Inappropriate as it was, the melody of "Love Trading" somehow floated into Raina Lu's head.

Plate in hand, she turned around. He was right there, barely an arm's length away.

Mason Han stood before her in a sharply tailored suit, every crease pressed flat.

"Hello, Mr. Han."

Raina held the plate in one hand and extended the other toward him.

Standard social courtesy. Even the smile on her face seemed calculated—not a fraction out of place.

Mason Han froze for a moment.

Today Raina wore a restrained black cocktail dress—fitted, hem below the knee, with a blazer thrown over it. Beautiful, and very capable-looking.

In three years as his assistant, Mason Han had rarely looked at his equally serious assistant with an appraising eye.

What had satisfied him most was Raina's absolute formulaic efficiency. Given the same time and materials, she could maintain the same pace from start to finish without changing expression, dismantle the other party with the sharpest words until their face and neck flushed red, secure the contract she wanted, and afterward still shake hands with a smile.

But when Raina turned that attitude on him, Mason Han felt a faint, unexpected displeasure.

Raina Lu's resignation had caught him off guard.

The next morning, when he couldn't get through on her work phone, it took him a long time to realize that Raina seemed to have resigned yesterday.

When an assistant resigned, handover was standard procedure. Raina's departure had come without warning. The day after she left, Mason Han's work ground to a near standstill.

He didn't know why Raina had made such a sudden decision.

After thinking it over, Mason Han called her that evening—and hadn't expected such an ungracious response.

The newcomer filling Raina's role was making mistake after mistake, worse than Raina three years ago.

Mason Han had had three years to adapt to Raina's work habits. He might not have three more to spend adapting to someone else.

Seeing Raina at this engagement banquet, Mason Han had spoken before he knew it.

He had never known how to keep someone from leaving. That was true before, and it was true now. The reasons were different, but he had opened his mouth all the same.

Unfortunately the result was... Mason Han closed his eyes briefly and recovered his usual composure.

Seeing that Mason Han still hadn't responded, Raina slowly withdrew her hand.

The smile remained. "Mr. Han, if there's nothing else, I'll be going."

Standing in front of Mason Han wearing a smile of complete indifference was still exhausting for her now.

Suppressing emotion tasted awful.

Mason Han opened his mouth to speak, but another voice cut in first.

"Well, well—is this the legendary Assistant Lu?"

Raina narrowed her eyes slightly, sizing up the heavily made-up woman who had appeared out of nowhere.

The woman giggled and held out her hand. "I'm Kiki Wu. Mason Han's girlfriend now."

One glance was enough for Raina to tell that the frighteningly pale skin had who knew how many layers of product on it, a stark contrast with the faint yellow tone of her neck. The way the woman hung off Mason Han's arm was deeply unpleasant to look at.

Raina didn't answer the woman. She looked at Mason Han instead.

"Mr. Han, were you sent on another blind date?"

Mason Han didn't reply. The woman's face changed, then she forced out a smile, as if trying to explain something.

Seeing Mason Han's tacit acceptance, Raina suddenly couldn't hold back her anger. The smile on her face collapsed.

What exactly was Mason Han playing at? Ever since she had started working beside him, she had watched him cycle through girlfriend after girlfriend. The ridiculous part was that nearly every one of them had been arranged by Mr. Han—the first, the second, she could almost understand. But why was every girlfriend like this? At first she had thought Mason Han liked this type of spoiled rich girl. But... if he liked them, he wouldn't remain ice-cold until they broke up with him without so much as a flicker of emotion.

Could he really be that indifferent to the people he dated? Had he never once fallen for anyone?

She set down her plate and pointed at the woman, her voice low and almost shaking with rage.

"Mason Han, do you like her?"

"Mason Han, have you ever fucking liked anyone?"

In that corner of the room, the atmosphere seemed to snap taut in an instant.

Raina Lu's voice wasn't loud at all—normal volume, normal tone—but the words cut like a blade.

And that blade, in the end, sliced through her own heart.

She stared at Mason Han, not knowing what she was still holding on to.

Mason Han remained silent, his expression thoughtful.

Kiki Wu tried to speak, but it seemed that neither Raina nor Mason Han saw her at all.

If anything, the air between them seemed to push her out.

She stamped her foot, trying to get Mason Han's attention. Mason Han didn't even glance at her.

She and Mason Han had indeed met through a blind date arranged by their parents. But she was quite satisfied with him—better-looking and better-born than she had expected, and steady in temperament. A man like that might be cold and distant day to day, but he would make an excellent husband. Take him anywhere and he would never lose face.

She had calculated accordingly. Combined with Mason Han's lack of refusal, after knowing each other only a few days she had already begun treating him as hers.

Yet this woman in front of her had torn the truth of their relationship open with just a few words, leaving her utterly...

Finally Kiki Wu couldn't hold back and hissed at Mason Han, "Mason—Mason Han!"

Mason Han turned to look at her, tone flat. "Is something the matter?"

Only then did Kiki Wu realize that Mason Han's attitude toward her had never changed because she was his girlfriend.

Furious, Kiki Wu grabbed her purse, spun around, and stormed off.

Raina wasn't seeing this for the first time. She said lightly, with mockery, "Mr. Han, your date is angry. Aren't you going after her?"

Mason Han merely looked in that direction. He had no intention of chasing anyone.

Raina wasn't angry anymore. She hadn't expected this woman to throw a tantrum at Mason Han. Someone who understood him so little would be lucky to last a month at his side.

She picked up her plate and was about to leave.

Then she heard Mason Han's voice again. "You really don't plan to come back?"

That sounded exactly like work-obsessed Mason Han.

Raina smiled and looked back. "Then why don't you answer the question I just asked you first."

"What question?"

Smiling, she straightened up, letting go of the hostility from a moment ago. Her gaze drifted away, casual as small talk. "I really want to know, Mason Han—Mr. Han—have you ever liked anyone, from childhood until now?"

Mason Han's voice cooled. "Does that matter?"

Raina said without hesitation, "It matters."

Guests continued to stream in through the banquet hall entrance, all in formal dress.

Conversations rose softly around them, never loud enough to cover the elegant violin music from the side.

The lights were bright—almost dazzling.

Light fell across Raina Lu and Mason Han, casting a faint glow around them. Judging by their clothes alone, the two of them in black were unexpectedly well matched.

Years as superior and subordinate had left even their bearing with a trace of unspoken understanding.

She had already chosen to let go. The answer shouldn't matter that much anymore. But her feet felt rooted to the floor. Raina stood there with her plate, blocking Mason Han's path, waiting.

Mason Han parted his lips. "I..."

"Raina Lu?" A sudden voice cut off whatever Mason Han was about to say.

She turned her head and saw a handsome face. Fine brows and eyes curved into crescents by a smile. He was in a suit too, though without a tie—the carefully tailored shirt collar and cuffs turned slightly outward, giving the formal wear a relaxed, almost careless air.

"Ryan Xiang?"

Ryan Xiang smoothly moved to Raina's side, extended a hand toward Mason Han, but looked at Raina. "Aren't you going to introduce me? Who's this?"

Raina curved her lips and answered offhandedly, "My former boss, Mason Han, Mr. Han."

"So you're Mr. Han. I've heard a great deal about you. I'm Ryan Xiang—Raina Lu's senior from school. Maybe her future boss, who knows."

Mason Han politely shook his hand and released it.

Then he looked at Raina and said only one thing.

"I'll hold your position for one week."

Staring at Mason Han's retreating figure, Raina knew that was the most he could concede.

Should she feel grateful? At least three years of her life had been worth a week of his waiting.

"He's gone. Why are you still standing there?"

Two long fingers waved in front of her eyes.

Raina looked away toward the man on the other side, whose expression was anything but serious, and said quietly, "Why did you have to jump in at that moment?"

"So you noticed?" Ryan Xiang, utterly unbothered, picked up another crab and put it on her plate, smile unchanged. "I just saw the look on your face—you seemed about to cry—and couldn't help playing the hero."

Raina laughed. "Cry? When have you ever seen me cry?"

Pointing at the crab, Ryan Xiang suddenly asked out of nowhere, "You still like crab?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I thought with the way you used to eat, you'd be sick of it by now."

"That's my personal taste. You wouldn't understand."

Setting down his chopsticks, Ryan Xiang picked up the wine on the table. His tall frame leaned against the edge, the swaying red liquid making his fingers look especially long and fine, like something from an art gallery.

"I don't understand... You spent a year cramming day and night just to become his assistant?"