A Camellia Kiss, Too Late

Everyone knew I’d shamelessly chased after Ethan Foster for sixteen years. The two of us grew up together in the orphanage, founded Boundary Tech together, and fought side by side.

Ethan had always kept me at arm’s length. Until three days ago, when Ethan got drunk and spent one wild night with me.

I thought I’d finally waited long enough for the clouds to part and the moon to appear. But I never expected Ethan to become a completely different person after that.

Not only did he decide I’d deliberately seduced him while he was drunk and kick me out of the company, he turned around and started dating Olivia Bennett.

Mia Reed POV The second Ethan opened his front door, I rushed out from the shadows of the entryway and threw myself at him. Ethan wasn’t prepared.

I slammed into him so hard he staggered forward two steps, and we both tumbled through the doorway.

I pinned him down with all my strength, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him. Ethan turned his head to dodge, so I chased after his lips.

My mouth brushed wildly over his cheek while my hands hurried to yank at his tie. “Mia Reed!

You’re drunk!” “I’m not drunk!” I mumbled back, dragging his tie off before starting on the buttons of his shirt. “I know exactly what I’m doing!” Ethan grabbed my wrist and tried to push me away.

I clung to him and refused to let go, desperately tugging his buttons open. “Ethan Foster, don’t even think about shaking me off!” “Get yourself sober before you talk!” “I’m perfectly sober!” I kept working at his shirt and pressed my hand to his chest. “I just want to know what’s so great about Olivia Bennett!

Great enough for you to take her to the beach in the middle of the night to freeze in the wind and look at the stars. And after that, you even put your jacket around her.

Since when did you become so good at taking care of people?” Ethan tore my hand away from his chest. “Who I look at the stars with is my freedom.

It’s none of your business!” “None of my business?” I lifted my head and glared at him, my eyes so red they looked ready to bleed. “That night, you clearly knew it was me.

You were the one who started it, and you still won’t admit it!” I was talking about three days ago, the night of the partnership dinner between Boundary Tech and Bennett Group.

Ethan had too much to drink, so I helped him upstairs to my own room to rest. I put him on the bed and had just turned to get him some water.

Then Ethan grabbed my hand and yanked me down onto the bed. With an almost frantic urgency, he rolled over and pinned me beneath him, his kisses crashing down on me like a storm.

He kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. There was only one thought left in my head: He was kissing me. Ethan Foster was kissing me.

The person I’d waited sixteen years for had finally responded to me. That night, Ethan was rough in a way that felt strange.

My clothes were torn open, and his movements weren’t gentle at all. It was my first time. It hurt so much I bit my lip until it bled. But I didn’t tell him to stop. Sixteen years.

From the orphanage to building a company together, I had chased him for sixteen years, and tonight he had finally responded. No matter how much it hurt, I accepted it willingly.

We had just finished, our clothes still off, when a huge group of reporters broke down the door. The sound of shutters exploded in a chaotic barrage.

Instinctively, I pulled the blanket up to cover myself. Someone shoved a microphone right in front of me. “Ms. Reed, someone tipped us off that you drugged Mr.

Foster and seduced him. How do you respond?” I froze, then turned to look at Ethan, waiting for him to clear things up.

But Ethan put on his clothes with a dark expression and walked out of the room in front of every camera, without looking back at me even once.

That afternoon, my ID badge was deactivated. The two of us had started Boundary Tech from nothing, but Ethan kicked me out as if he were dealing with any other resigned employee.

That night, the media reported that Ethan was dating Ms. Bennett. The next day, the media reported that Ethan had accompanied Olivia Bennett to an art exhibit.

Yesterday, the media said Ethan had watched the stars with her by the sea and draped his coat over her shoulders.

In those reports, Ethan was romantic and passionate—the kind of treatment I had never received in sixteen years.

Tonight, I downed half a bottle of whiskey and came to block his door.

At this moment, I simply dragged him down with all my strength, and the two of us fell onto the floor together.

Before Ethan could get up, I was already straddling him. “You say I drugged you, fine! You say I’m scheming, fine! You kicked me out of the company, and I took it!

But you turned around and chased Olivia Bennett? That is not fine!” “Mia Reed!” He grabbed my waist, trying to flip me off him, but I moved first.

My hand went downward, straight for his zipper. With a sharp zip, I yanked it open.

That part of him immediately sprang out, hard and forceful. “If you’re not interested in me, then how do you explain this?” “Mia Reed, do you have no shame?” Even Ethan’s ears had turned red. “I have no shame.” I bent down and bit and kissed messily along his neck. “I only want you!” Ethan finally couldn’t take it anymore.

A low, muffled groan was forced from his throat as he flipped us over and pinned me beneath him. “You brought this on yourself!” He bent down eagerly and kissed me.

The pressure hurt, but I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and locked my legs around his waist, refusing to let go. “Even if you kick me out of the company a hundred times, I’ll still cling to you and refuse to leave!” Ethan didn’t answer.

He only sealed my mouth even harder. After it was over, I curled up in Ethan’s arms as the alcohol and exhaustion swept over me at the same time.

In a daze, I felt his phone vibrating. Ethan answered the call. I couldn’t hear what the person on the other end said.

I only heard Ethan say, “I’ll be right there,” before he started getting dressed.

I reached out to tug at his sleeve, but my fingers were too weak to hold on. “Don’t go…” Ethan lowered his head and looked at me.

He hesitated for a split second, but in the end, he still pulled my hand away and left.

When I woke up, a breaking news notification popped up on my phone: 【Bennett heiress Olivia Bennett seeks medical treatment after spraining her ankle.

Boundary Tech founder Ethan Foster appears at the hospital late at night and stays by her side the entire time.】 In the photo, Ethan was crouched outside the ER, tying Olivia Bennett’s shoelaces for her.

It was just a sprained ankle. Was that really worth leaving me behind and rushing over in the middle of the night? My heart hurt so badly that my whole body shook.

Mia Reed POV I rushed to the hospital to confront Ethan. But Ethan wasn’t there. Olivia Bennett was the only one in the hospital room.

She was leisurely scrolling through her phone, looking nothing like a patient. When she saw me storm in, Olivia didn’t even lift her head. “Ethan went to buy me breakfast.

If you’re here for him, then take your time and wait.” I stood in front of the hospital bed, breathing hard as I glared at her fiercely. Only then did Olivia put down her phone.

She looked me up and down, then smiled. “You look like a lunatic. No wonder Ethan is sick of you.” “Cut the crap. I’m here for Ethan.

This has nothing to do with you!” “How do you know it has nothing to do with me?” Olivia leaned back against her pillow, her smile filled with meaning. “Actually, you should’ve come to me.

What happened at the hotel that night had nothing to do with Ethan.

I arranged it.” I froze. “I put a little something in your wine.” Olivia looked at me with disdain and reached up to smooth her hair. “I even arranged for a man to be in the room next door.

As long as you returned to your room, he would go satisfy you.

Then, once the reporters broke in and took their photos, pictures of you with a strange man would be all over the internet the next day.

After Ethan saw them, naturally, he wouldn’t keep you by his side anymore.” My mind went blank in an instant.

I’d thought that night had only happened because Ethan drank too much, that it was an accident. I never imagined Olivia had set it all up. “Unfortunately, you were lucky.

Ethan drank that glass for you.

The person who got drugged became him, and you took him to your room.” Olivia sounded rather unwilling to accept it. “It actually gave you an opportunity instead!” She was indignant. “You really got a bargain out of it!

Plans couldn’t keep up with the changes, so the reporters had no choice but to change their story at the last minute and say you drugged Ethan to seduce him.” My anger was instantly ignited, almost impossible to suppress.

At the time, I couldn’t understand it. How had the reporters known the room number? Why had they arrived at such a perfect time? Why had all the accusations been aimed at me?

So Olivia had designed such a vicious scheme to push me straight into hell! “But luckily, the goal was still achieved.

Ethan believed it, kicked you out of the company, and was completely disappointed in you.” Olivia smiled as she summed it up. “Although you did get some benefits out of it, the result wasn’t bad.” I couldn’t hold back anymore.

I rushed forward and raised my hand to slap her. But just as my hand was about to fall, someone grabbed my wrist from behind. At some point, Ethan had returned.

He was carrying an insulated bag, his face livid. “Mia Reed, what kind of scene are you making now?” He flung my hand away, then bent down to check Olivia’s ankle. “Did she hurt you?” His tone was so gentle it was like he was a different person.

Olivia took the opportunity to lean into his arms and gave me a smug smile. He had thrown me back two steps, and my lower back slammed hard into the corner of the table.

Pain shot through me, and cold sweat immediately broke out over my skin. Ethan didn’t notice at all.

All of his attention was on Olivia. “Ethan Foster!” I forced myself to stand straight through the pain. “I wasn’t the one who drugged you that night! Olivia Bennett arranged it!

That glass of wine was meant for me, and you drank it by mistake!” Ethan didn’t even turn his head. “Enough!” My eyes turned red with panic. “I’m not lying to you!

Olivia admitted it herself just now!” “I said enough!” Ethan finally turned to look at me, his gaze cold to the extreme. “You barged into the hospital to cause trouble, attacked a patient, and now you’re making up a story to smear someone else.

Do you think I’m going to believe you?” He picked up a document and walked over to me. “Since you’re here, we’ll handle it now. The equity transfer agreement for Boundary Tech.

Sign it, take the thirtymillion check, and leave. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other.” I stared at that document, my mind buzzing.

Kicking me out of the company wasn’t enough. He wanted to erase the last trace of me too? Boundary Tech was built from scratch by Ethan and me.

When we were at our poorest, the two of us rented a single office together. I ran business development while he wrote code.

Sixteen years of our blood, sweat, and tears were all in that company. But right now, I knew very clearly that what made me refuse to let go wasn’t the equity at all.

Boundary Tech was the last reason I had to stay by Ethan’s side.

If I signed this agreement, I wouldn’t even have an excuse to appear in front of him anymore. “I won’t sign!” “Thirty million isn’t a small amount, Mia.

Don’t be ungrateful.” “I said I won’t sign!” I flung the agreement away, sending papers scattering all over the floor. “You can take anything from me, but not this!” Ethan looked at me coldly, then bent down and picked up the agreement. “Don’t think that refusing to sign means you can stay by my side.” I clenched my teeth and said nothing.

I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would start crying. I didn’t want to cry in front of Olivia Bennett. Olivia leaned against her pillow, watching the show.

Seeing that I was stubbornly refusing to give in, Ethan trapped me in his arms and pressed me down against the tabletop.

He spread the agreement out in front of me and shoved a pen into my hand. “Sign!” I twisted and struggled with all my strength, but I couldn’t break free no matter what.

Mia Reed POV Ethan pinned me against the table, and I was shaking with rage. “Ethan Foster, let go of me!

You bastard!” Ethan shoved the pen into my hand and gripped my wrist, pressing it toward the agreement.

I clenched my fist tightly, refusing to take the pen. “Mia Reed, I’ll say this one last time. Sign it!” “I won’t sign!

I won’t sign even if you kill me!” Ethan’s patience had clearly reached its limit. He directly grabbed my hand and used it to sign. I struggled desperately. “Ethan Foster!

Even if you force my hand to sign it, this agreement will be invalid! I’ll sue you! I’ll accuse you of coercion!” “Then go ahead and sue!

And after you’re done suing, don’t think you’ll ever step foot into Boundary Tech again.” I turned back to look at him in disbelief. We were extremely close.

I could clearly see the coldness in his eyes and feel his scorching chest pressed against my back. But the words he spoke were so cold that my heart chilled.

Was this person really determined to uproot me completely from his life? No. Ethan and I had stood side by side for sixteen years.

From the orphanage to starting a company, what kind of storms hadn’t we endured together? I understood Ethan too well. He was cold, yes, but he had never been fickle.

It was impossible for him to suddenly kick me out of the company and force me to surrender my equity.

Unless he had planned to do this all along. “You knew from the beginning that I wasn’t the one who did it that night, didn’t you?” I whipped my head around and shouted at him. “You planned to drive me away from the very start!

What happened at the hotel just gave you an excuse!” Ethan lowered his eyes and didn’t look at me. “If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for stepping on my bottom line.” “So you really did know.” My eyes reddened all at once.

Tears surged out without warning. I came from an orphanage. Since I was little, I had learned to grit my teeth and endure. I never cried in front of outsiders.

During the hardest years of building the company with Ethan, when clients humiliated me and competitors squeezed us, my eyes didn’t even turn red.

But right now, I couldn’t hold it together anymore. “You clearly knew I was framed…” My voice had gone hoarse. “You knew Olivia Bennett set me up. Fine, you didn’t help me.

But you even teamed up with her to bully me!

Just because the Bennett family has money and power, just because I have nothing, you can treat me like this?” Tears slid down my cheeks and dripped onto the agreement on the table, blurring the words “equity transfer” into a wet smear.

Ethan looked at my tearstreaked face, and his heart trembled. The strength in his hand loosened slightly without him realizing it.

At that moment, Olivia’s faint voice came from the hospital bed. “Ethan, you promised me you’d drive her away.

She has ulterior motives toward you.” “And my dad said Bennett Group won’t negotiate a partnership with a CEO who only controls half the equity.” Ethan’s expression immediately turned cold again.

He tightened his grip on my wrist and shoved the pen back into my hand. “Sign!” My heart plunged straight to the bottom.

With just one sentence, Olivia had taken back every bit of softness he’d just shown. In his heart, the Bennett family’s partnership was far more important than me.

I bit down hard on the back of Ethan’s hand. Ethan loosened his grip in pain.

I seized the chance, snatched up the agreement, tore it into pieces, then turned and ran toward the door. Just as I rushed to the entrance, I crashed into someone headon.

It was Ethan’s assistant, Noah Brooks. “Noah Brooks, move!” Noah blocked my path, his tone polite but utterly unyielding. “Thirty million in exchange for your shares is already far above market valuation.

If you don’t sign now, the conditions that come later will only be worse. You know Mr.

Foster’s temper better than I do.” I glared at Noah, trembling with anger. “Noah Brooks, you’re forcing me too?” “I’m only helping you make the optimal choice.” “You went through so many years with Ethan and me.

Don’t you know how much of my blood and effort is in this company?” Noah didn’t speak. He only gave a slight nod toward the space behind me.

Ethan walked out of the hospital room and stood behind me. Noah was in front of me, Ethan behind me.

I was trapped between them with nowhere to retreat. “Mia Reed, I don’t want to do this the ugly way.” Ethan’s voice came from behind me. “Sign it and leave with dignity.” I was still struggling.

Left with no choice, Ethan stepped forward, seized my hand, and used it to sign my name. Then Noah handed over a red ink pad.

Ethan pried open my fingers and pressed my fingerprint down. The red ink looked as glaring as blood.

All the strength left my body, and I slid down the wall to sit on the floor. “From now on, you have nothing to do with Boundary Tech, and nothing to do with me.” Ethan handed the agreement to Noah for safekeeping, then lowered his head to look at me on the floor.

I looked up and glared at him, my face covered in dried tear tracks. “Ethan Foster, dream on!” “Don’t even think about shaking me off.

You think some lousy agreement can make me disappear?

You’re underestimating me.” “Even if you drive me away ten thousand times, I’ll show up ten thousand times again!” Ethan didn’t look at me again.

He turned and walked back into the hospital room. Noah called over two security guards, and they hauled me up and escorted me out of the hospital.

I collapsed onto the curb and looked down at the thirtymillion check in my hand. My sixteen years of devotion had been settled with thirty million dollars. My tears fell again.

Ever since I met Ethan when I was ten, my entire life had revolved around him. I didn’t care about equity or money. I just wanted to stay by his side.

But he had pushed me away with his own hands. He had held me so tightly, kissed me so fiercely, possessed me so completely. I could feel that his feelings weren’t fake.

So how could he also force me to sign so ruthlessly and drive me away without a trace of mercy?

I clutched the check, crying so hard my whole body shook. “Ethan Foster, don’t even think about it!” I said softly, as if I were saying it to him, and also to myself. “I won’t give up!”

Mia Reed POV What I didn’t know was that, by a window on an upper floor of the inpatient department, Ethan was standing completely still, watching me.

His hand was clenched tightly around the window frame, his expression so dark it looked like it might shatter. The pain on his face was impossible to hide. But he didn’t come down.

A long time later, he pulled the curtains shut. After I cried enough, I wiped my face hard with my sleeve. What was the use of crying?

I, Mia Reed, had never been the kind of person who sat on the ground waiting for pity. I’d known Ethan Foster for so many years.

He had been cold to me, avoided me, rejected me—when had I ever given up? This time would be no different. And the more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

I knew Ethan’s character. No matter how ruthless he was when he did things, he was still reasonable. There was no way he would collude with outsiders to frame me.

But he had done exactly that. And he had done it so urgently, so absolutely. It was too abnormal. He had to be hiding something from me. I took a deep breath and stood up. Fine.

If you won’t tell me, I’ll investigate it myself. It wasn’t as if I had no connections.

There were a few longtime employees in Boundary Tech’s PR department who were on good terms with me and hadn’t had time to draw a clean line between us yet.

Ethan and Olivia Bennett’s schedules, media movements—I could get all of them as soon as they happened. In the days that followed, I kept an eye on every piece of news about Ethan.

But the more I paid attention, the more restless I became. The media was flooded with reports about Ethan and Olivia.

Ethan was already a top figure in the tech world—the founder of Boundary Tech, a genius programmer. Wherever he went, cameras followed.

Olivia was the daughter of Bennett Group, born with traffic of her own. Put the two of them together, and they could practically make the trending list every single day.

Half a month later, what I waited for was an explosive headline. [Ethan Foster and Olivia Bennett Officially Engaged; Engagement Banquet to Be Held Next Month] I stared at the screen of my phone, and blood rushed straight to my head.

Engaged? He had only driven me away half a month ago, and now he was going to get engaged to Olivia? What drove me even crazier came after that.

Olivia accepted an interview, smiling sweetly at the camera. “Actually, you could say we were childhood sweethearts.

When we were little, our families lived close to each other, and we grew up together. The adults in both families even arranged a childhood engagement for us.” “So you and Mr.

Foster have a very deep foundation for your relationship?” Olivia smiled, revealing a shy expression. “I guess so. When we were ten, we even played house.

He insisted on pretending to be the groom and marrying me, and he even braided a ring out of willow branches.

It was childish, but thinking about it now, it was pretty sweet.” Childhood sweethearts? A childhood engagement? When I was ten, I had only just met Ethan in the orphanage.

For these sixteen years, Ethan and I had been inseparable. Olivia Bennett had never even shown her face! I was the one who had always stayed by Ethan’s side!

What right did Olivia have to suddenly appear and squeeze me out? I went through every related report I could find. The engagement banquet was set for next month.

The venue was the Peninsula Hotel in the city center. A crazy idea slowly took shape in my mind. Ethan wouldn’t give me a chance to speak, was that it?

Then I would create the opportunity myself. One month later, the Peninsula Hotel was ablaze with lights.

Wearing a wig and a mask, and holding an invitation I’d gotten through someone else, I blended in with the guests and entered the banquet hall.

I held a glass of champagne and stood in a corner, watching the hall glitter with flowers and crystal chandeliers, watching the guests exchange toasts and pleasant laughter, watching the photo of Ethan and Olivia printed on the stage backdrop.

In the photo, Ethan was wearing a dark suit, and Olivia was holding his arm. The two of them looked exceptionally well matched.

I drained the champagne in my glass in one gulp, acidity churning in my stomach. Onstage, the host was warming up the crowd, saying the happy couple would soon make their entrance.

I took a deep breath. While the staff weren’t paying attention, I rushed onto the stage and snatched the microphone from the host’s hand.

I removed my wig and tore off my mask. “Sorry to interrupt. I have a few things I must ask today’s groom in front of everyone.” The entire room fell silent.

Countless phones were raised. Ethan and Olivia were standing at the backstage entrance. When they saw the person onstage, both of their expressions changed at the same time.

Ethan strode toward the stage, suppressing his anger. “Mia Reed, get down.” “I’m not getting down.

You changed all my contact information, the company won’t let me in, and there are security guards posted at your front door.

If I want to ask you one question, this is the only way I can do it.” Olivia rushed after him, looped her arm through his, and gave the audience a soothing smile before turning her head and lowering her voice. “Mia Reed, have you caused enough trouble?

This is my engagement banquet. Do you believe I’ll have someone drag you out right now?” “Where are the security guards?

Hurry up and get her out of here!” I ignored her completely and looked straight at Ethan. “Ethan Foster, I just want to ask you one question. We grew up together.

Am I not even allowed to ask one question?” “What do you want to ask? Ask it and then leave.” “Fine.” I looked at the man I had loved for sixteen years.

At this moment, he was getting engaged to someone else, with Olivia by his side.

I gripped the microphone tightly and asked in front of the entire room: “Ethan Foster, what do you plan to do about the child in my belly?”