Chapter 1

When Ethan and I broke up, things ended badly.

He angrily punched the glass cabinet, his hand bleeding profusely.

But then he knelt down, wrapping his arms around my waist, his voice trembling: "Lucy, what were you thinking? How could you like someone else? I won't break up with you. There's nothing that can't be solved by sleeping together, right? Baby, let's not break up..."

A few years later, after my startup with friends failed, I had no choice but to seek help from the CEO of Ocean Group.

That man turned out to be Ethan.

At the dinner table, he swirled his wine glass, leaning back slightly in his chair. He raised an eyebrow and looked at me: "Lucy, isn't there nothing that can't be solved by sleeping together? What do you say?"

To be honest, I expected Ethan would make things difficult for me.

After all, our breakup had been extremely unpleasant.

He resented me.

That's why he stared at me with a smile at the dinner table, though the smile didn't reach his eyes -

"Lucy, isn't there nothing that can't be solved by sleeping together? What do you say?"

I had seen him in his prime when we were young. I knew he had always been proud and arrogant.

Once upon a time, wasn't I proud and arrogant too?

But I never had the same resources he did. Never.

So I raised my glass to him, my posture as low and humble as possible, and pleaded: "Mr. Chi, I was wrong before. Please be the bigger person and forgive me. We were classmates after all, and have known each other for over ten years. I'm here to apologize, so please think of our history together."

After saying this, I drank that glass of red wine.

The man sitting across from me maintained a casual posture, one hand twirling his wine glass, the other resting casually on the table. He just looked at me with an amused smile, saying nothing.

I immediately poured another glass and toasted him again.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Chi. I was wrong."

"We've been working on this project for two years now. It's guaranteed to be profitable once we reach the sales stage. I know you may not think much of a small company like Brilliant Create, and you have no shortage of profitable projects to invest in. But this is our team's entire life's work. It really is very meaningful. Please give us a chance to prove the product's value..."

By the end, after three glasses of wine, my eyes were red and I didn't know what else to say.

If Ethan had sneered even once and said "What does your value have to do with me?", I think I would have been utterly ashamed of my "begging" right then and there.

Lowering my head in front of him always exhausted all my courage.

Fortunately, he didn't say that.

He glanced at me, lit a cigarette with some irritation, and slowly exhaled: "Back then you wouldn't even eat half a bun on my dime for two weeks. Now you're here begging me humbly, and you've already drunk half a bottle of my Cheval Blanc."

I was stunned for a moment, instinctively looked at the red wine on the table, and immediately felt ashamed. I quickly said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Chi. If you're not happy, I can compensate you."

"Be clear - which one are you compensating? And how?"

He raised an eyebrow, seemingly interested, his gaze burning into me.

"I'll buy you another bottle of wine, and I beg you to give Brilliant Create a chance."

"One bottle of wine? Lucy, your pride is still too high. Even after all these years of struggle, it hasn't been beaten down. What a pity."

He smiled at me, his voice mocking: "Seeking profit without investment is trying to get something for nothing. You're treating me like a fool."

"Mr. Chi, I'm begging you." My eyes reddened at his words.

"That's not how you beg someone. At the very least, you should be like how I was back then."