Raina Lu had never intended to deal with Yvonne Li again. She hadn't expected that the moment Yvonne came to her senses, she would grab Raina's clothes with a look like she might vomit at any second. Raina had no choice but to drag her to the toilet.

After Yvonne finished being sick, she still wouldn't let go of Raina.

Raina couldn't shake her off, so she had to take Yvonne home. Fortunately, she had delivered things to Yvonne's place a few times before and still remembered the address.

The only thing that bothered her was the expression on Jing Lin's face when she saw Raina supporting a woman out the door—surprise mixed with something distinctly odd.

She didn't dare imagine what Jing Lin thought she was seeing.

Early the next morning, Raina received an angry phone call from Kai Lu.

"Raina Lu, where did you run off to now?"

Still half asleep, Raina's voice was blank. "Bro, I didn't go anywhere..."

"Your landlord said you moved out."

Only then did Raina suddenly remember that she hadn't told Kai about the move.

"I just moved. That's all."

Kai Lu exhaled in relief. He stopped staring at the shabby apartment building, pulled back the hand that had been pounding the car door, and slid back into the driver's seat.

"Good, you didn't leave... Where did you move to?"

When Raina gave him the address, Kai Lu hung up without another word and drove straight over.

Their parents had always been busy. This little sister had more or less been raised by him alone. She really was a handful—but then again, every bit of that spoiled temper was something he had indulged into being. No matter how furious he was when he had to clean up her messes, he could never bring himself to hurt her, even a little.

But he had forgotten that girls grow up too. That one day they fall for someone.

No matter how well he protected her, he still couldn't keep her from getting hurt.

The image of Raina throwing herself into his arms and crying as she tried to hold it in seemed to flash before his eyes again.

Mason Han...

Kai Lu's expression darkened.

Working with Mason Han was genuinely pleasant. He had everything prepared—everything you could think of and everything you couldn't. Outside of work, though, he wouldn't say an extra word to you. Even at business dinners he was brief and to the point.

Beyond that, Mason Han seemed born cold and unfeeling. That was how he treated everyone.

Kai Lu had known from the start what would happen if Raina fell for a man like that. He just hadn't expected this girl to be so stubborn.

Frowning slightly, Kai Lu stepped on the gas. The black BMW shot forward and vanished from sight in no time.

---

Kai Lu's arrival was both disaster and salvation for Raina.

Used to an orderly life, he couldn't stand her chaotic habits. The moment he walked in, he forced her out of bed to brush her teeth, then ordered her out the door to go shopping in that cool voice of his.

Half an hour later, Raina was standing in a large supermarket not far from her new place.

The store was crowded. Pushing a cart, she wandered the aisles, looking around as she went.

After finally checking out, Raina paid the deposit and prepared to push the cart straight home.

Someone called her name. "Raina? Is that you?"

Raina turned around and saw a woman holding a child, looking at her with warm eyes.

"Ms. Zhang, you're here too?"

Ms. Zhang was the planning department manager. She had started out as an assistant herself, and when Raina first joined the company, Ms. Zhang had looked after her a great deal. Raina had always been grateful.

Back then Mason Han's company was nowhere near this size—one floor of offices, a few dozen people, doing overseas agency sales for products that weren't yet especially popular domestically. But Mason Han had already been building his business abroad during university, and with his father's connections opening doors at home, within a few years he had made a name for himself in the industry.

By today's standards, someone as inexperienced as Raina would never have gotten in. But Mason Han had only just established himself domestically and was badly short of people. Raina's entry had been nerve-racking, but not especially difficult.

Full of hope, Raina had been knocked down several times within her first week.

Mason Han didn't have many particular preferences in other areas, but at work he was ruthlessly picky.

Tearing up a proposal she had worked hard on was one thing. That cold, utterly indifferent attitude was what really crushed her.

Mason Han looked down on her. She could be replaced at any moment.

Raina had sailed smoothly through the first twenty-odd years of her life with absolute confidence in herself. She had never imagined being torn apart until there was nothing left—and by the very man she had long adored and worked so hard to reach. A lifetime of pride made it impossible to swallow.

No one taught her what to do. She could only feel her way forward on her own. She pulled several all-nighters, hunting online or asking Kai Lu for every so-called perfect proposal she could find, then revising her own work again and again against those models.

She threw herself into learning the business and finance knowledge she had barely touched before.

She had been completely lost. Ms. Zhang couldn't stand watching anymore. She spent her own rest time tutoring Raina, guiding her step by step until she got the hang of things...

Three days later Raina placed the revised proposal on Mason Han's desk. He read it for a long time, was silent for a moment, and then said, "This one works."

Raina yawned in relief and wanted to go back and sleep.

Halfway there, she heard Mason Han's voice again. "Good work."

Cold and flat, with no particular feeling in it. And yet those three simple words almost made her want to cry.

How much effort had she spent trying to get close to Mason Han? How much more had it cost her just to stand in front of him and hear his acknowledgment?

Only she knew how hard it had been to get to where she was.

If Mason Han had truly remained indifferent, that would have been one thing. But once he acknowledged you, he would take you under his wing—looking out for you, protecting you. None of it had anything to do with romance. She just had never been able to tell the difference...

"Raina Lu, Raina Lu..."

"Oh—did you need something?"

"My place is nearby. I always shop here too. What about you? Why are you buying groceries here? I remember you used to live very close to the office."

Raina answered briefly, not wanting to say too much. "I moved. It's nearby."

Ms. Zhang made a small sound of understanding, set the child in the cart, and asked again, "Raina, why did you quit so suddenly?"

Raina smiled. "I got tired."

"Who doesn't get tired working under Mr. Han?" Ms. Zhang laughed loudly. "You walked away without looking back. It's made things rough for the rest of us these past few days."

"How could it? Someone would definitely fill in without me." Raina took it as exaggeration. Whatever importance Ms. Zhang meant only mattered to Mason Han.

"It's the new assistant who replaced you. She's a complete mess—made mistake after mistake and never caught things in time. Mr. Han used to be the one dragging you into overtime. Now it's her dragging him. The poor girl got chewed out by Mr. Han yesterday and cried all afternoon. He didn't say much, but it's obvious he's in a foul mood. The whole office has been walking on eggshells, terrified of setting him off."

Her tone shifted. "If you're tired, taking a few days off makes sense. But you've been here for years. Everyone's used to you. Starting somewhere new might not be as good as staying. If you've already resigned and can't bring yourself to come back, we can talk to Mr. Han. These few days can count as paid leave. Rest as long as you need, then come back. What do you think? Besides, from what I can see, Mr. Han really wants you back."

Want me back?

Raina went blank for a moment.

How was she supposed to tell Ms. Zhang about Mason Han's indifferent expression when she resigned?

He hadn't cared at all.

When she got home, the whole apartment had already been transformed.

Kai Lu took the groceries from her, tied on an apron, and headed back into the kitchen.

Raina didn't like strangers in her space, and Kai Lu couldn't stand the thought of hiring help, so in the end Kai Lu did everything himself.

That said, his cooking really was exceptional.

In less than an hour, a table of steaming dishes was laid out—all Raina's favorites.

Sweet-and-sour spare ribs, fresh crucian carp soup, lettuce in oyster sauce, and a small dish of shredded kelp.

The moment her chopsticks went in, Raina started eating with abandon.

Kai Lu barely touched his food. He just watched her, occasionally putting more on her plate.

Raina glanced at him oddly. "Bro, why aren't you eating? You don't need to keep up appearances in front of me, do you?"

"Just eat."

With good food in front of her, Raina naturally didn't press further.

Only after the meal did Kai Lu speak again in that same cool, flat tone. "When are you going home?"

Raina pushed the dishes away and leaned back. "We'll talk about that later. I don't want to go back yet."

The conversation ended there. Kai Lu said nothing more, gathered his things, and left.

Raina smiled bitterly. She had probably made him angry again.

She had no intention of swallowing her pride and going back to Mason Han. But she wasn't ready to face her parents yet either. She needed time to adjust.

She just hadn't expected to see Mason Han again so soon.

A few days later, an elegantly framed invitation arrived.

It was from the owner of a partner company she had dealt with frequently. While working as Mason Han's assistant, Raina had become friendly with the talkative, cheerful man. Now that he was getting engaged, he had sent her an invitation as well.

On top of that, he had texted her a personal invite.

Since she had nothing else to do, Raina picked one formal outfit from the several she owned and went out.

The engagement banquet was booked at a rather upscale hotel. Luxury cars lined the entrance. A deep red carpet ran up the steps. Even the doormen were formally dressed, suits pressed to perfection.

Stepping out of a taxi, Raina felt a brief pang of something and then handed over her invitation and went inside.

On the seventeenth floor, the lights were bright. The European-style banquet hall was ringed with tables laden with food—snow-white tablecloths, a champagne-glass tower and a tiered celebration cake at the center.

At first she didn't see Mason Han at all. After giving the host her congratulatory red envelope, she ran into quite a few familiar faces from partner companies instead.

After exchanging pleasantries, and learning she had resigned, several executives expressed interest in poaching her. The most absurd part was that Raina actually spotted Tyler Liu—the same man who had openly tried to recruit her before.

It took a great deal of effort before Raina finally extricated herself from the social circle and started looking for something to eat.

After searching around, her eyes lit up. Target acquired.

Just as she was about to make her move, someone else snatched what she had been aiming for first.

She turned her head—and Mason Han's face appeared in her line of sight without warning.

He didn't speak. He simply placed the crab he had picked up with his chopsticks onto Raina's plate.

Raina loved crab. She had never hidden that.

She remembered a business trip with Mason Han to Suzhou, during golden autumn when crab season was at its peak. After the meeting, Mason Han had given her half a day off.

Maybe he was in an unusually good mood that day. When he learned she wanted to go to Yangcheng Lake, he actually drove her there himself.

They sat by the water. Golden chrysanthemums bloomed all around.

The rich crab roe, the tender white meat, and Mason Han sitting across from her—everything made her mouth water.

That night she ate an entire basin of crab by herself, enough that even Mason Han, who usually wouldn't flinch if a mountain collapsed in front of him, showed a flicker of surprise.

The price of eating too much was misery after joy. That night she came down with acute gastroenteritis and ended up in the emergency room on an IV drip. With no family nearby, the only person left beside her was Mason Han, cold as an iceberg...

She had assumed that with his usual detached nature, he would simply leave her to fend for herself. She hadn't expected that, though he never said a word, he handled every detail of registration, admission, and the IV without a hitch...

The memory left Raina dazed for a moment.

If not for these small, sweet fragments clinging to her heart like bone, how could she have held on so long? How could she have been unable to let go?

How many times had she had the chance to leave or give up, only to find she couldn't?

Her gaze slid to the crab on her plate. Raina said calmly, "Thank you."

Mason Han didn't answer. His handsome face was expressionless. His eyes were hidden beneath his fringe, impossible to read.

Raina turned to leave. Just as she thought Mason Han would never speak to her again, his voice reached her ears, not entirely clear.

"Raina Lu, come back to work."