Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Olivia must have been holding some documents, because I could hear the rustle of paper as she flipped through them.

"Xiang Ge, this part is your responsibility. Could you take a look at these figures..."

"Xiang Ge, I have a question about the new project proposal..."

Ethan answered each of her questions patiently. At one point, Olivia must have said something funny, because I heard both of them laugh.

He always saved his smiles for Olivia Parker. With me? I couldn't remember the last time we'd had a conversation that felt even remotely warm.

But honestly? It wasn't just about Olivia. Ethan and I had always fought, right from the start.

Our first meeting had been a complete disaster.

It was my sophomore year. I'd gone with some classmates from the Publicity Department to paint a billboard.

I'd been standing on a stool, holding several paintbrushes—red, orange, yellow, green—clutched in my hands.

When I'd switched hands, one of the brushes had slipped out of my grip and fallen.

"Oh no!" I'd exclaimed, quickly leaning down to see where it had landed.

A handsome guy with glasses was staring up at me. He'd been squatting nearby, arranging some decorative props.

A streak of bright red paint ran from his glasses all the way down his white shirt.

"Oh, I'm so sorry—" I'd started to apologize, but before I could finish, he'd picked up the brush and thrown it back at me.

If he'd actually hit me, maybe I would have let it slide.

But instead, it had grazed my arm and landed on the billboard behind me—right on a section I'd just finished painting.

"Oops, missed. My bad," he'd said.

"You think an apology is enough?" I'd shot back.

"What's the big deal? Just touch it up again. We'll call it even," he'd replied.

"Call it even? Do you have any idea how long it took me to paint that part?"

Neither of us was willing to back down. We'd argued until we were both furious, then stormed off in opposite directions.

That was how I'd met him—the arrogant, unreasonable guy who turned out to be a senior in my department.

He was a top student, a star athlete, the teacher's pet, and the idol of almost every student in school.

From that day on, this "idol" had made it his mission to make my life difficult.

Of course, I'd given as good as I got.

Ethan and I had clashed constantly, but instead of trying to calm us down, our friends had started teasing us, even going so far as to play matchmaker, trying to set us up.

Both of us had scoffed at the idea.

And then, not long after that... Well, let's just say we ate our words.

Back then, our bickering had been simple, even sweet.

When had things started to go wrong?