My little sister’s middle school hosted a charity flea market. She spent five bucks on an old love letter and presented it to me like a priceless treasure: "Look, Summer! The person this is addressed to has the exact same name as you!" I stared at the letter, dated eight years ago, and fell into deep thought. The signature at the bottom read: Ethan Sterling. Wait. Wasn't that my aloof, ice-cold high school lab partner? The guy who was now my aloof, ice-cold boss? Before I could ask any questions, a call came through to my sister's smartwatch. A little boy on the other end was crying his lungs out: "My uncle is going to kill me! I'll give you a hundred bucks—just please give that love letter back!" 1 Because of a mistake made by one of our interns, our entire team was getting chewed out. As the team director, I took the brunt of the yelling. By the time I walked out of the CEO's office with my head hanging low, the intern was on the verge of tears. "Summer, I'm so sorry. I dragged you down with me." I looked at the dark circles under her eyes. The workload had been brutal lately, and our whole team had been working overtime. She hadn't been slacking off. I waved my hand dismissively. "It's fine. I'm used to getting yelled at. It doesn't even hurt anymore..." "Is that so?" A deep, low voice echoed behind me. The intern flinched like she'd been struck by lightning. My body went rigid. I looked up to see Ethan Sterling pushing his office door open, his brows furrowed as he stared at me. Ugh... that icy, deadpan face. Just looking at it makes me mad. I forced a stiff smile. "...No." Ethan stared at me intently for a few seconds, then closed his office door. Later, when I stepped out to the pantry for water, I overheard a few interns whispering. "The boss is so mean to Director Hastings." "Her heart must be made of steel. If it were me, I would've quit by now." "I heard Director Hastings and the boss actually went to high school together." "No way! And he still rips into an old classmate without an ounce of mercy? He's a monster." I shrugged my shoulders. They weren't wrong. Ethan Sterling was a monster. And we weren't just regular high school classmates; we sat right next to each other as lab partners for three whole years! Yet, he still gave me absolutely zero preferential treatment. I was about to walk away when the topic of their conversation suddenly shifted. "By the way, I heard the boss is engaged." "Yeah, a little while ago, I saw his fiancée drop him off at the office!" "What? Our ice-cold CEO actually has a fiancée?" My footsteps faltered, and my fingers unconsciously tightened around my mug. Looking down the hallway toward the CEO's office, I suddenly felt a stifling, heavy feeling in my chest. 2 After a month of grueling overtime, our project finally hit a major milestone. The company gave us five days off. The interns were so excited they practically cried. I politely declined their invitation to go out for drinks, went home to pack a bag, and drove straight back to my hometown. I hadn't been back in six months. Thankfully, it was only a four-hour drive from the city where I worked. It was late at night by the time I arrived. My sudden appearance startled my mom, but she happily rushed off to make my bed while my dad hummed a tune and went to the kitchen to whip up a late-night snack. After dropping my bags, I quietly pushed open the door to a small bedroom. By the ambient light from the living room, I could see a little girl buried under the blankets, sleeping peacefully. Lily was the product of my parents' "happy accident" when I was already in high school. Having a baby sister so suddenly took some getting used to at first. But as Lily grew up, she became impossibly cute, perfectly inheriting my mom's patience and my dad's intellect. She was incredibly clingy with me, always thinking of me first whenever she got her hands on something good. Early the next morning, I was roused by some rustling. I sleepily opened my eyes to see Lily resting her chin on the edge of my bed. Her bright eyes blinked at me. "Summer! You're back!" "Yeah," I mumbled, closing my eyes again. "Be a good girl, your big sister needs to sleep a little longer." "Okay! I'm going to school now, but I'll bring you a present when I get back!" I hummed an acknowledgment. When Lily tiptoed out, she even carefully pulled the door shut behind her. What a sweet kid. She must have saved up quite a bit of allowance to be buying me presents. I was actually a little excited. It was almost 11 AM when I finally got out of bed. My dad had just picked Lily up from school. My parents told me to watch her for a bit while they ran to the grocery store. As soon as they left, Lily eagerly pulled something out of her backpack and shuffled over to me like she had a massive secret. "Summer, guess what I got you!" How was I supposed to guess that? Before I could even throw out a random answer, she couldn't hold it in anymore and shoved an envelope right into my face. "Look, Summer! Your name is on it!" I froze for a second and took the letter. The paper was slightly yellowed; it looked like it was from several years ago. The front of the envelope read: To Summer. What were the odds of sharing the same name? Lily babbled on: "Our school had a charity flea market today. We brought old stuff from home that we didn't need, and students could buy whatever they wanted. The money goes to underfunded schools. "My desk partner brought a ton of stuff—old books, stationery... I found this letter tucked inside a book, so I bought it for five dollars." Lily looked at me, desperate for praise. "Do you like it?" 3 My very first thought was: It's just a coincidence. Growing up, I was never considered pretty in my class. I wore thick, heavy glasses and had a quiet, introverted personality. Whenever people talked to me, I never knew how to respond. So, naturally, no boy had ever given me a love letter. Holding the envelope, I felt a bit awkward. But Lily was urging me: "Open it! Hurry!" "I don't think that's a good idea..." After all, it belonged to someone else. And it was a love letter—something incredibly private. "But I spent a whole week's allowance on this!" Kids are impatient. She snatched the letter from my hands and ripped it open in three seconds flat. Then she shoved the paper back at me. "Read it to me!" "My classmate said he took this from his uncle's treasure box. He said everything in there is super valuable, so this must be too!" I was about to refuse again, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught the signature at the very bottom of the page. The handwriting was neat and elegant—Ethan Sterling. It felt like a lightning bolt struck my brain. I stared blankly for several seconds before my gaze rigidly moved upward to read the contents: [Summer, this is our third year sitting together as lab partners...] I slammed my hand over the paper, my face burning so hot it felt like it might explode. My sister was still begging: "Read it, Summer! I want to hear it too!" 4 I managed to distract my sister, clutched the envelope, and bolted into my room. I threw open the window and let the cold wind hit my face for a long time, but my heart wouldn't calm down. I looked at the letter again. I was absolutely certain Ethan wrote this. Back in high school, my handwriting was atrocious. My English teacher couldn't stand it anymore and actually gave me Ethan's notebooks to trace over for an entire semester. I could recognize his handwriting even if it turned to ashes. But... why? Why would Ethan Sterling have liked me in high school? My thoughts drifted back to the beginning of our freshman year, the first time I met him. I was a small-town girl who had just moved to the city to attend its premier high school. I showed up carrying an oversized, cheap plastic moving bag stuffed to the brim with all my belongings. By the time I reached the school gates, it was too heavy to carry, so I just dragged it behind me. But I overestimated the quality of that bag. The friction against the concrete tore a massive hole in the bottom. I walked for quite a while before realizing the bag felt too light. I turned around and saw my things scattered all over the pavement. Textbooks, pens, toiletries, my lunchbox... The kids around me were all staring. Laughter echoed from all sides: "Wow, look at the country bumpkin." "That bag is something else, man." My face burned bright red. I crouched down and started retracing my steps, picking everything up. Not long after, I bumped right into a boy walking toward me. He was wearing a backpack, tall, with strikingly handsome features. He was holding a pile of my scattered belongings. "I picked up the stuff further down," he said flatly. He looked over my shoulder at the shredded plastic bag on the ground. "Do you have another bag?" I shook my head awkwardly, too embarrassed to even look him in the eye. He thought for a second, pulled a few textbooks out of his own black backpack, and handed the bag to me. "Use this for now." I took the backpack in a daze and looked up blankly. "How am I supposed to return it to you?" The boy pointed at the textbooks I had just picked up. "Aren't you in Freshman Homeroom 3 too?" I froze, instinctively looking down at the textbooks he was holding. The name tag on the cover read his class and name. Freshman Homeroom 3. Ethan Sterling. ... If we're talking about who liked who first, I was definitely the one who fell for him first. Unfortunately, due to a mix of circumstances, that secret crush died a quiet death. After graduating from college, I joined an unknown, small startup for an internship, only to unexpectedly run into him again. That's when I realized he was the one who founded the company. It just goes to show how the gap between people only widens over time. While I was still stressing over how to feed myself, Ethan had already started a business and climbed his way into the elite class. So, how did this love letter even come to exist? I racked my brain but couldn't figure it out. Does Ethan still... Just thinking about it made my heart race, but before I could entertain the thought, I suddenly remembered the gossip the interns were whispering in the pantry. Ethan probably already has a fiancée. So this love letter, whether genuine or not, could only belong in the past. 5 While I was wallowing in melancholy, I heard Lily's angry voice from the living room: "Leo! You broke your promise! I'm never playing with you again!" I cracked the door open and saw Lily holding her smartwatch up, currently on a call. The kid on the other end burst into tears the moment she spoke: "Please, I'm begging you, just give the letter back! My uncle came home unexpectedly today and found out I touched his stuff. He yelled at me so bad! I'll give you a hundred bucks—no, I'll give you all my Christmas money! Just give it back, please?" Maybe it was because he was crying so pitifully. Lily pouted and stayed quiet for a moment. She hesitated for a long time while the boy kept begging. "Fine, I'll go talk to my sister." She sounded conflicted. "It was supposed to be her present." "Thank you so much!" The boy sounded immensely relieved. Then, he suddenly added, "Oh, by the way, my uncle should be at your house soon. He asked for your address and left half an hour ago. You can just hand the letter directly to him." I jolted, practically launching myself out of the room. Grabbing Lily's wrist to speak into her smartwatch, I demanded: "Hey kid, what's your uncle's name?" The boy stammered, "E-Ethan... Ethan Sterling." Ding-dong— At that exact moment, the doorbell rang. I froze. I scrambled to the peephole and peeked out. Standing outside, waiting patiently, was Ethan. He was wearing casual clothes, his hair not perfectly slicked back like usual. He looked a bit more approachable. But that wasn't the point. The point was, if I opened the door right now, things would get insanely awkward! How were we supposed to work together after this?! I turned and locked eyes with Lily. Just as she was about to speak, I slapped my hand over her mouth. "Listen to me. Go open the door. Don't tell him I'm home, and definitely don't tell him who your sister is." I sprinted into my room, shoved the letter back into the envelope, and practically threw it at Lily. "Give this back to him, and then shut the door!" There was no time to worry about manners. Lily nodded. After I was safely hidden in my room, she trotted over and opened the door. ... When the door opened, Ethan was about to speak, but he didn't see anyone at eye level. He paused, looked down, and saw a little girl holding an envelope up to him. "Hi. Are you Leo's uncle? "This is your stuff. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it." The little girl looked so pitiful that the frown on Ethan's face instinctively softened. "It's okay. Leo sold it to you; it's his fault." He glanced at the envelope and asked, "Did you open it?" The tear marks on the flap were pretty obvious. Lily's eyes darted around, and she immediately lied: "I'm sorry, mister. I was just really curious, so I peeked inside. But I don't know how to read very well, so I didn't understand it." Ethan smiled and let it drop. He handed Lily an envelope of his own. "A belated holiday tip. Work hard in school." He didn't linger and left shortly after. Once the door closed, I stepped out of my room. Lily flashed me an "OK" sign. "Mission accomplished!" 6 On the final day of my vacation, I drove back to the city. As I was prepping my materials for a meeting the next day, I realized I had left a crucial document at the office. I needed to verify some data, and doing it the next morning would be cutting it too close. I only hesitated for a few seconds before grabbing my car keys and heading out. My apartment wasn't far from the office—just a ten-minute drive. Our company occupied the top floor of a twenty-story building. Standing outside, I looked up at the lights glowing on the top floor and paused. Frank, the security guard returning from his patrol, spotted me. "Who's there?" "Hey, Frank." I waved. "Oh, it's you, Summer." Frank smiled. Having worked there for a few years, I was a familiar face. I asked him, "Is someone still up there this late?" Frank looked up. "I just came down from there. It's your CEO, Mr. Sterling." He clicked his tongue. "He's been here since this morning, working non-stop. Guy's a total workaholic." ... I slipped into the office, grabbed my document, and was trying to leave quietly when I noticed light spilling from the CEO's office at the end of the hall. After a moment's thought, I changed direction and walked toward it. I was about to knock but caught a glimpse inside through the open blinds. My raised hand stopped mid-air. Ethan was lying on the black leather sofa, his long legs slightly bent. He was wearing his pristine white dress shirt, but his tie hung loosely around his neck. The top two buttons were undone, revealing the sharp line of his collarbone. I froze, then gently pushed the door open, terrified of waking him. Ethan's brows were slightly furrowed; even in sleep, he didn't look at peace. In my memory, he was almost always like this. Those handsome brows rarely seemed to relax. But I also remembered a time when Ethan showed an incredibly gentle side. It was the spring of our junior year. We had been desk partners for a year. He was the math rep, and I was the biology rep. That afternoon, the teacher sent us to the print shop outside the school gates to pick up some test papers. As soon as I stepped out of the gate, I ran into my grandma, who had come to visit me. She was thrilled. "Summer! I was just wondering how I was going to get inside!" Our school usually didn't allow outsiders in. She had taken a long bus ride from our small hometown, transferring multiple times, and managed to spot me right as she arrived. She held my hand and chattered away. Ethan was standing a short distance away, waiting for me. My grandma asked me, "Summer, did you share the homemade fudge brownies I asked you to give your classmates last week? Did they like them?" I smiled. "They loved them. They all said you're a great cook." "That's wonderful!" The wrinkles on her face deepened with her smile. But I had lied. I ate all those brownies myself. At first, I offered them to my roommates, but I accidentally saw them throwing the bag into the trash. "It looks dirty. You'll get sick eating that," they had said. I couldn't stand seeing my grandma's hard work trashed like that. And as a teenager, I had my pride. So I ate every single one of those leftover brownies by myself. I asked my grandma to wait for me by the print shop. I told her I'd take her to get food as soon as I got the papers. But there was a problem with the biology tests, so I had to call the teacher to sort it out. When I finally came out, I saw Ethan keeping my grandma company. I heard my grandma ask him, "Did Summer share any of my brownies with you?" Ethan paused for a second, then smiled. "She did. They were delicious." Hearing this, my grandma beamed even brighter. She immediately pulled a small bag from her tote bag, her eyes full of hope. "I have more right here. Do you want some?" Older folks are like that—they always instinctively save what they think is best for the younger generation. To my grandma, her homemade brownies were the absolute best thing she could offer her granddaughter to share with her friends. I looked at Ethan nervously. But to my surprise, he reached out, took a piece of the fudge, and ate it without hesitation. "Thank you, Nana." His eyelashes were long, casting faint shadows under his eyes in the sunlight. His usually sharp features softened completely. I stared at him, mesmerized. I heard him praising me—telling her I had great grades, worked incredibly hard, was very kind, and had lots of friends. My grandma was so happy that day. And it was from that day on that I realized I kind of... liked him. 7 A secret crush is a chaotic, one-person war. I secretly paid attention to his every move, mimicking his little habits when he thought about problems, copying his handwriting. Even the slightest accidental physical contact between classes made my heart race. Just like that, I carefully collected these precious little moments. Before summer break of our junior year, I planned to confess my feelings to Ethan. But right around that time, rumors about him started spreading through the class. "I heard his mom and sister ran away because his dad beat them! And his dad went to prison last year for getting drunk and starting a riot!" "Are you serious? I always thought Ethan looked kind of dark and gloomy. He totally gives off the vibe of someone who would randomly punch you." "It's true. I heard violent tendencies are genetic. We better stay away from him." "Oof, guess Ethan won't be able to get a security clearance for a government job now." Their tones were dripping with schadenfreude. I couldn't take it anymore. I snapped my head around and glared at them. "Someone's just bitter that he always gets first place while you're permanently stuck in second, huh?" The guy froze, then cursed: "Are you crazy?!" "You're the crazy one! Rabid dog!" To be honest, I was usually very timid and rarely got into fierce arguments. Worse, I was the type who cried when I got angry. The argument barely started before my eyes were already red and welling up. So when Ethan walked into the classroom behind the teacher, the sight that greeted him was me, crying and cursing someone out, looking like an absolute mess. The guy and I were sent to stand in the hallway as punishment. The teacher asked us why we were fighting. We looked at each other and both chose to stay silent. He was silent out of guilt. I was silent because I was afraid Ethan would be hurt if he heard. ... My secret crush also ended that summer. The day I finally gathered the courage to confess to him was the last day of summer break. Following an address from memory, I found Ethan's house. It was an old, run-down alleyway, houses crammed together. Two or three people were peering into the courtyard of Ethan's house. "He's beating the kid again. It's a sin!" "Shouldn't we go stop him? What if he kills him?" "Don't! Old Yang tried to break it up a few days ago, and that bastard hit Old Yang too!" I hurried forward just as a massive crash echoed from the courtyard. Through the gate, I saw the front door get kicked open. Ethan was thrown out onto the ground. "You little punk." A tall man walked out and kicked Ethan squarely in the side. "You actually dared to hit back?!" The man was tall but heavily intoxicated, stumbling on his feet. Ethan wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, scrambled up, and tackled the man to the ground. "Why don't you just die?!" "Why don't you just die?!" Ethan wrestled with him. The man got enraged and hit back harder, cursing, "Even if I die, I'm taking you with me! You little punk, you think because you're older now your wings are fully grown? Let me tell you, my blood flows in your veins! You're my son, and you'll never escape me for the rest of your life!" "Look! You look exactly like me when you hit people!" The man laughed manically. "You're my son! My son!" Ethan's raised fist froze in mid-air, then dropped in defeat. He stumbled to his feet, looking down at the man on the ground. The teenage boy had already grown very tall. He had the strength to protect himself now. "I am not like you," Ethan said. "I am the valedictorian. I was before, and I will be in the future. I'm going to get into the best university, study the best major, and make something of myself. I'm going to walk a completely different path from you. "I am nothing like you." His words dropped like a bomb in my heart. Suddenly, I understood why Ethan studied so desperately hard. Because he didn't believe in fate. He wanted to change his destiny. Looking down at the love letter in my hand, I actually felt a wave of shame. Maybe I shouldn't confess. To Ethan, it would probably just be a nuisance. A burden. I called the police. I waited until the cops arrived, then silently walked out of that alley. And buried my teenage crush deep in my heart. Until graduation. Ethan wasn't just the valedictorian of our school; he was the state science fair champion. Flowers and applause surrounded him. Calls from Ivy League recruiters poured in constantly. Although I got into a decent state college, compared to Ethan, it felt completely insignificant. The gap between us was firmly established in that moment. My teenage crush ended amidst my endless hesitations and second-guessing. At the high school graduation ceremony. I stood next to Ethan, staring straight ahead, but tilting my head slightly toward him: "Ethan, I wish you a bright future." Ethan paused for a second, his voice as clear and crisp as ever: "Thank you. I wish you a bright future too." And with that, our youth drew to a close. 8 In the quiet office, I looked at the man in front of me. Ethan, you've made it to the top, so why don't you look happy? A half-finished, cold cup of coffee sat on the coffee table, surrounded by scattered documents. Ethan looked genuinely exhausted. Dark shadows hung under his eyes, and a light stubble shadowed his jaw. He looked completely unguarded, and somehow, vulnerable. I stared at him for a few seconds, picked up his suit jacket from the side, and gently draped it over him. But the moment I let go, a hand firmly clamped around my wrist. I jolted, looking up to meet Ethan's eyes, my heart skipping a beat. His gaze was a bit hazy at first, but quickly sharpened. His grip was tight, and I frowned in pain. Ethan loosened his grip, his voice raspy. "Why are you here?" I took a step back and replied, "I came back to grab a document. I saw the lights were on, so I came to check." Ethan glanced at the jacket that had slid down to his lap. He stayed silent for two seconds, then got up to pour a glass of water. I was about to quietly slip out when I heard him call my name. I stopped. "Mr. Sterling, did you need something else?" He looked at me. A few seconds later, he said, "I'm sorry for having a bad attitude toward you in front of the interns earlier." I didn't expect him to apologize to me so suddenly. I quickly said, "It's fine. It really was our team's fault. I take full responsibility. Please don't worry about it, Mr. Sterling." Ethan paused. "You..." For some reason, I felt incredibly nervous. Just as my heart was about to jump into my throat, I heard his tone shift. "You should head home early. Drive safe." "Will do, Mr. Sterling." I softly opened the door and walked out, letting out a long breath. ... I worked for five days straight. After clocking out on Friday, I went back to my apartment and slept like the dead. When I finally woke up, it was almost 10 PM. I picked up my phone and saw hundreds of new messages in the intern group chat. Maya, one of the interns, had lost a necklace. It was a jade Buddha her mom had specially gotten blessed at a temple for her. It meant a lot to her. She had searched everywhere but couldn't find it, and was asking if anyone had seen it. "Could the cleaning lady have picked it up? What if she swept it away as trash?" I sent a voice memo to calm her down: "Don't panic. Do you know roughly what time you lost it? I'll check the security cameras for you." Maya thought about it carefully. "Probably around 4 or 5 PM. I got hot and took off my jacket, maybe it fell off then." As a director, I had access to the security footage, so I immediately pulled up today's recordings. I found Maya's desk and watched it back and forth several times. Finally, zooming in, I saw that when Maya took off her jacket, something fell from her person and was accidentally kicked under a desk by a passing coworker. I breathed a sigh of relief, screen-recorded the clip, and sent it to Maya. "Ahhhh, thank you so much, Summer! I'll go get it on Monday!" "No problem. Glad we found it." I exited the chat. I was about to close the security footage when my finger slipped on the mouse, jumping the video forward to 9 PM. Ethan's figure flashed across the screen. I paused, surprised. Did Ethan really stay until 9 PM tonight? But then I felt confused. Ethan's route out of the office didn't pass by this area... Driven by curiosity, I clicked, rewinding the footage a few seconds. On the screen, Ethan appeared from one side, his target clear—he walked straight to my desk. Me: "?" He paused at my desk for two seconds. After he walked away, I could clearly see that a few caramel truffles had been left on my desk. My eyes widened, and I shot up straight in bed. There was candy on my desk almost every single day. I always assumed an early-arriving coworker was leaving them, and I ate them all without a second thought. Could it be... I hit the keyboard, pulling up the footage from the past few days. I skipped to 8 or 9 PM each night. Sure enough, I saw Ethan again. The one leaving the candy had always been him. Bzzzz— My phone vibrating broke my train of thought. Seeing the caller ID, my heart dropped. Why was Ethan calling me at this hour? I hit answer, but a strange woman's voice came through. "Hello? Is this Summer Hastings?" "Yes, this is she. And you are..." "Mr. Sterling is drunk. You might need to come pick him up."
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "391846", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel