Chapter 3

A nobody—how could she possibly catch the CEO's eye?

Jasmine buried her head lower, controlling her trembling voice as much as possible as she spoke her name softly. "Jasmine Hale."

Neville repeated it. Though the name was simple, it had a certain elegant quality to it. Just like that iris flower scent from that night. A ridiculous notion suddenly rose in his mind, and he blurted out, "Where were you last night?"

His tightly wound nerves seemed to loosen for a split second. The moment the words landed, even Neville himself was stunned.

Jasmine suppressed her inner panic. "I went home early. Last night... did something happen?"

She stiffly raised her head, forcing herself to meet his gaze directly, trying not to show even a trace of timidity. Her hands were clasped behind her back, fingers twisted together, nails nearly embedding into her palms.

Neville's furrowed brow relaxed. A hint of self-mockery surfaced in his heart. He was actually getting flustered over last night's woman, even abandoning his long-held composure and self-control. Women were creatures exceptionally skilled at disguising themselves.

He pulled up Jasmine's résumé—graduated from a prestigious school, no bad habits, strong ability to handle pressure, organized work style. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

The topic shifted too abruptly. Jasmine nearly bit her own tongue as she spoke. "Yes."

Her answer was definitive.

Neville looked up again, his gaze sharp as if it could peel away layers of pretense. Under that pressure, Jasmine pressed her lips tight and persisted in finishing her sentence. "My boyfriend and I have a very stable relationship."

"I didn't ask you that." Neville withdrew his gaze.

The position of his personal secretary had remained vacant because he detested having women in his private space. But this Jasmine unexpectedly suited his requirements. And with a stable boyfriend, she wouldn't harbor any inappropriate thoughts.

"Go handle the transfer procedures. You'll start as my personal secretary."

PrimeUniverse's work pace was notoriously fast, but Neville's decisiveness still shocked Jasmine. One sentence, and he'd directly determined her career trajectory.

After last night's accident, she really didn't want any further contact with this CEO. But Melina's sharp words pierced through her mind once again. Spending her whole life cramped in a rental. Spending her whole life insignificant. Spending her whole life dependent on others.

She had to make it up to Melina.

The personal secretary's salary was several times what she made now.

Jasmine went through the transfer procedures at HR in a daze. HR director Mandy gave her a pitying once-over before rapidly stamping the application form. "Good luck!"

A thick stack of guidelines, heavy as a book, was forcibly shoved into Jasmine's arms. Jasmine hadn't had time to process the deeper meaning in her words when she returned to her original department to collect her things and was hit with another blow.

Melina had moved fast—she'd already completed her resignation procedures. A female colleague clicked her tongue. "Lina said her new boyfriend treats her so well, he doesn't want her to keep working and exhausting herself."

Jasmine's vision went dark. She rushed back to the rental apartment without stopping. The floor was a mess. Melina was sorting through her clothes with a disgusted expression.

"Lina." Jasmine tried to stay calm. "Which boyfriend is it this time?"

After starting college, Melina's boyfriends had been endless, and unfortunately none of them were any good. Some had even taken out loans in her name for tens of thousands of dollars. That debt was money Jasmine had starved herself to repay. She was afraid Melina would be conned beyond the point of no return.

"We live together day and night. If you'd really found some rich kid, how could I not know about it? Did someone con you again with flashy promises? Lina, can't you use your brain? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

But Melina looked like her tail had been set on fire, glaring furiously at Jasmine. "You're not my parents. Do I have to report everything to you?"

"But I'm responsible for you!" Jasmine had never felt so exhausted. She blocked the door, taking a deep breath. "If you don't explain clearly, I'm not letting you leave today."

"Alright, Grandma." Melina rolled her eyes, kicked aside the clothes on the floor, and plopped onto the bed. "He's someone I met online. He's been hiding his identity from me before, but now he wants to take me home. Why wouldn't I go?"

"When did you meet him? How do you know this person is reliable?"

"He's more reliable than you, the person who got my parents killed."

Familiar people know exactly where to stab to make it hurt.

Jasmine was struck speechless.

Meanwhile, Melina grabbed her suitcase and gave Jasmine a contemptuous smile. "All those years you worked yourself to death aren't worth a single floor tile at my boyfriend's place. You should hurry up and find a man to marry too." She pointed at the clothes left on the floor. "I'm giving them all to you. Dress yourself up nicely. After all, you did raise me for so many years. I won't treat you badly in the future—I'll send you cosmetics and clothes regularly."

Jasmine tried one last time to hold her back, even somewhat humbly grabbing her sleeve. "But men can't be relied on. I just became the CEO's secretary. Our lives will get better and better. I'll definitely buy you a big house."

"Are you kidding me?" Melina laughed out loud, patting Jasmine's cheek. Her tone shifted suddenly, a trace of venom flashing in her eyes. "Are you jealous that I've finally surpassed you? It was one thing when I wasn't as good as you before, but now I've finally found my golden path—why are you still trying to block me?"

She looked crazed, like a desperate gambler.

Jasmine knew Melina's temperament well. Right now she was a wild horse that couldn't be reined in—she'd have to crash and bleed before turning back. Melina's eyes were bloodshot, red veins spreading across the whites, urgent and obsessive.

She looked at Jasmine, lips curling. "Even though you destroyed my family, I'm not unreasonable. Why don't you quit your job too? I'll give you eight thousand a month. You can live comfortably for a few years. Stop thinking I'm just dragging you down."

Jasmine had never thought of Melina as a burden.

Jasmine's fingers froze in midair, her fingertips retaining the cool sensation of Melina's sleeve sliding away. Melina's back was resolute as she turned and dragged her suitcase away, without even a moment's hesitation.

The leftover clothes scattered across the floor mirrored Jasmine's shredded emotions at this moment. Her throat felt stuffed with water-soaked cotton, painfully tight. Melina's accusations were like an ice-tempered dagger stabbing viciously into Jasmine's heart, making all her years of devoted sacrifice seem laughable and cheap.

From Melina's driver, Jasmine found out which residential area she was heading to.

"Dominion Park?"

She'd seen that name in Neville's personal information. Jasmine's emotions churned. Nine out of ten people living there were either wealthy or powerful, just like Neville.

Could Melina's boyfriend actually be a rich kid?