In 1982, at the Tarrin Food Factory.
As the Spring Festival approached, the young and handsome factory director, Juno Marlow, was holding a general staff meeting.
He cast a cold glance at Sasha, who was standing in front of him with gauze wrapped around her forehead and red medicine staining the wounds on her hands.
His expression grew stern. "I will announce a penalty now."
"Sasha Lenore, a female worker from Workshop Two, was accused of being narrow-minded and malicious, deliberately harming the factory director's secretary, Quinn Ledger. After discussion, the factory decided to deduct six months of her salary. She is also ordered to kneel and apologize to Quinn within two weeks. If she refuses, she will be fired without exception. Meeting dismissed!"
The announcement caused an uproar, leaving the workers stunned.
Everyone knew that Juno, the only son of the prominent Marlow Family, graduated from a top university and became the head of a factory with thousands of employees.
This cold and distant man, who seemed indifferent to romance, had fallen in love at first sight with Sasha during a business trip to the north.
Since bringing her back three years ago, he had treated her like a treasure, even building her a private house on the factory grounds.
The gap in their social statuses was significant, so he worked hard to mediate, eventually convincing his family to agree. Once Sasha secured the position of factory director's secretary, they consented to their marriage.
To make this happen, Sasha put in relentless effort, always being the first to start work and the last to leave. She also devised ways to optimize the assembly line, boosting the factory's efficiency.
But just yesterday, as she was about to be officially appointed as the factory director's secretary, Juno's first love, Quinn, returned.
He seemed as if his soul had been taken away. Grabbing the appointment letter, he tore it to pieces and pulled Quinn tightly into his arms.
“Is it really you, my Quinn? Am I dreaming?”
He gently caressed her face, inch by inch, his usually cold eyes filled with overwhelming joy.
“This is wonderful. I no longer have to think of you through a stand-in. Please, promise me you’ll never leave me again, okay?”
When Quinn nodded, he cupped her face and leaned down to kiss her.
Outside the door, Sasha watched with a heart-wrenching pain. Just as they were about to kiss, she ran away, trying to convince herself it wasn’t real.
That day, for the first time, she was distracted at work.
Her palm was slashed by the machine, blood splattering everywhere and exposing a deep wound down to the bone. The pain was so intense that she almost fainted.
She went to the factory’s medical room to have the wound treated, then returned home with a pale face.
But when she arrived, she saw all her belongings carelessly thrown into the muddy yard.
Juno was holding Quinn’s hand, directing workers to rearrange the room according to Quinn’s preferences.
When he turned and saw her, the warmth in his eyes turned cold.
In a formal tone, he said, “This is Quinn, our factory’s new secretary. She’s a talented returnee from abroad and grew up in a wealthy family, so she’s not used to living in the dormitory. It’s against the rules for a worker like you to live here anyway, so move to the dorms.”
Sasha felt a sharp pain in her heart.
This was the place she had lived in for three years. Here, Juno had whispered sweet nothings to her, kissed her over and over and told her he loved her.
Now, with just a single phrase—"against the rules"—she was being cast out.
Sasha opened her mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say. After all, she was just a stand-in. Now that the real one had returned, what right did she have to continue "taking over someone else’s nest"?
With that thought, Sasha held back her sadness, lowered her head and began packing her belongings.
Quinn crouched down gently beside her and said softly, “Let me help you.”
But as she turned her back to Juno, the kindness on her face vanished.
Leaning close to Sasha’s ear, she mocked in a low voice, “I heard you’re an orphan with no family and no education? No wonder Juno used you as a stand-in to play with. Now that he’s tired of you, of course, you’re being thrown away like a rag.”
