The moment I walked through the front door that evening, I found Alex sitting on the couch watching TV–instead of holed up in his study like usual. He got up naturally, took my bag from me, and asked how the restaurant prep was going. I was so exhausted I didn’t really register what Alex was doing. It wasn’t until I was in the shower that it hit me–now Alex was acting like the kept man and I was some kind of business mogul. After my shower, while Alex was outside taking a call, I quickly grabbed my recipe notebook. Whenever Alex did something that stirred up feelings, I’d immediately jot down reality checks in my phone’s notes app. Now I copied those reminders into my notebook and added today’s entry: *September 16th: Everything’ll go back to normal in two weeks. Remember your place!! Work harder and stop letting little gestures mess with your head.* I shoved the notebook back under the bed. Sitting there, I stared out at the moon, totally spaced out. I knew these little warnings were pretty stupid. But I couldn’t think of any better way to handle this. I just had to slowly build up immunity and wait for that day to come. “Why aren’t you sleeping? What’s on your mind?” Alex’s voice snapped me back to reality. “Nothing much. The renovation’s moving fast–just thinking if I missed any details.” Alex nodded without comment. After we got into bed, he suddenly spoke up: “The housekeeper mentioned that Mr. Kim’s kept girl has been coming around looking for you lately. Since when are you two so close?” Hearing how Alex referred to Candy made my chest tighten painfully. I casually rubbed my chest and said offhandedly: “We’re not really. She started saying some strange things to me recently, so I blocked her. No idea why she keeps showing up.” Alex made a soft “hmm” sound and said matter–of–factly: “Probably fishing for information for Kim. Smart move blocking her. That type’s nothing but trouble.” With that, Alex rolled over and went to sleep. But those dismissive words kept me awake for hours. Over the following days, I left before Alex got up and came home after he did. I tried to minimize our time together as much as possible. Reborn Sugar Baby’s Motto: Cash Yes, Daddy No 2.4% C During this period, Lucas mentioned that Alex had unilaterally terminated his partnership with Mr. Kim. A couple days later, I saw people in our “Girls Night Out” group chat discussing Candy, Mr. Kim’s wife had tracked her down. After completely losing it on her, she literally stripped her naked and threw her into the fountain at Central Park in broad daylight.. When security found her hours later, she’d gone completely psychotic. Seeing Candy’s completely different fate from my past life made my chest feel tight and my whole body go cold. The day Victoria returned to the country, someone in the group tagged me: noveldrama*Nancy, the queen bee is back in town. Better watch your back and don’t go crazy like Candy.” I didn’t reply–just left the group entirely. In my past life, Alex had gone to the airport to pick up Victoria that day and didn’t come home all night. So I wasn’t in any rush to get back either. I ordered some barbecue and got myself half–drunk in my nearly finished restaurant. I didn’t stand outside my front door until just before midnight. The moment I walked in, I sobered up fast. Because I saw the man who should’ve been with Victoria instead sitting on our couch with his eyes closed, holding my recipe notebook in his hands. After what felt like forever, Alex finally opened his eyes. He stared at me with this heavy look for the longest time. Then he shook my notebook and said expressionlessly: “Come here. We need to talk.”