---- Chapter 1 Ethan stormed into my office, furious, just as | was reviewing some contracts. He marched straight to me, grabbed my wrist, and forced me to look up at him. "Maddie's fresh out of college. She's clean, okay? Don't drag her down with you. She was so scared last night, she cried the whole night!" "From now on, you handle those dinners yourself." Snapped out of my work mode, | realized | hadn't eaten again Recovering from surgery, my stomach couldn't handle this kind of abuse. It had already started to ache. Ethan built his company from scratch, and he always needed someone reliable to help him manage everything So when | graduated, | joined him as his chief secretary. Back then, | didn't know anything. But because | cared about him, I'd down glass after glass of wine meant for him at business dinners. ---- Honestly, Ethan's success today was something I'd helped drink into existence. But I'd paid the price-years of stress and irregular meals left me with stomach cancer. When | was in the hospital recently, Ethan dismissed it as a cold and didn't even bother to visit. Instead, he brought Maddie, that sweet little flower, into my role. Lost in thought, | barely noticed Ethan let go of my wrist, shoving me backward hard He glared at me, his voice icy. "Why do you always make such a big deal out of everything? Maddie even texted you an apology yesterday. Why didn't you reply?" I checked my phone. Sure enough, there was a message from Maddie. But her tone was infuriating 'Vivian, 'm so sorry. I'm just so naive and inexperienced-I thought you were making me entertain clients. | didn't mean to cause you any trouble." Last time, Maddie messed up a deal with Mr. Carter, and | had to beg and plead to get him to agree to give us another chance tomorrow. ---- I'd been busy working on that all week, barely looking at my phone, Holding my aching stomach, | explained, "I didn't see it." Ethan shot me a cold look and brushed me off. "Apologize to her soon. Don't bully her just because she's younger than you. The pain in my stomach got worse and sweat started soaking through my back. Ethan finally noticed something was wrong when I clutched my stomach and stayed silent. His expression softened a little, and his tone followed suit. "Vivian, are you okay?" Panicking, he started looking for medicine but only found vitamin supplements in my drawer. Instantly, his concern evaporated. "You don't even have stomach meds? What are you playing at?" "Are you trying to use a pity act to get my forgiveness?" My body trembled, and tears started falling uncontrollably, Ethan had forgotten Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!