Therefore, I always felt that Zack had feelings for me.

Unknowingly, the clock struck seven.

People came and went at the entrance, but there was no familiar figure.

I kept on waiting, until half past ten, and finally made the first call of the night.

The phone rang for over a minute, and a familiar female voice came through. "The number you dialed is busy, please try again later..."

I couldn't help but wonder what could he be busy with, was he discussing a new project with Mr. Shaw, or dealing with company matters? Or perhaps it was because of Sherry?

He always had so many things to deal with, and it seemed that everything could take precedence over me.

I didn’t know how long had passed, but I fell asleep.

At first, it was a bit cold, but as I slept, my body gradually warmed up.

When I opened my eyes again, everything was pitch black, with a flickering light in the night.

I smelled a strong scent of cigarettes.

"11:53, it's not too late."

Zack extinguished his cigarette, his voice filled with warmth echoed in the darkness.

Then the lights turned on, and the man in the white shirt tightened the coat draped over my shoulders, I looked up at him, still half-asleep, and asked, "What took you so long?"

Zack paused. "Sherry was a victim of a scam on her way home from work."

He couldn't even be bothered to make an excuse.

Feeling somewhat numb, I asked, "So you went to handle it for her?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah."

The pent-up grievances burst forth, and tears rolled down my cheeks.

I looked at the face I had loved for eight years and asked him, "What about me? Zack, do you think everything related to me is unimportant?"

The man, rarely at a loss for words, cupped my face and kept kissing away the fallen tears.

In the end, he said awkwardly, "Don't cry, Anna."

Well, he didn’t know how to comfort people.

After all, every time we argued, I would silently process my emotions and then present my mature side to him.

He never needed to comfort me.

3.

Zack moved a bear-shaped cake in front of me, along with a bunch of roses.

He then said hoarsely, "Your favorite bear, and roses."

But I didn’t like roses.

Zack would always forget.

I took a piece of the bear cake and stuffed half of its creamy head into my mouth.

It tasted a little bitter.

Just like the relationship between me and Zack, it had become increasingly bitter over time.

When we first got married, he wasn't like this. Even though he didn't love me, he took good care of me.

But later, there were too many important things, and I was always the one being overlooked, always coming second to everything else.

After my mood settled a bit, I looked at him seriously and said, "Zack, you should keep your distance from Sherry. No employer would handle a scam for an employee."

He frowned. "She's been working for me for three years."

I lowered my gaze and said softly, "Maybe it would be more appropriate for her boyfriend to handle it."

"She doesn't have a boyfriend, Anna. Don't be unreasonable."

I took a deep breath. "Zack, don’t you know about the rumors? They say that Sherry is your true love, and that I've used all means to force you to marry me."

After a pause, I continued, "Aren't you afraid... that one day I might leave you?"

He replied quickly and confidently, "But you can't leave me."

What Zack didn't know was that disappointment could breed the courage for me to leave him.

Seeing that I was about to say something, he changed the topic, "Anna, why don't you take a look at what’s in the cake?"

I cut it in half, unsure of what to expect.

Inside the soft cake, a ruby bracelet was revealed, perfectly matching the one around my neck.

Zack cocked his brows, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Didn't you say you didn't have a bracelet to go with this necklace?"

I stared at him in shock.

Eight years ago, when I was dragged into the office and falsely accused of stealing money, Zack had the same expression.

To him, it seemed like the sky could fall and it wouldn't matter.

He took the punishment for me, paid back the money, and then comforted me with a smile.

Even though it was our first meeting, he stood up for me without asking for details.

The seventeen-year-old boy fumbled around, repeatedly using his school uniform to wipe my tears, saying, "Please don't cry, I can't stand seeing others cry."

I closed my eyes for a moment.

‘Zack, the seventeen-year-old you, convinced me to forgive the current you one more time.’

4.

A week later, I found myself once again outside Zack's office, planning to discuss the company's third anniversary celebration with him.

Sherry blocked my way at the door.

With a smirk that nearly overflowed with pride, she said, "Ms. Wood, Mr. Davis is in a meeting and can't see anyone. By the way, how was your birthday last week?"

I settled onto the sofa and replied leisurely, "Miss Coleman, since you work for my company, you should be calling me Mrs. Davis. As for last week... come here."

Sherry rolled her eyes but obediently walked over, continuing her provocation, "Do you know why Mr. Davis didn't go home last week? It's because he was with me—"

A sharp slap interrupted her.

I didn't believe a word she said. No one knew Zack better than I did.

Sherry covered her face in disbelief. "You crazy woman, how dare you hit me?!"

I stood up, smiling at her. "Not only do I dare to hit you, but I can also fire you."

"I'm Mr. Davis's secretary! How dare you fire me?" she spat, her expression filled with resentment.

"Because I own half of this company."

As soon as I finished speaking, Zack walked out. He stood expressionless beside Sherry, yet didn't ask a thing.

Sherry immediately transformed into a pitiful figure, covering her face and feigning innocence. "I'm fine, Mr. Davis. Ms. Wood just hit me out of anger."

"Anna, this is not a place for your nonsense," said Zack, his eyes holding a warning.

Even though I had anticipated he would side with Sherry, seeing his indifferent gaze still made my heart sink.

What was I expecting?

"Don't you want to ask me why I reacted that way?" I looked into his eyes.

"No matter what happened, you shouldn't have done this."

"So what?"

"Anna, apologize."

I averted my gaze. "Zack, I came to see you today to plan the celebration..."

He frowned and interrupted me. "I've already assigned this task to Sherry. Anna, the person who made a mistake should apologize."

I was taken aback.

Since the company was established, the anniversary celebrations had always been planned by me and Zack. We had never entrusted this task to anyone else

The reason for this was because the company was like our child and the anniversary celebrations were like its birthdays.

I thought this was a tacit secret between us, but in the end, it turned out to be just my own misplaced feelings.

5.

"Mr. Davis, I'm fine. Mrs. Davis has never liked me, and you don't need to seek justice for me at the cost of your marriage."

I shot a cold glance at Sherry. "This is between my husband and me, and it's none of your business!"

"Anna!" Zack's displeasure was evident in his tone.

I didn't look at him.

I just felt the love I had held onto for years was a joke.

I should have realized that the seventeen-year-old Zack was long gone and the person before me was not the same.

"Anna, if you don't apologize, then we'll get a divorce!" Zack looked down at me, as if he expected me to compromise.

In three years, I had lost count of how many times I had heard such petulant threats.

But I always thought of them as just his anger talking.

Now, it seemed, that wasn't entirely the case.

I had no real reaction, merely letting out a light "hm" as I turned to leave.

But Zack grabbed my wrist, a hint of surprise in his voice. "What did you say?"

I forced a smile and replied, "Zack, I won’t apologize, even if it means that we’re getting a divorce."

"Anna, I hope you won’t regret it!" The man forcefully shook off my hand.

"I won’t."

There was no point holding onto something that didn’t belong to me.

After leaving the company, I went to meet Simon Jameson, the biggest investor in Asterfield.

I printed out the proposal that Sherry had discarded last time.

The company was my hard work over the years. Zack refused to let me manage it, but I couldn't just watch it miss this opportunity.

When I arrived at the agreed cafe, Simon was already there.

He stared out the window, lost in thought, his refined profile exuding a cold, distant aura.

I approached to greet him, "Mr. Jameson, sorry I'm late."

Simon ordered me a coffee and said casually, "I came early, Ms. Wood. You can just call me Simon."

The appointment was for six in the afternoon, but it was only five-thirty.

I had always had a habit of arriving early, but I didn't expect Simon to arrive even sooner.

"Mr..." After hesitating for a moment, I corrected myself, "Simon, here's the proposal I drafted. Please take a look."

He accepted the proposal with a slight smile but made no move to open it.

He fixed his gaze on me, pointing to the coffee he had just ordered. "Want to try?"

I picked up the coffee and took a sip.

It was a coconut latte with half the sugar, my usual flavor.

I looked up, ready to say something, but Simon had already started to read the proposal seriously.

6.

The man had thick, enchanting eyelashes and long fingers, dressed in a black coat that gave him a resemblance to the male leads in Korean dramas, contrary to the rumors that he was hard to approach.

While he was reviewing the proposal, I took out my phone.

I opened WhatsApp to my pinned contacts, where the chat history still showed the message I had sent to Zack three days ago.

At eleven-thirty that night, I had asked him when he would be back.

He was always like this—when busy, he wouldn't reply to messages or answer calls. He would even be a couple of hours late for our wedding anniversary.