Chapter 2
Julian’s eyes were dark as night, mine were dead as ice. The atmosphere in the garage was almost suffocating. That girl, instead of keeping her distance from Julian, put her arms around his neck even more boldly. She whispered something in his ear, and my eyes were stung raw.
I withdrew my sight, opened the door, and started the car calmly. I didn’t look at them again.
Not long after I got home, I heard the sound of a car downstairs again. I was arranging my jewelry in the cloakroom when a towering figure suddenly appeared behind me. A familiar masculine smell filled my nasal cavity. He leaned over me with his hands on the glass case.
“Angry?”
I ignored his eyes, continued to arrange the jewelry. My tone was calm, almost indifferent.“Yeah, I wanna kill. You’d better guard me.”
Julian was silent for a moment before he explained, “The Crowe family is interested in cooperating with us to develop the Polar Star project. I have been in contact with their eldest son, Caffrey. That girl is his sister, Rita.”
“What, if you don’t date his sister, he won’t agree to work with you?” I asked back.
He sounded a little impatient.“Olivia, I’m giving you a straight explanation–cut the sarcastic remarks!”
“I don’t think there’s any need to explain.” I finally turned my head and looked straight into his eyes with a cool look that seemed to see through him.“Julian, if you want a new wife, I can step aside.”
Julian’s face suddenly darkened.“What did you say?”
I sighed.“I mean, we can get a divorce.” I tried to push him away.
He pulled me back, pinched my face and warned, “You’d better not even think about it.”
I did not speak. In fact, I not only thought about it, I did it. I no longer wanted him anymore.
Julian stayed at home until late at night. Then, he was called away again by a phone call. I could clearly hear a delicate cry on the other end of the phone.
The next morning, my divorce lawyer and close friend sent me a screenshot: Julian’s girlfriend’s latest social media post. She shared a photo of two hands forming a heart against a mountain peak at dawn, captioned: “Basking in sunrise’s gentleness, our heartbeats sync as one.”
I immediately recognized the big hand. It was Julian’s.
I sat there with a glass in my hand. After a long time, when I put it down, the crisp sound was particularly harsh in the quiet room. Something inside me broke a little more, leaving empty space where there used to be warmth.
Julian didn’t come home for the next few days. We only saw each other at company meetings, where he sat at the head of the table and I sat beside him with the others. We were not making any eye contact.
I didn’t come to his office again. I was busy house–hunting and getting rid of all the gifts he had given me over the
years anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, Valentine’s Day gifts, wedding gifts.
I even sold the wedding ring I didn’t want him anymore, what was the point of keeping all this junk from old relationships?
In the evening, my friend Susan asked me to go to a fancy club. It was almost II PM and I didn’t want to go, but considering that I would need contacts to start my own business after leaving the Shaw Corp, I went anyway.
pter 2
e.”
was right.
Menu
led me into a large private room separated by a Chinese screen. I noticed that there were a lot of people sitting e other side of the screen, but Susan didn’t take me there. Instead, she guided me to a quieter area where only woman sat–someone who looked familiar, probably the girlfriend of one of Julian’s friends. She recognized me looked a little embarrassed, but she smiled anyway.
Susan left, I picked up my drink and took a sip. From the other side of the screen came
noise of a conversation, which gradually became clear. They seemed to be talking about me.
ks like Julian’s stopped bringing Olivia to our gatherings now.”
a tell me! Miss Crowe is young and beautiful. Julian takes her with him everywhere.”
er all these years, he’s finally changed his taste.”
via may be hot, but eight years of sharing bedsheets–tell me what heartbeat still quickens at the scent of stale Eume?”
‘t she silly? Years by Julian’s side amounted to nothing but being played like a fool. If Julian dumps her, I’ll comfort
Been low–key into her curves since college days, you know?”
.
eyes turned cold. I recognized two of them. They were Julian’s friends and would call me “Mr. Shaw” every time
ey saw me. The woman I was sitting with was too embarrassed to look at me. When I got up, she thought I was ving. But I cleared my throat, and walked toward the screen with a drink.
aning on the screen, I joined their conversation in a relaxed tone, “Hey, I don’t think so. Julian was all wide–eyed nocence when we started dating. So why does nobody talk about how I might’ve been the one taking advantage for ght years?”
he private room was silent for an instant. As I spoke, two tall men came in from outside.
veryone’s expression shifted from shock to utter despair.
< Chapter 3
