Regretting the Rest of His Years

When Sasha woke up again, the night had already settled in.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Aidan standing at the foot of her bed.

She jumped in shock. "What are you doing? You scared the life out of me."

With a loud snap, the lights in the room suddenly blazed on.

"Why didn't you answer your phone? I told you. Mr. Conley is coming tonight."

As Aidan spoke, he angrily yanked his tie off and kicked the foot of the bed.

Seeing the fury on his face, Sasha cautiously asked, "Did something go wrong tonight? That can't be. I arranged everything with Heidi. She's more than capable. There's no way anything went wrong."

She sat up quickly, reaching for her phone.

In the moment she was searching for it, Aidan's expression darkened even further.

"Did something go wrong? You have the nerve to ask me that? Do you have any idea that because of your tantrum and your refusal to show up, I've offended Mr. Conley tonight? He canceled the 20-million-dollar deal."

Sasha, who had found her phone, froze at his words.

In a panic, she dialed her assistant, Heidi Moore's number and rushed out of the room.

The moment the call connected, Heidi's angry voice exploded from the other end.

"OMG! Finally! You have no idea what a disaster tonight was. Mr. Gallagher tried to reach you all night. When he couldn't get through, Natalie insisted he take her to Mr. Conley's party.

"Fine, she can go, but she's such an idiot. Mr. Conley tries to toast her, and she refuses to drink. Then, when he talks to her, she just shuts up and doesn't say a word.

"Okay, she doesn't want to socialize. That's fine. But when Mr. Conley went to toast Mr. Gallagher, she grabbed his drink and took it away.

"And then, she had the nerve to say to Mr. Conley, 'Can you stop pressuring my boyfriend to drink? I hate filthy men like you who corrupt my boyfriend!'"

After a sigh, Heidi continued, "Mr. Conley's face darkened, but since Natalie's young, he let it slide. Finally, when the party ended, Natalie heard Mr. Conley mention going to the club, and she flipped out. She called him a shameless man and told him to get lost, saying he was ruining her boyfriend.

"Mr. Conley got furious and stood up like he was about to slap her. Mr. Gallagher didn't even try to calm him down. Instead, he jumped in and started fighting with him. Now, Mr. Conley's in the hospital, and our 20 million deal is completely dead."

Heidi's furious voice made Sasha's anger flare up.

The Brian Conley deal was one she and her team had worked hard on for six months. If they had closed it, their team would have earned millions in bonuses.

To have it all fall apart at the last moment was infuriating.

But before Sasha could catch her breath, Aidan's angry voice echoed from behind her.

"Now you finally know what happened. I'm giving you two days, Sasha. I don't care if you have to beg or spend a few days with Mr. Conley, but you're going to fix this deal."

Already upset, Sasha grew even more furious at his words.

"You ruined the deal with your 'heroic rescue,' so why should I clean up your mess?"

Aidan froze for a second.

"Why? Because I'm your boss, Sasha. Don't forget. If it weren't for me promoting you and bringing you into my company, you'd still be out there working in a club and flirting for tips."

Sasha's lips twisted into a bitter smile.

Aidan seemed to realize he'd gone too far with his words.

"Sorry, I-I didn't mean it like that. Just forget what I said. I'm just panicking because we lost Mr. Conley's deal. You know how serious this is. I've already placed the orders with the factory. If Mr. Conley pulls out now, the whole company is screwed."

Aidan walked over and grabbed Sasha's hand.

"Sasha, I know you have connections. You need to figure something out. Whatever you do, you need to handle that shipment first."

Looking at Aidan's pleading face, Sasha finally agreed. However, it was not because of Aidan but because of the employees under her.

Even though she was planning to leave Aidan, the company, and the city in three days, she didn't want to leave them with a ticking time bomb.

Seeing Sasha agree, Aidan immediately rushed over to hug her tightly.

Feeling the warmth of his body through their clothes, Sasha shuddered slightly.

In the past, whenever Aidan landed a big deal, he'd come running to hug her excitedly, just like now.

"You're my lucky star, Sasha.

"How did I get so lucky to find someone like you, Sasha?

"You're never leaving me, Sasha, never."

Thinking back to those happy moments, Sasha instinctively wanted to hug him back. But before her hands could reach his back, Aidan's phone rang.

When he saw the word "babe" on the screen, he immediately pushed her away, as if he'd been struck by lightning.

Sasha, caught off guard, was pushed to the ground. Her back slammed hard against the floor. The sharp pain made her break out in cold sweat.

But Aidan didn't seem to notice the agony on her face. He hurriedly motioned for her to be quiet.

When the phone finally connected, Natalie's crying voice came through.

"I'm so sorry, Aidan. It's my fault. I lost control and messed up the deal with Mr. Conley. You know I'm not like Sasha. I have self-respect. I just can't bring myself to drink with men.

"Besides, you're my boyfriend, Aidan. When I heard you were going to that kind of place, I just got jealous."

Aidan didn't even glance at Sasha as he rushed to comfort Natalie.

"Don't say that, babe. This is not your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's Sasha. If she hadn't stood me up, you wouldn't have been stuck at the party with me. You're pure-hearted, and you're not used to this business stuff. It's normal for things to go wrong sometimes."

Listening to their affectionate words, Sasha stayed silent. She bit back the pain in her back as she struggled to get up from the floor. With a limp, she made her way back to her room.

But when she lay down under the blankets, the tears flowed freely, like a string of pearls falling from her eyes.

Aidan left about an hour later.

He glanced at her shaking figure hidden under the covers but didn't ask if she was okay. He only told her that she needed to handle the shipment, no matter what.

As Sasha watched his back fade away, her already red, swollen eyes filled with more tears.

Aidan's indifference to her had always been so obvious.

She'd just refused to see it for the past seven years.