Gideon came out of the car and stood tall, buttoning up his suit jacket. As usual, he looked impeccably elegant. His sharp, commanding presence and striking looks hadn’t faded in the slightest, even after six years.
Everyone greeted him warmly, shaking hands with him. But Summer stood there, numb, as if she had been electrocuted.
’Why does it have to be him?’ Summer’s mind screamed.
She had no idea when Cosmos Technology had become a part of Woods Group. If she had known Gideon would come himself as the new CEO, she wouldn’t have accepted that promotion.
To stay away from this man, she had left her hometown, settled in a new city, and had started from scratch. She had assumed he would not find her, but he appeared in front of her anyway. It was as if she couldn’t escape him, no matter what.
"Summer!" A sudden tug on her arm drew her out of her trance. "Oh, my God. The new boss is young – so handsome. I thought it would be some old guy with a bald head and a beer belly. But he is nothing like that."
It was her teammate, Julie, practically swooning.
Summer smiled slightly, but that was not a smile. How could she smile at this moment?
"I wonder if he is single," the woman added, seemingly captivated by Gideon’s handsome appearance. "I wish I could get his attention."
"Come to the earth, Julie," Summer whispered. "A wealthy and influential man like him will never take seriously about the people from a modest background."
She knew better than anyone. Once, she too had fallen in love with this handsome man and paid the price. Gideon hadn’t just broken her heart, he had destroyed her world, even killed her, just for revenge.
Julie pouted. "Why are you always so blunt? Can’t you lie a little to make me happy?" She turned her focus back to Gideon, smiling dreamily. "You are lucky. As his secretary, you can work right beside him. If I get the chance to work with him, I’ll keep staring at this hot guy."
Summer had done the same in the past. She used to stare at him when she was young and hopelessly in love with him. But that love had been crushed mercilessly, leaving only scars and sorrow.
She couldn’t let him see her. The fear that history would repeat itself made her want to disappear. She turned, ready to sneak away. But Julie grabbed her hand again.
"Look. He is coming this way."
Summer froze in her place instinctively. Her instinct urged her to flee, but her body wouldn’t obey, as if her legs refused to move. Her eyes moved toward him despite herself.
Right at that moment, Gideon also happened to look toward her, and their gazes collided in mid-air. The world seemed to pause at that moment. But he looked away quickly, his expression unreadable. It seemed as if he hadn’t seen her, as if she were just another face in the crowd.
Summer’s pulse thundered in her ears. She lowered her head, praying he had not recognized her. She could feel him getting closer as he shook hands with the staff members, one by one. Every cell of her body screamed at her to run away, but her legs seemed to be glued to the floor. Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.
In the meantime, her phone buzzed in her hand, making her jump. It almost slipped out of her grasp. But she quickly tightened her grip around it. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was a call from the hospital.
She turned to walk away.
"Hello?"
"Miss Summer, a new batch of medicine has arrived," a female voice said. "This medicine has recently been developed, and it has been showing great results for cancer patients. If you’d like your daughter to start this course, please complete the payment by the end of the day so we can begin immediately."
Summer breathed a small sigh. Amidst the turmoil, this was something that brought a smile to her face. "Yes, please go ahead. I’ll make the payment today."
On the other end, Mr. Lee continued to introduce the important staff members to Gideon. "This is Kate, the general manager of our company."
"Hello, Mr. Woods." Kate beamed, shaking his hands. "We are honored to have you here. Let me introduce you to your secretary."
Her words trailed off as she turned to look behind. There was no sign of Summer. "Where is she?" The smile on her face vanished.
Julie stepped up. "She received a call just now and went to answer it." She couldn’t hide her giddy smile, still staring at Gideon.
Gideon knew that look. He had seen it countless times before, but as always, he ignored it. His gaze lingered in the direction where Summer had walked away.
Last night, he had doubted himself, thinking he had only imagined seeing her. But now that he saw her again, he realized what he had seen last night wasn’t his imagination. It was really her.
However, he had forced himself to look away, fearing she would vanish again. And she did. She had walked away like she was escaping him. He wanted to chase her down, hold her in his arms, and never let her go. But he did nothing.
Since he found her eventually, he would get her back. There was no need to hurry.
"Forget it," Kate muttered, seemingly displeased. When she turned back to Gideon, her professional smile returned. "Let me show you to your office. Please this way." Read the latest chapters at novelping(.)com.
Kate gestured politely, leading him down the corridor toward his office.
Summer came to her desk, her head throbbing in nervousness. Gideon’s face kept flashing in her head again and again.
’Did he see me or not?’ This question circled back in her mind.
She was almost certain he had seen her, yet he pretended as if she were invisible. ’What are you planning?’ she wondered uneasily.
At Gideon’s office...
Gideon stood by the glass wall, a cigarette burning between his fingers as he gazed out at the city skyline. It had been six years since he had last seen her. There was not a single day he had not thought about her. Every day, he had waited to get information about her, but all he had received was disappointment.
Everyone had told him that she had died in that fire, but he had not believed it. He had kept looking for her endlessly. When he had decided to acquire this company a few months ago, he hadn’t imagined he would find her here.
It turned out that she had faked her death back then and had remained hidden in a different city all those years. But now, he found her, and he wouldn’t let her escape.
"Sir." Matthew’s voice interrupted his thoughts. "The meeting with the project heads is in an hour."
Gideon extinguished the cigarette, squeezing it mercilessly.
"You can rest for a while if you want. I’ll call you when the time comes."
"I don’t need rest," Gideon said curtly.
Rest was the last thing on his mind. He needed to know everything about Summer – what she did all those years, who she was involved with, and most importantly, whether she had any man in her life.
"I saw Summer at the reception. I want every detail about her on my desk."
"Yes, sir." Matthew left.
Gideon’s expression tightened as he muttered, "Summer. How long are you planning to run away from me?"