reports.

So for the past two years, at work during the day, we were only boss and subordinate.

But once the door to his apartment closed, we were the most intimate people in each other's beds.

I came back to myself and looked at the man beside my hospital bed.

His laptop rested on his long legs, the cold light from the screen tracing the sharp lines of his profile.

At the slightly open collar of his shirt, I could even faintly see the suggestive red marks I had left that morning.

I did not expose him. I only gave a careless little smile.

"Then you're a very considerate boss."

Alex paused. His searching gaze settled on my face.

The next second, he closed his laptop and nodded coolly.

"Thank you for today. Since you're awake, I'll head back to the office."

"If you need anything, you can contact my assistant directly."

With that, he stood and left without the slightest hesitation.

The door closed behind him.

I stared at it for a few seconds, then slowly let the stiff expression fall from my face.

The hurt and disappointment in my chest nearly crushed me.

While I was still dazed, someone knocked on the door.

It was Alex's assistant.

He walked to the bedside and politely handed me a thin envelope.

"Clara Bennett, Alex asked me to give this to you."

I looked down.

Inside was a cashier's check for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

"He said you should rest and recover properly, then come back to work once you're well."

I stared blankly at the piece of paper.

I did not move.

The assistant placed the envelope by my hand, turned, and shut the door behind him.

My fingertips touched the edge of the paper.

The tears I had held back for so long finally fell.

After two years of a secret relationship, Alex must have gotten tired of me.

I just had not expected him to choose such a humiliating way to erase everything back to the beginning.

I closed my eyes, and the dull ache at the back of my head became suddenly, painfully clear.

The loved one is always fearless.

But Alex, this time, I did not want you anymore.