Chapter 1
I stood in the top-floor conference room of Jasper Corporation, city lights sprawling outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The pen in my hand was still warm, the ink on the divorce papers not yet dry.
Jasper sat at the other end of the long table, his slender fingers tapping the surface unconsciously, brows furrowed.
“Are you sure about this?”
His voice was low, tinged with a hesitation I’d never heard in my past life.
I slowly closed the folder, my fingertips tracing the embossed cover.
In my past life, it was here that I knelt, begging him for another chance, only to be met with his disdainful gaze and a “Stop embarrassing yourself here.”
“Very sure.”
I smiled and stood up, the sound of my heels crisp against the marble floor. “Isn’t it what you’ve always wanted, for me to disappear?”
His pupils contracted sharply, his fingers clenching the armrests.
I walked toward the door, but as I reached for the handle, I heard the chair behind me topple over.
“Wait!”
Jasper rushed to stand in front of me, his breath slightly hurried.
He reached out to grab my wrist but hesitated just before touching me.
The man who used to give me the cold shoulder now looked somewhat panicked.
“You…”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Where are you going?”
I tilted my head, finding it amusing.
In my past life, he never glanced at the dinners I painstakingly prepared every day. Now he was concerned about my whereabouts?
“Starting a company.”
I answered lightly, “To compete with Jasper Corporation.”
His face turned ashen in an instant.
I took the opportunity to push open the conference room door. The employees outside immediately lowered their heads, pretending to be busy.
Only my assistant, Xiao Lin, hurried over with a file.
“Ms. Su, Mr. Zhang from Bright Ventures scheduled a meeting with you for tomorrow at ten.”
She deliberately raised her voice. “He said he’s very optimistic about our new energy project.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper whip his head around, and I happily patted Xiao Lin’s shoulder. “Well done.”
As the elevator doors closed, I saw Jasper rushing out.
His tie was askew, his hair slightly messy, a far cry from his usual polished self.
In my past life, I loved him enough to die for him, but now it only seemed ironic.
In the basement parking lot, my new car awaited.
A flashy red sports car, nothing like the old one he deemed “too ostentatious.”
“To Bluewater Bay,” I told the driver. It’s a villa I bought last week, a place Jasper knows nothing about.
As the car exited the garage, my phone buzzed incessantly.
“Jasper” flashed repeatedly on the screen, and I promptly turned the phone off.
Under the night sky, city neon lights streamed past the window.
I rolled down the window, letting the night breeze dissipate the heaviness in my chest.
The scenes from my past life’s final moments resurfaced.
The harsh hospital lighting, the shrill alarm of the monitor.
And Jasper’s smile as he held Dahlia, saying, “Finally free.”
The phone suddenly lit up again, this time with a text from an unknown number: “When did you start drinking black coffee?”
I stared at the cryptic message, a chill running down my spine.
In my past life, I pretended to like lattes just to please Jasper.
This time around, from day one, I drank only black coffee.
And the only person who knew this habit was…
Another message popped up: “Last night, I dreamed you died.”
My fingers trembled uncontrollably.
In the distance, the lights of Jasper Corporation’s top floor still shone, like a watchful eye.