Year After Year Infatuated

As I approached the private dining room, before the door was even pushed open, someone inside was speaking in German:

“So President Julian and Ms. Vivienne are childhood sweethearts, no wonder they look so in sync.”

“More than just in sync, don’t you think they look like a perfect match?”

Harmonious laughter drifted out faintly. After waiting for a long time, I still didn’t hear Julian Vance’s voice.

My hand, which was about to push the door open, froze in place.

For tonight’s social gathering, he hadn’t called me to come along in the first place.

He said I didn’t know German and my presence would be useless.

Yet halfway through, for reasons unknown, he suddenly messaged me his address via the app, telling me to come.

Never did I expect that upon arrival, I would be greeted by these very words.

In the three years spent with Julian Vance, whenever attending banquets or social events where people asked about me, he would only ever introduce me as his assistant.

He claimed he disliked others prying into his personal life.

“What’s the use of going public? Letting them know will only make them curious about you, watch you, or even maliciously speculate about you. Don’t you find that annoying?”

Back then, I believed him implicitly.

Yet tonight, he brought Vivienne along, and when others mistook them for a couple, he offered no explanation whatsoever.

He even tacitly allowed everyone to continue under that misunderstanding.

So, didn’t he fear that Vivienne would be watched by others?

Didn’t he hate others discussing his personal life?

Julian Vance had been a favored child of fortune since childhood, born into a prestigious upper-class family.

Even when his family went bankrupt five years ago, causing Vivienne to break up with him, leaving me fortunate enough to win his heart through pursuit.

Yet his background, alongside all those experiences he once shared with Vivienne, had always weighed heavily in my heart, keeping a massive chasm between us.

Now that he had returned to the pinnacle of success, Vivienne—the true love of his past—had also returned to the country.

He must be deeply regretting ever meeting me now, right?

I turned around to leave, but unexpectedly collided with someone stepping up right behind me.

My hair caught on the feather brooch pinned to his chest.

“My apologies.”

I didn’t dare to look up, only hearing his cold voice ring out from above: “It’s fine.”

As he spoke, his chest vibrated right beside me.

He gentlemanly helped untangle my hair. Keeping my head bowed, I muttered a “Thank you” and hurried around him to leave.

The club’s corridors wound back and forth; failing to find the exit, I ran right into Julian Vance again.

“What are you doing here?”

His face was filled with astonishment as his gaze shifted toward the direction of the private room behind me.

“Didn’t I tell you that tonight’s clients are all foreigners, and since you don’t understand the language anyway, you might as well rest at home? Why didn’t you listen and run over here?”

His tone was full of helplessness as he stroked my head with a hint of doting indulgence, making it seem as though I were the unreasonable one.

I suppressed my surging emotions and turned my face away: “She could come, why couldn’t I?”

He froze, instinctively blurting out: “How did you know she was here?”

Before I could reply, as if realizing something, his brows furrowed deeply:

“So you followed me here just because you heard she was coming?”

The more he spoke, the darker his expression became:

“Can you stop making a fuss for once? I’ve already told you, there is absolutely nothing between her and me. Why do you always obsess over her? You even secretly snooped around for tonight’s address.”

A month ago, upon learning of Vivienne’s return, he had promised me face-to-face that he would never have anything to do with her again.

Yet now, he had broken his promise.

He was clearly the one who broke his word, yet he could still stand there with such righteous indignation to scold me.

Perhaps those who are loved truly have nothing to fear.

My heart grew half-cold; I couldn’t even be bothered to argue that it was he who sent me the address, and that I only realized Vivienne was there upon arrival.

Julian Vance would never believe it.

When facing Vivienne, he was forever incapable of being fair and rational.

After all, I had once witnessed how desperate he became over Vivienne back then…

“President Julian, I must say, you’ve been gone so long—did you run into someone out here?”

A man pushed open the private room door, spotted Julian Vance and me not far away, and strolled over.

“Who is this young lady?”

His tone wasn’t entirely proper, carrying a hint of insolence.

I looked at Julian Vance, hoping he would give me a proper title, but he stepped back, maintaining a clear distance from me:

“She’s my assistant. I had a bit too much to drink tonight, so she came over to drive me back.”

Just an assistant, yet again…

I curved my lips into a bitter sneer and kept silent.

And he, perhaps accustomed to saying it, felt nothing wrong with those words, nor did he think I would be angry. He exchanged casual pleasantries with the man and turned back toward the private room.

As he opened the door, he even turned his head back to call out: “What are you daydreaming for? Are you coming in or not?”

His gaze seemed to say, “Didn’t you always want to come? Now I’m giving you the chance.”

So it turned out I even had to thank him for granting me the privilege of serving as his tea-pouring and water-serving assistant.