Year After Year Infatuated

Infiltrating Julian Vance’s trust turned out smoother than anticipated.

He welcomed me back into the Vance Group, and even pushed for me to move back into our old house.

“I bought that house back. I know you only sold it because you were disappointed in me back then.”

“I’m used to living alone for now; moving back can wait.”

I brushed it off with an excuse. Julian Vance’s expression dimmed slightly before he quickly forced a smile:

“No problem. Live wherever you prefer; you can move over after we officially get married.”

Marriage.

I had spent years waiting in vain for him to utter that promise.

Now that he brought it up on his own accord, my heart remained entirely indifferent.

Ignoring his remark, I smoothly pivoted the topic:

“I’ve accumulated a solid network in Germany over the years. Can I take charge of your upcoming German market expansion?”

Whether he noticed my blatant deflection or not, he offered a stiff chuckle: “Sure, whatever you wish. Evelyn is so capable now and speaks fluent German; nobody is better suited than you.”

That final sentence clearly carried the subtext of making amends for the harsh criticism he once hurled at me.

Feigning cluelessness, I smiled: “Thank you, Julian.”

Stepping out of his car upon arriving home, Julian Vance lingered: “Aren’t you going to invite me up for a cup of tea?”

“It’s too late, some other time.”

Without looking back, I marched straight up the stairs.

Christian Sterling was waiting inside the elevator. As the doors slid open, catching sight of him inside gave me a mild start.

Glancing down at Julian Vance standing bewildered downstairs and staring up, Christian Sterling raised an eyebrow in amusement:

“Julian Vance is tailing you quite persistently. Don’t you feel any regret?”

Stepping into the cabin, I retorted: “President Christian, stop fishing. Worried I’ll flip the script at the last second and bail on our deal?”

Christian Sterling choked.

“Rest assured, since you promised me 15% equity upon success, I won’t let myself take a loss.”

The corners of Christian Sterling’s lips curved upward:

“Very well. Since you’ve calculated everything so meticulously, I’m completely at ease.”

I had never been more calculated or lucid in my life, devoid of a single ounce of hesitation or guilt. Upon returning to the Vance Group, leveraging my years of intimate familiarity with the company alongside Julian Vance’s current blind trust, I smoothly funneled all confidential files directly to Christian Sterling.

Lately, Julian Vance had his mind entirely occupied with orchestrating his illusory wedding, leaving him blissfully unbothered by the continuous leaks and operational crises plaguing the company.

Dorian had sought him out for help a few times before vanishing completely without a trace.

According to Christian Sterling, Julian Vance had directly pulled all capital investments from Dorian’s company and publicly sworn lifelong enmity against him.

Dorian possessed zero genuine business acumen; crushed under Julian Vance’s covert blockade, his painstakingly built enterprise collapsed overnight.

When news broke that Julian Vance was preparing to host his wedding ceremony, Vivienne finally snapped, charging into the company headquarters in a blind fury to cause a scene.

She shrieked and wailed in the corporate lobby, cursing me as a homewrecking vixen and even conspiring with paparazzi to take candid smear photos.

Instantly, social media went into a frenzy, casting me as public enemy number one.

Paying zero mind to the circus, I offered no explanations, packed my bags, and holed up at Christian Sterling’s residence for two straight days.

During those two days, Julian Vance released an exhaustive video clarification, personally debunking Vivienne’s fabrications that labeled me a mistress. He somehow managed to unearth archival footage of Vivienne and Dorian bullying me back in college, paired with Vivienne’s provocative text messages from three years ago, loudly declaring that Vivienne’s venomous schemes were the sole reason for our past tragic misunderstanding.

Overnight, Vivienne transformed into a rat crossing the street, universally reviled.

Seizing the lucrative opportunity, Vivienne’s ex-husband jumped into the fray, exposing how Vivienne had dumped Julian Vance when his family went bankrupt to chase wealthier men, and how—upon her own business failures—she tried crawling back before resorting to stalking and framing a rival’s girlfriend when rejected.

“Julian Vance has gone completely unhinged looking for you. Word has it he never laid a hand on women before, yet he gave Vivienne a brutal beating this time.”

Lost in thought, I snapped back to reality to find Christian Sterling idly toying with my fingers.

Frowning, I yanked my hand back: “What are you doing?”

He blinked innocently, a glint of playful mischief sparkling in his eyes:

“Imagine if Julian Vance walked in on you and me looking this cozy right now—do you think he’d drop dead of sheer rage?”

Were it not for knowing that this man’s bones were even more arrogant and prideful than Julian Vance’s, I might have actually suspected he was flirting with me out of genuine affection.

Yet every time such a ridiculous illusion sprouted, I mentally scolded myself for not learning my lesson; getting burned once was already catastrophic enough, why refuse to grow wiser?

Julian Vance couldn’t even bring himself to cherish me, let alone a cynical fox like Christian Sterling.

“Good partner, how about a celebratory hug? We make such an impeccably synchronized team.”

Faced with Christian Sterling’s intermittent bouts of eccentricity, I shot him a sidelong glance, offering no verbal reply while reluctantly accepting a perfunctory embrace.

Mostly because he acted so completely casual that refusing outright would make me look excessively guilty…

Half-heartedly hugging him for appearance’s sake, before I could even pull away, Christian Sterling was sent crashing to the floor by a sudden, violent blow.

“Christian, you’ve got a death wish!”

It was Julian Vance.

Bursting in from god knows where, his complexion was pitch-black like a burnt wok.

Ignoring me entirely, his bloodshot eyes locked with laser focus onto Christian Sterling:

“What is the meaning of this? Don’t you know Evelyn and I are getting married?”

“So what if you are? I merely gave Tuế Tuế a hug, didn’t kiss her or hop into bed. Why are you so high-strung?”

His tone was dripping with breezy, insouciant defiance characteristic of a playboy. I nearly passed out from his brazen composure.

Was this really the Christian Sterling I knew?

I stood frozen in a daze, momentarily forgetting to dodge the gaze Julian Vance directed at me.

Seeing my eyes lingering on Christian Sterling, Julian Vance’s expression darkened further.

Yet unable to vent his anger on me, he pivoted right back to whaling on Christian Sterling.

To be precise, Christian Sterling stood there taking the blows entirely without fighting back, letting Julian Vance vent his fury while periodically shooting sidelong glances at me as if communicating: “Are you just going to stand there watching instead of saving your future husband?”

Sighing helplessly, I stepped forward to shield Christian Sterling, looking coldly at Julian Vance:

“Apologize to him right now.”

Julian Vance stared at me in absolute disbelief: “Evelyn, what did you just say? You want me to apologize to him?”

“Sterling is my friend. He helped me immensely during my years in Germany. You barged in and assaulted him unprovoked—don’t you think an apology is warranted?”

Displaying natural talent as a homewrecking siren, Christian Sterling leaned his chin against my shoulder and whimpered piteously:

“Tuế Tuế, it hurts so much. President Julian, why did you hit me? What did I do wrong?”

Julian Vance’s face turned as dark as a thundercloud: “You called her Tuế Tuế?! Do you realize that for the past three years, this bastard was the one scheming behind the scenes, making it impossible for me to find her!”

“Enough!”

I snapped sharply, casting an icy glare at him: “You throw punches unprovoked and then resort to pathetic excuses. I am profoundly disappointed in you.”

Julian Vance froze, struck dumb in his tracks for a breathless second.

“Evelyn…”

Ignoring him completely, I grabbed Christian Sterling’s hand and strode out, refusing to spare Julian Vance another glance.