Leo was like a beam of light that forced its way into my life. He lighted up my entire world.

After spending day and day with him by my side, I could not help but fall in love with him. This was not unusual because people who had been in the cold for a long time would always want to stay close to the warmth.

So, when Leo confessed his love for me, I could not help but cry tears of joy and agreed without any hesitation.

Unfortunately, the deep love between the two young people faded over time to the point we were barely able to stand the sight of each other.

I rubbed my temples and surfed on my phone. I wanted to look at the weather forecast to check when the rain would stop.

Unexpectedly, I stumbled upon Evelyn's Instagram post, which she had uploaded a minute ago.

In the photo, Leo was wearing a pink apron. It was vastly different than his usually cold demeanor. The man was holding a bow filled with steaming millet porridge.

Then Evelyn gave the photo a caption, "If you meet a caring man like this, marry him."

I laughed bitterly. After all these years, I did not know he could cook. Back when Leo had just started his business and we had to live in a cramped rental unit, Leo almost blew up the unit just because he tried to cook stir-fried pork with green pepper.

That night, with soot on his face, he sheepishly apologized while picking the barely edible pieces out for me. “I’m sorry. I wanted to cook something nice for you since you’ve been working so hard to help me find clients. I didn’t mean to make things worse.”

At that time, I was so touched with his sincerity, but afraid he would hurt himself if he tried to cook again, I banned him from the kitchen and took over the meal preparation.

Yet, without my knowledge, he practiced cooking just for Evelyn.

Within minutes, Evelyn's Instagram post became the top trending topic among our colleagues in the company. Many of the commenters offered their best wishes, "May you two be together forever."

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her childish games. She had tried provoking me like this more times than I could count and she always used the same cheap tricks.

Without a care in the world, I clicked on the comment section and typed my own comment, "It's time. I wish you two eternal happiness and many children."

In a second after I posted my comment, Leo blew up my phone with messages. He wrote, "Julie don't be so sarcastic. Evelyn was just joking when she posted it. Take down your comment! She is crying because of it."

Message after message popped up on my phone. I could almost picture him typing angrily the message with a gloomy expression.

Leo had always been a calm and composed man. He rarely revealed his emotions.

“Steady and reliable” was practically synonymous with him. That was what I thought about him until the day I watched him lose control. He beat up some thug who’d been stalking Evelyn.

No matter how much I tried to stop him, he wouldn’t relent until Evelyn called out his name, “Leo.” That single word pulled him back from the edge.

He hurriedly wiped the blood from his hands, then cradled Evelyn’s face as he gently comforted her and told her not to be afraid.

I had never seen that kind of tenderness from him. From the way they looked at each other, their love was loud and clear.

As the rain outside finally subsided, I realized that the young man who once looked at me with such devotion had gone.

I took a long sigh and resolutely blocked Leo on every platform.

"Julie, do you have the contract for the Summer Group? Bring it to the conference room immediately. You have ten minutes," ordered Leo.

Although Leo had my proposal in his hands, he had no idea that two days ago, the partner had given me the preliminary draft of the contract and appointed me as their point of contact. All that was left was for us to finalize the signing and proceed with the project.

The contract had specifically stated that I was the designated contact person.

Originally, I did not tell him about this because I intended to surprise him with this news on today's meeting. However, he had made me lose my patience and I was not willing to give the fruit of my labor to someone unworthy.

"Julie don't make me repeat myself. Bring the preliminary contract with you here now! I'm willing to forget your stupid resignation stunt from yesterday."

On the other end of the phone, Leo's commanding voice came through again, urging me to do his bidding. He did not even give me time to respond or refuse before he abruptly hung up. The line went dead, filled with a grating beeping sound.

It was obvious he needed me, yet he carried himself as though he were doing me a favor. He sounded like he was throwing crumbs at a stray dog.

I turned my gaze toward the draft contract lying on my desk. It was impossible to give it to him, but there were some other things I would give him.

When I got out of the taxi at the Summer Group building, Leo was already waiting for me in the waiting room.

He looked calmly at me, then looked at his watch before saying coldly and nonchalantly manner, "You're fifteen minutes late."

His confidence was so natural, it seemed he was certain I would go to him.

I was so angry that all I could do was to laugh. I wondered how big my love for him had been in the past that made Leo was so sure I would always at his beck and call, that I was ready to go through fire for him.

Evelyn, who was standing beside him, looking dagger at me. She took a cup of tea in her hand and walked toward me with a feigned smile on her face.

"Miss Andrew, forgive me for troubling you to come here in person," she said sweetly. "This is all my fault for not having enough experience so I wasn't able to impress our partners. I heard the Summer Group's CEO, Mr. Summer, specifically requested you as the contact person!”

"Mr. Summer might be young but he’s famous in the industry for being extremely strict,” she continued, her voice laced with a false humility. “Some even say he doesn’t have much respect for women in business. If you have any tips on negotiating, please share them with me.”

I caught the insinuation behind her words. She was clearly suggesting to Leo that I had used questionable means to secure the deal.

Sure enough, Leo's eyes darkened. He raised to his feet and clutched my wrist firmly.

"Julie, I remember that when you went to Summer Group to fight to get this deal, you did not come home until the next morning. Did you use your body as leverage?"

Slap! The sound of my hand hitting his face echoed sharply. I had put every ounce of strength into that slap.

I could not believe he would stoop so low, not only in his actions but also in his assumptions about me. Just because he had no boundaries didn’t mean I was the same.

If he had cared even a little, he would have known that the reason I stayed out all night was because I had drunk so much at a business dinner with Sumer Group that I ended up in the hospital with gastrointestinal bleeding.

I had secured the deal purely through my abilities, my proposal stood out among countless competitors.

Leo pressed his tongue against his cheek. His entire demeanor was radiating with fury.

"How dare you slap me! What, did I strike a nerve?" Leo sneered. His voice was laced with contempt.

Evelyn stroked his face gently with a worried expression. Then she pretended to defend me, "Leo, just let this be. Don't make a big deal out of this. I believe she was forced to do this."

"She gave herself up to secure the deal. She did it for the sake of you and the company."

I let out a cold laugh. Evelyn’s talent for twisting the truth had grown day by day. After seven years by Leo’s side, all it took was a few words from her to paint me as morally questionable in his mind.

He cast an irritated look my way then he held out his hand expectantly and commanded, “Fine. For Evelyn's sake, I’ll let this slide for now. Hand over the preliminary contract.”

Without changing my expression, I reached into my bag, pulled out a document and threw it onto the table in front of him.

Leo frowned. Clearly, he was annoyed. He picked up the papers and preached to my face, "Julie, if only you had half of Evelyn's maturity, you would have handed over the contract earlier. If you did that, I wouldn't have to …."

His voice trailed off as he read the bold letters on the document. It said, Divorce Agreement. His face contorted in shock.

He asked, "Divorce agreement? Julie, what's the meaning of this?"