February had come to an end in the blink of an eye.
The weather, too, had shifted just as swiftly—subtle, yet profound. The bitter cold of the northern winter had passed, giving way to the gentle caress of spring breezes, cool and refreshing against the skin. Pale pink peach blossoms hurriedly bloomed, each flower vying to unveil itself under the warm sunlight of the new season, afraid of missing even a moment to show off.
The scent of the long holiday still lingered in the air, and people had yet to emerge fully from the festive buzz of the New Year, their faces and clothing still bright and vibrant with celebration.
But for Serena, this weather only made her want to stay curled up in bed at home.
She let out a long yawn, not even bothering to glance at her pale face in the mirror. With a quick dab of dusty rose lipstick and a handful of random items from the table, she shoved her feet into a pair of worn Mary Janes and darted out of the cramped 16-square-meter apartment.
This was her fourth year working in Commerce City alone.
Even though she was all by herself in this ruthless city where money ruled everything, Serena felt oddly at ease.
It had been ten years since she last felt this light.
The small house back in Province Y was now settled. Her mother had grown fond of the peaceful atmosphere and kind neighbors, deciding to stay there permanently. Her younger sister, Helen, had made it into a graduate program and was just a year away from completing her degree. She was expected to stay on as a research assistant at the provincial Soil Research Institute afterward.
Six years of working in society, four years of quietly enduring in Commerce City—all of it was worth it for her mother and sister to live in peace.
If she could just hold on through this year, she would officially become a long-term employee of DTX Group—one of the country's most powerful corporations, ruled by the Ditch family and ranked among Forbes' Top 100.
As a token of appreciation to loyal staff, DTX had a tradition: employees who stayed for five continuous, uninterrupted years would be recognized during the year-end gala with a commemorative medal and a bonus gift—either cash or goods.
Of course, those weren't what Serena truly cared about.
What she really wanted was the special five-year contract that came with a 1.5x salary raise.
Landing that contract meant no more living in fear of being fired. Even if she chose to resign halfway through, the company would still offer severance pay.
Thinking of this, Serena slapped her cheeks to wake herself up, straightened her back, and merged into the busy crowd heading into the massive glass revolving door of the Skywind complex.
Serena worked as a designer in the company's communications department.
DTX started with transport and construction, but quickly expanded into biotech, electronics, IT, real estate, finance, hospitality, and entertainment.
Naturally, the communications department was constantly swamped, tasked with shaping the brand's image—especially during product launch seasons. Serena's design team raced against deadlines, pumping out content to meet PR demands.
Even during normal times, they were already overloaded. Lately, tension filled the building.
The reason? The rightful heir of the Ditch family—the chairman's legitimate grandson—had returned to China and assumed the CEO position after seven years abroad, where he had expanded the DTX empire across North America.
From the beginning of the month, department heads were walking on eggshells. Rumor had it the young CEO was ruthless yet charming, known in business circles as the "smiling Grim Reaper" of negotiations. His cold decisiveness had half of Commerce City's corporate veterans trembling at the mere mention of his name.
Seven years ago, when he was still a fresh-faced youth shadowing Chairman Ethan Ditch, he had single-handedly brought down a real estate mogul during a bidding war for a port-side plot in Dayang—catapulting DTX to dominance in maritime transport.
Since then, his legend only grew. People thought he'd soon take over DTX's main office, but instead, he chose to go overseas, handpicking and grooming a young team under his grandfather's backing. He became a myth—the trailblazer who conquered the Western market.
The rumors around this crown prince of the Ditch family were endless. So when news broke that he'd officially taken the reins at DTX, everyone was scrambling to prepare for the storm.
Though Serena was just a low-level designer, she couldn't help feeling uneasy from all the gossip swirling around her.
Annie leaned on the desk, rolling her eyes. "Oh, please. Stop worrying. As if the CEO would ever waste time looking at nobodies like us."
Victor laughed, scratching his head. "You're right, Annie. No point overthinking."
Snow, seated next to Serena, leaned over and whispered, "What do you think, Serena?"
Still focused on wrapping up her final design files for submission, Serena glanced up with a polite smile. "Of course Annie sees things clearly."
Pleased with the flattery, Annie raised her chin and pointed to an empty desk. "Exactly. The company has over twenty thousand employees. You think the CEO's gonna meet every single one of us? Nah, just department heads and senior execs."
Everyone in the room understood the implication. Aside from the department head Vincent Lee, Annie was the only one he favored—sharing updates, taking her along to meetings. She'd already been promoted to Senior at the end of last year despite not yet hitting the five-year mark.
Senior: A title for experienced professionals with solid expertise and knowledge in their field.
Snow looked disappointed, muttering, "I still wish I could meet him once. They say he's insanely, insanely handsome."
Serena played along. "Sounds dreamy already."
Encouraged, Snow scooted closer and began whispering excitedly.
In truth, Serena wasn't all that interested.
But after years of surviving in this environment, she'd learned to read people and go with the flow.
She was just a girl from a small town, lucky to get into DTX. At first, many had questioned her credentials and skills.
The only reason she got in was because the design team had been desperate for staff. After working over a year as a temp, her work ethic and aesthetic sense somewhat matched DTX's expectations. Most importantly, someone like her—alone and provincial—was easier to manage and came cheaper than city hires. That's how the opportunity fell into her lap.
Knowing her own weaknesses, Serena made a point to endure everything quietly. She'd charm whoever she could, avoid conflict, and project the image of someone harmless and non-threatening.
Back then, she did every odd job: fetching coffee—over a dozen cups at a time, trekking more than a kilometer for them. Cleaning desks, organizing files, covering others' work during overtime, even running delivery errands…
All the tasks that pampered city kids would turn their noses up at.
All she wanted was a stable job and steady pay. That was enough.
Thanks to that, she managed to stay at DTX for four years.
The design team chatted away the entire morning, everyone anxiously awaiting updates from Manager Vincent after his meeting with the communications team at the CEO's office on the 30th floor.
Oddly, Annie didn't join Vincent for lunch that day. Instead, she reverted to old habits and made Serena go fetch coffee for the whole office.
Serena and Snow returned, arms full of americanos and pastries—only to be greeted by Manager Vincent's furious yelling.
No one knew when he got back, but he was already hurling documents across the table, his face red with rage.
"Who sent this file to the communications team, huh?!"
Serena and Snow edged inside quietly. Glancing at the scattered pages, they recognized them instantly.
DTX was preparing to launch a new AI product designed for households, especially homemakers.
As usual, during the pre-launch phase, the communications team only released cropped or blurred teaser images to stir online discussion.
Even the brand ambassador was kept secret, fueling debates among fandoms over whose idol had been chosen.
But the images Vincent held showed a clearly visible back and arm…
She was even wearing the limited-edition diamond-studded smart watch that had just launched at the end of last year.
One glance, and anyone could guess who the woman in the photo was.
At the recent film awards ceremony, she completely stole the spotlight with that exact look—and that exact watch.
Serena's face turned pale. She turned to look at Diane.
Wasn't this the work of the two of them?
Diane had been in charge of the product, while Serena had handled the modeling side of things.
But now, Serena didn't dare say a word. She just lowered her head and stared at the floor.
"Cat got your tongues? Someone better start talking—who was in charge of this?" Vincent Lee roared. "Don't make me dig through the emails myself. If I have to go that far, you might as well start packing."
He was still yelling, but the entire room stayed dead silent. No one even dared to breathe too loud.
Suddenly, the internal phone rang. Ann picked it up and hesitantly passed it to Vincent.
"Hello? Yes, sir. I understand. I'll be right there."
His tone had shifted completely—soft, deferential. Clearly, whoever was on the other end outranked him by a long shot.
After hanging up, he stopped yelling. Rubbing his temples, he swept his eyes across the room and dropped a bombshell:
"The CEO wants both the design and communications departments upstairs immediately to explain this incident. Get ready."
Just before stepping out, he turned back with a warning glare:
"Let me make one thing clear—get your stories straight before we go up there. Don't drag me down with you, and for god's sake, don't piss off Director Ditch. I won't be able to protect any of you."