I was reborn at the exact moment I picked up the wrong glass—the one meant for my boss, Dominic Reed, laced with aphrodisiac drug. This time, I didn’t take the wrong glass. I watched him drink it down, then dial the woman he truly loved: Celeste. In my past life, I was Dominic’s secretary. And I fell in love with him. When the drug hit my system, I didn’t care that he needed to get to Celeste. I grabbed his belt and made him stay. Not long after, I found out I was pregnant. Dominic was forced to marry me. But on the day I went into labor with complications, he got the news—Celeste had thrown herself off a building, destroyed by grief. He stormed into the delivery room and sent the doctors away. Then he watched me die. The last thing I heard was his voice: “If you hadn’t gotten pregnant, I never would’ve been forced to marry you. Celeste wouldn’t have killed herself. You deserve this…” When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the day I drank that drugged wine. “Iris! Call Celeste right now!” Hearing that familiar command again, I jolted awake. I’d been reborn. Without hesitation, I grabbed my phone and dialed Celeste’s number. Dominic’s face was flushed, his eyes burning with desire. The drug was kicking in. In my past life, I was the one who drank from that glass. I was the one who lost control. And it led to my death. This time, I watched coldly as he downed the entire glass. As the drug began to take hold and he looked at me with struggling, hazy eyes, I quickly finished dialing Celeste. “Dominic, just hang on. Celeste will be here in ten minutes.” The moment I closed the door behind me, I thought I heard him call my name. But I pretended not to hear. I shut the door firmly and waited at the end of the hallway. Ten minutes later, Celeste arrived in a rush. She looked at me with a complicated expression. When she saw that my clothes were intact and I was perfectly composed, relief washed over her face. Before pushing open the door, she glanced at me. “You can leave now. I don’t need you here.” I turned and took the elevator down, called a car, and went back to my apartment. The next morning, Celeste appeared in the executive office. Dominic lifted his coffee, took a sip, then casually announced to the core management team: “From now on, Celeste is my fiancée. She’s also an important future partner for the company. You will all treat her with respect.” Then he looked directly at me, pointing with his pen. “Especially you, Iris.” I nodded blankly. Celeste smirked, flashing me a triumphant smile. I pretended not to notice. I gathered the meeting notes and started to leave the office. But just as I stood up, I heard Celeste’s voice, soft and wounded: “Dominic… does Iris not want me involved in company affairs? I know how important she is to you. If she’s unhappy with me being here, maybe I shouldn’t come to the office anymore.” Her eyes glistened with tears. She looked as pitiful as possible. Dominic frowned. Before he could say anything, I replied: “Of course not. But if you’re not satisfied with me, I’ll make sure to stay out of your sight from now on.” Without waiting for Dominic’s reaction, I walked straight back to my office. Half an hour later, my office door swung open. And there he was—Dominic, staring at me with dark, stormy eyes.
Instinctively, I wanted to close the door. I didn’t want to deal with him. But Dominic blocked it with his arm, frowning as he looked at me. “Are you avoiding me? Why?” He leaned in closer, studying my face. “Are you upset? Because of Celeste?” I quickly shook my head. “No. I’m happy for you. You and Celeste finally get to be together.” His eyes flickered with something unreadable. He seemed… dissatisfied with my answer. “Is that the truth? Or are you just being passive-aggressive?” Then he scoffed. “Iris, don’t tell me you still haven’t gotten over me. Three years ago at the company party, you kissed me when you were drunk. You think I didn’t notice?” “All these years, those little hints you tucked into your reports. That encrypted folder on your computer—the personal journal? I’ve read all of it. You thought you were hiding it so well. But the way you look at me? Everyone in this company can see you’re in love with me.” “The smartest thing you ever did was never confess. Because if you had? I would’ve laughed in your face. Laughed at how pathetic and delusional you are.” He chuckled to himself, then walked over to my desk and yanked open the bottom drawer. He grabbed a thick stack of printed journal pages and scattered them across the floor, stepping on them. “Iris, I handpicked you fresh out of college. I trained you. I gave you everything. And this is how you repay me? You knew I only loved Celeste. But you still wrote all this… feelings you had no right to have. Do you know how embarrassing this is? For both of us?” He leaned down close to my ear, his voice low. “I came here to tell you something. Yesterday, when I drank that wine, I saw the look in your eyes. You wanted to be the one to ‘help’ me, didn’t you? Thank God you didn’t. Because if you had, I would’ve been disgusted for the rest of my life. You’re not worth it.” My heart clenched painfully. Even though I’d decided not to love him in this life, hearing those cruel words still hurt. After warning me to stay away from him and not make Celeste uncomfortable, Dominic slammed the door and left. I didn’t want to be in their way anymore. I had to go out and finalize my transfer paperwork anyway, so I packed up and left. That night, I deliberately waited until almost 10 p.m. to return to the office to pick up some things. The moment I stepped into my office, I noticed something was wrong. My custom ergonomic chair—gone. Then I saw it. Celeste had posted on social media: a selfie of herself sitting in a luxurious office chair. The caption read: “I just mentioned my back was sore, and he immediately gave me the best chair in the whole company. This is why it’s so important to find a man with power, money, and thoughtfulness!” She’d taken the chair Dominic had custom-ordered for me. Earlier this year, when my back injury flared up, Dominic had specially approved a budget of over $20,000 for a chair designed for long hours at a desk—because I was his “chief secretary.” He used to be so good to me. He knew what it meant to show that kind of special attention to a female subordinate. And yet, he let me fall for him. But now, from his position of power, he was telling me I had no right to love him. And now? Celeste made one offhand comment, and Dominic didn’t even bother telling me before he had my chair taken away. Hearing me return, Dominic stood in my doorway and said coolly, “Celeste has back problems. I gave her your chair. Your injury’s healed anyway. Any chair will do for you now.” I didn’t even look up. “Mm,” I murmured. Dominic’s frown deepened. He stared at me intently. “Iris, didn’t you used to hate it when I was nice to other people? Why aren’t you throwing a tantrum now?” “Are you plotting something?” “I’m warning you—if you dare do anything to Celeste, I’ll make sure you never work in this industry again.” I finally looked up. “I’m not trying to do anything to anyone. I just want to be left alone. And isn’t this what you always wanted? For me to be more professional? You should be happy.” Dominic pressed his lips together. Then, almost like a sulking child, he repeated, “Fine. Fine. Fine. Iris, you’re just great.” He slammed the door on his way back to his office. Whenever he said things like that, it meant he was angry. But I wasn’t going to comfort him anymore. Whether he was angry or not didn’t matter. Because soon, I’d be gone.
The next few weeks passed simply. Celeste came to the office every day to flaunt their relationship. Dominic was still sulking. And this time, I wasn’t going to be the one to fix it. A month later, Celeste announced she was pregnant. Dominic was over the moon. He wanted to tell the whole world. The wedding was moved up immediately. Everyone in the company was gossiping about the upcoming ceremony. In this life, the one who got pregnant was the woman he actually loved. And I decided to let them have it. As soon as my transfer paperwork was finalized, I booked a flight to Italy—scheduled for the same day as their wedding. Dominic finally broke and came to find me. He waited until Celeste wasn’t at the office, then pushed open my door. He pulled out his phone, opened an email from HR, and shoved it in my face. “You applied for an overseas transfer? What, you’re so devastated by my wedding that you’re running away?” My heart skipped. But his next words eased my tension a little. When I didn’t answer, his tone turned cold. “Iris, are you done with this tantrum?” “Ever since Celeste started coming to the office, you’ve been avoiding me.” “But I’m going to marry her eventually. So what, you’re planning to keep avoiding me even after the wedding?” I shook my head. “Dominic, I think you misunderstand. I only see you as the boss who mentored me. I’m grateful. That’s all.” He laughed. Like I’d just told the funniest joke. “Grateful? Iris, everyone in this company knows you’re hopelessly in love with me. Who’s going to believe you’re just ‘grateful’? Do you even believe that yourself?” He glanced at the bookshelf in my office and smirked. “All these gifts I gave you over the years—you’ve kept them so carefully. And you’re telling me you don’t love me?” He walked over and picked up the items one by one. A limited-edition pen. A brooch. A watch. Then he said seriously: “You should put all this stuff away. I’m about to marry Celeste. You need to stop holding onto these ridiculous fantasies. We’re just boss and employee. I will never love you. And Celeste is pregnant now. If she sees these things, it might upset her. I can’t have anything happen to my fiancée or my son.” “Mm,” I said, and immediately started packing everything into a cardboard box. I was planning to get rid of it all before leaving the country anyway. Might as well do it now. Seeing how calm I was, Dominic frowned and grabbed my wrist. “Iris, can’t you be more careful? Look, you bent the nib on this pen!” I glanced at the luxury pen in his hand. It was the first gift he ever gave me—the day I passed my probation and officially became his secretary. For years, I treasured it. I wouldn’t let anyone else even touch it. But now, I’d just tossed it carelessly into a box. And Dominic couldn’t stand it. “Iris, you’re clearly devastated about me marrying Celeste. You’re running away. But now you’re pretending you don’t love me anymore?” He exhaled sharply. “Fine. Maybe it’s good for you to cool off overseas. Celeste is in a delicate stage of her pregnancy. It’s better if you’re not around anyway.” Dominic pulled out his phone and transferred $10,000 to me. “Take this. Get yourself settled in Italy. After work, travel around a bit. Take a month to clear your head. By then, Celeste’s pregnancy will be stable.” He looked at me meaningfully. “Adjust your mindset while you’re abroad. Don’t miss me too much. I’m going to be a married man. You need to get used to it. Otherwise, working together later is going to be awkward.” Dominic gave me a few more instructions about the overseas assignment. But he didn’t know—I’d been reborn. And this time, I was really leaving. On Dominic’s wedding day, both the hotel and the company headquarters were bustling early in the morning. While everyone was focused on the ceremony, I quietly grabbed my suitcase, got in a cab, and headed straight to the airport.
Dominic had changed into his wedding suit, but he didn’t leave with the groomsmen to pick up the bride. For some reason, he found himself walking to Iris’s office. He wanted to see her one last time. But when he got there, the office was empty. All her personal belongings were gone. The only thing left on her desk was a standard resignation handover checklist. His heart skipped a beat. He assumed she must have gone to the wedding venue early to help with preparations. That thought calmed him down enough to go pick up Celeste. He was beyond excited today. He was finally marrying the love of his life. And soon, they’d have a child together. Just thinking about it made him smile uncontrollably. The moment he saw Celeste, he couldn’t look away. She looked breathtaking in her white wedding gown. This was the woman he’d been in love with for years. But he wasn’t the only one staring. There was another man—Celeste’s close friend. Dominic didn’t see him as a threat. The guy was good-looking and charming, sure. But other than that? Completely mediocre. He made a point of kissing Celeste in front of the man before carrying her to the wedding car. The ceremony began. But Dominic still didn’t see Iris anywhere. He understood. She couldn’t bear to watch him marry someone else. That’s why she didn’t show up. The day after the wedding, he took Celeste on their honeymoon. He completely forgot about Iris. It wasn’t until two weeks later, when he returned to the office, that he noticed she still wasn’t there. He finally called his assistant to ask about her. That’s when he found out—she’d flown to Italy on his wedding day. He vaguely remembered approving her transfer. He’d even sent her $10,000 to help her settle in. He figured she must’ve started at the overseas branch by now. He made a mental note to remind her not to be so obvious about her feelings. Celeste was pregnant and emotionally sensitive. He couldn’t let anyone upset her. Not even Iris. A month later, during the overseas branch’s monthly report, Iris didn’t join the video meeting. Another month passed. She still didn’t appear in any international conference calls. Dominic started to feel uneasy. He finally tried calling her. But her number had been disconnected. That’s when it hit him. She’d really left. And she hadn’t even said goodbye. She’d changed her number so he couldn’t reach her. Dominic felt a strange discomfort in his chest. She’d actually let him go. She’d walked away without a word. But then he reminded himself—she probably left because he got married and was having a baby. She had no choice. Besides, he’d married the woman of his dreams. Whether Iris came back or not didn’t matter anymore. It was better this way. He could finally have some peace.
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