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.