“Mrs. Paige, the CEO’s schedule is fully booked. He just completed a major acquisition, and the new company’s finances are a mess.”

Caroline said nothing. She already knew how busy Julian was. He’d been busy for three years—too busy to remember their wedding anniversary, her birthday, or any holiday. Each occasion had passed with her alone at home.

“All right,” she said, finally. “If he comes back, could you give me a call?”

“Of course, Mrs. Paige.”

She hung up, staring blankly at the couples filing in and out of the civil affairs office. The newlyweds smiled with faces aglow, while those finalizing their divorces treated each other like bits of refuse—disgusting, repellent, something to flee.

Pulling out her phone, she began scrolling through job listings for nearby companies. Her résumé had been prepared for some time. She needed to find work.

She had majored in vocal performance in college, but the disaster with Jane had left her fearful of singing. The mere thought of it set her throat constricting, so her degree now felt utterly useless.

With her lashes lowered, she sifted through page after page, finally landing on a mid-size firm that was hiring an assistant to the director. The requirements made no mention of specialization—only height, weight, and appearance.

Caroline submitted her résumé, and within three minutes, her phone rang. They invited her to an interview that very afternoon.

Having no work experience, Caroline was wary. It all seemed a bit too easy; she half-suspected it was a scam.

But, when she sat down across from the interviewer, there was no subterfuge. The woman gave her one appraising look and nodded. “When can you start?”

Caroline blinked. “But… you haven’t even asked about my qualifications.”

“You’re a music major. What qualifications could you possibly have? This position is mainly about attending business events with the director. The pay’s solid. It’s a young person’s game—might as well make the most of it while you’re still in your prime. Think it over.”

“All right.”

She was promptly escorted through the onboarding process, but it wasn’t until she saw the director that she realized they had crossed paths before.

Three years ago, not long after her wedding to Julian, she had briefly encountered Ethan Tucker. Back then, he had been a high-ranking executive at Paige Group, though he hadn’t recognized her at the time. At a business banquet, he’d mistaken her for a waitress and tried to kiss her. Julian had walked in just in time to put an end to it.

Shortly after, Ethan was ousted from the company. Rumor had it he’d crossed the wrong person.

Now, here he was, reviewing her résumé on a glowing computer screen.

“I thought I was seeing things,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Julian’s wife, applying for a job at my little firm? Color me surprised. What happened? Did he dump you?”

His gaze burned into her, lingering on her face. “Three years, and he barely comes home, or so I’ve heard. How does he let someone like you out of his sight?”

Caroline was strikingly beautiful. Her quiet poise only heightened the effect. In her simple jeans and white blouse, she seemed unassuming, yet exquisitely polished.

“Mr. Tucker,” she said evenly.

If Ethan had ulterior motives, this job wasn’t worth keeping. Her exit strategy was already forming.

But he only smirked, his eyes raking her up and down. “Twenty thousand a month. You’ll accompany me to meetings, prep my documents, and drive. Can you drive?”

“I can.”

“Great. Imagine that—a former Paige Group CEO’s wife, chauffeuring me. What a privilege.”

“I’m no longer Julian’s wife.”

His brows arched, his smile sharp. “Oh, right. Makes sense. Why else would he let a gem like you slip away? You start tonight. I’ll pay you half your first month’s salary in advance. We’ve got a banquet to attend. Deal?”

She didn’t know how he had so quickly zeroed in on her desperation, but he wasn’t wrong. She needed the money.

Caroline lowered her lashes and murmured, “Deal.”

An assistant ushered her through her remaining onboarding steps, even setting up a desk for her. By late afternoon, a feverish heat spread through her body—it felt as though she were burning from the inside out.

Near the end of the day, Ethan called her into his office and tossed her a set of car keys. “Driver-slash-assistant. Effective immediately. Here’s my schedule—memorize it.”

“Yes, Mr. Tucker.”

She clutched the keys and walked to the basement garage, where she quickly located his car. She opened the door for him before settling into the driver’s seat.

Ethan was already on the phone, chuckling smugly. “You won’t believe it—guess who I just hired as my assistant? Remember Julian Paige?”

In Imperial City, no one forgot Julian Paige. Before the Paige family had reclaimed him, he was already a self-made star—his dazzling looks and meteoric rise legendary.

After his return to the family fold, his lineage only amplified his renown. Though he had retreated from public view in recent years, becoming an enigma who avoided interviews, his name still held weight within elite circles.

Ethan, who now moved on the fringes of low-tier business cliques, still thrived on old connection scraps.

“Yeah, his wife’s working for me now. Imagine that. Mr. High-and-Mighty back in the day…”

The car pulled up to one of the city’s most exclusive hotels. Caroline parked, opened Ethan’s door, and stepped aside quietly. True to his promise, he had already deposited ten thousand dollars into her account.

The man’s taunts rolled off her like water off a stone. After enduring Julian’s world, she had long since learned how to armor herself.

She dutifully mirrored the actions of a perfect assistant—holding doors, pressing elevator buttons. As they stepped into the lift, they found it already occupied.

Julian and Hank stood within.

Hank’s eyes widened in surprise, darting toward Julian for direction. But Julian gave no acknowledgment—his expression unreadable, cold as a blade.

Ethan, of course, couldn’t resist. “Mr. Paige. What a coincidence.”

The tension suffocated the air in the elevator. Though spacious, it felt claustrophobic under Julian’s silent dominion.

Ethan gestured for Caroline to step in and, with a faint smile, added, “What, need a personal invite?”

She stepped inside, pressing the button for the fifth floor, where the restaurant they were headed to was located. But the grander venues—the kind only Julian ever frequented—lay on the seventh.

When the fifth floor arrived, Caroline followed Ethan out, but Julian’s voice suddenly cut through the air. “Hank.”

The assistant stiffened, awaiting orders, though no further directive came. Julian had only said the name.

Caroline hesitated briefly by the elevator threshold before continuing her steps. As the doors slid shut, Hank nearly broke into a sweat.

“I’ll find out,” he muttered, sensing what was unspoken. Why was Mrs. Paige here with Ethan of all people?

Julian let out a breath sharp as steel. “No need. Let her fall if she wants to.”

He stepped out on the seventh floor, leaving Hank to swallow his unspoken questions.

Meanwhile, Caroline entered the private dining room behind Ethan. A chorus of greetings went up as he waved to his associates.

“Sorry for the delay, gentlemen. Ran into an old acquaintance.”

The room was filled with minor business owners, the sort Ethan now hobnobbed with.

One snickered. “Mr. Tucker, your new assistant could be a movie star with looks like that.”

Ethan reveled in the attention. “Movie stars? She wouldn’t waste her time.”

The jokes turned cruder, the glances at Caroline less veiled, more intrusive. She kept her head down, her face unreadable, as though the eyes on her didn’t exist.

Ethan tilted his chin her way. “Go pour Mr. Cooper a drink. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you walked in.”