Chapter 3

Lily's POV

During lunch break, just as I was about to go downstairs to eat, my colleagues gathered around me.

"Lily, I heard you submitted your resignation? Why? You're a key member of our department!"

I smiled, not hiding anything."I'm going home to get married."

"Married?! So sudden? Who are you marrying? We never heard you had a boyfriend!"

"Congratulations! You have to invite us to your wedding!"

I smiled and agreed.

After work that evening, I'd just walked out of the company building when a familiar black Maybach stopped in front of me.

The window rolled down, revealing Nathan's handsome but somewhat gloomy face.

"Get in."

I didn't move, acting as if I hadn't seen him, and walked straight toward the curb to hail a cab.

Nathan's expression darkened. He pushed open the car door, strode over, grabbed my wrist, and half-forced me into the passenger seat.

"Lily, have you made enough of a scene?" After the door locked, Nathan's voice, suppressing his anger, echoed in the cramped car. "I told you Susan and I are just acting. Why were you throwing a tantrum in the office today? Who was that for?"

I stared straight ahead, my tone flat without any fluctuation."I didn't throw a tantrum."

"Then why'd you resign?" Nathan rubbed his forehead, his voice softening.

"Lily, Susan just came back. She needs to make a name for herself. That jewelry exhibition next quarter is her big chance. I need you to help her. Stick it out, and I'll take you to Iceland for the Northern Lights. Deal?"

I turned my head to look at this face I'd loved for five years, and suddenly felt somewhat nauseous.

He wanted me, the substitute, to work for the woman he truly loved?

"Nathan, you already signed the resignation form." A mocking smile appeared at the corner of my mouth. "Also, I'm not throwing a tantrum. I really am going home to get married."

Nathan froze for a moment, then burst out laughing as if he'd heard a joke.

"Married? To who? That distant arranged marriage partner of yours?" He grabbed my chin, his eyes confident and contemptuous. "Lily, don't use such clumsy excuses to test my limits. You can't leave me."

He was too confident. So confident he didn't believe I would actually leave him.

I slapped his hand away and didn't bother explaining further.

The next day, to punish my "disobedience," Nathan issued a CEO directive requiring me to serve as Susan's personal assistant and accompany her to a snowy mountain to shoot a jewelry promotional video.

The snowy mountain was below freezing, with biting winds.

Susan sat in a windproof tent wearing a thick down jacket, drinking hot coffee. Meanwhile, I was required to take off my coat and stand in the snow wearing only a thin sweater, holding a heavy reflector for Susan.

"Miss Lily, hold it higher. The lighting isn't right." Susan held her coffee, smiling innocently.

My hands were already frozen red and stiff, almost losing all feeling.

Nathan stood not far away, watching this scene with slightly furrowed brows, but he said nothing. He just walked over, draped his coat over Susan's shoulders, and asked if she was cold.

I watched them embrace in the snow. The cold wind cut into my bones, but it wasn't even one ten-thousandth as cold as my heart.

I gritted my teeth and held the reflector until the shoot was over.

"Nathan, Lily looks really cold." Susan leaned against Nathan and spoke mockingly.

Nathan walked over. Looking at my purple lips, a trace of reluctance flashed in his eyes, but his tone remained firm."Have you realized your mistake? Just withdraw your resignation and you can continue as my chief designer."

I lifted my head and looked at him, my frozen lips pulling into a cold arc.

"Mr. Sterling, there are twenty-eight days left in the handover period."