Behind him, where he couldn't see, my eyes snapped open.

My phone buzzed nonstop. Earlier that day, I'd slipped into his group chat using a burner account.

Zane had sent a message：

「Bros, what do I do? That whole thing today was Eva testing me. The tampon was hers. She blew up and turned down the proposal.」

The chat exploded：

「Dude, that's cold! One little move and she had all of us fooled. How is she that calculating?」

「What'd she say? Just flipped out and refused the engagement? After everything you've given her for eight years?」

Zane replied, tone dripping with self-pity：

「It was also because of the message Norma Stewart sent……」

A pink My Melody avatar popped up and dropped a tongue-out sticker.

「Sooorry, I was just worried about you! How was I supposed to know your little wifey was watching that closely?」

I tapped into her profile. The suggestive photo on her page matched the one from the "wrong" message perfectly.

It was never sent to the wrong person. Just at the wrong time.

My fingers clenched the phone until my knuckles went white, and pain spread through my chest like a thousand tiny needles.

Zane followed up：

「It's fine. I'm giving her the cold shoulder. She can only keep up the attitude for one night. By morning she'll come crawling back.」

「She's worthless and desperate to get married. She'd hand over everything she owns just to lock me down.」

A bitter laugh escaped me, and my vision blurred.

Eight years ago, we met at a campus job fair. Both of us too broke to scrape together a dollar between us, desperate for any job that would put food on the table.

We were competing for the same position, but when he heard my stomach growl,

he stepped aside and let me have it.

I knew HR had preferred a male candidate, so I bought him a bowl of ramen to make up for it.

Two people eating hot noodles in the early hours of a spring morning. Hearts tend to close the distance on their own.

Later, when he moved up north for a better opportunity, I gave him every penny I'd saved from work.

He stood there holding those few thousand dollars, eyes glistening, and swore he'd build us a future.

A few years passed. He landed a position at a top tech company and climbed the ranks, one promotion after another.

But my father fell seriously ill. By the time he was on his deathbed, Zane hadn't made it in time to say goodbye.

I cried until I couldn't breathe, and told him my father's last wish was for the two of us to stay together.

Wrapped in Zane's arms, I'd cried so hard I could barely open my eyes.

“Zane, I have nothing left. My mom walked out on me when I was a kid, and now my dad's gone too. You can't leave me.”

His broad shoulders held me so tight it hurt, and he kept repeating：

“I won't leave you……I won't.”

All I remembered thinking back then was that I had to fulfill my father's dying wish.

But now Zane's heart had moved on, and those promises were nothing but cheap chains.

Tears dropped one by one onto the screen. I didn't confront him. I just closed the phone in silence.

Zane had guessed wrong. I wasn't desperate to get married anymore. And I didn't need him anymore either.

The next morning, we sat across from each other with nothing to say.

As we headed out, Zane held the umbrella toward me out of habit.

I didn't take it. I grabbed my bag, walked out the door, and behind me his ‘be careful out there’ died somewhere between his throat and his eyes.

Once I was at my desk and had settled in, I went straight to my director and submitted an application for the overseas transfer.

The company had wanted to send me abroad last year for a posting at a branch office in a region that needed my language skills.

My college major was in foreign languages. I'd graduated top of my class.

Back then, I'd turned it down without a second thought so I could take care of Zane.

Now that his heart belonged to someone else, there was no reason to stay for him.

The moment I submitted the application, a message popped up from a mutual friend of ours.

「Hey, we all heard about you and Zane. It's just a misunderstanding. How about we all get together tonight and clear things up?」

I didn't reply. I was busy downing coffee to stay awake.

But they wouldn't let up. Each message that came through sounded more earnest than the last.

I sighed and figured it might be better to just hash it out face to face. So I agreed.

Zane messaged me too, said he'd come pick me up.

I waited and waited, until the sky turned pitch black and a downpour hammered the city.

Ninety-nine calls. He never showed.

I sighed again, hailed a cab, and headed over. The moment I reached the door of the private room, I stopped.

Laughter poured through the gap, bright and careless.

“You have no idea. I was just being polite when I invited her, and Eva actually said yes!”

"If you ask me, she's scared that if she throws too big a fit, Zane will dump her for real. So now she's crawling back to make nice.”

“I mean, she's used goods after eight years. If Zane doesn't want her, who's gonna pick up the leftovers? No parents, no family, nowhere to go.”

They talked about me the way people talk about a stray on the sidewalk. Not a shred of feeling.

Zane sat at the far end. The dim light made his expression impossible to read.

A girl with a sweet, innocent face was practically glued to his side.

It hit me a beat too late. The mole on her collarbone was identical to the one in the photos.

She stuck out her tongue, playful and cute：

“Oh, stop being so mean. She kept him company for eight years, after all. Even if you raise a dog that long, you'd feel something!”

Zane didn't nod, didn't push back. He just pinched her nose and smiled at her, indulgent and fond.

A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. My whole body was shaking from how cold my heart had gone.

I didn't bother announcing myself. I shoved the door open. The girl scrambled to push Zane away.

“Oh, quit playing shy! You two are usually joined at the hip. Why pretend you don't know each other now?”

Zane's smile froze on his face. One by one, the others turned and saw me.

The room went so awkward you could hear the silence curdle.

Someone tried to smooth things over：

“Hey, you made it! We were just saying you were taking forever. What kept you?”

I didn't take the bait. I found a seat in the farthest corner, as far from Zane as a galaxy between us.

Everyone traded uneasy glances. It was Norma who broke the silence：

“Come sit by me! We've all been waiting for you!”

I looked at that pretty face and thought about the file my lawyer friend had pulled up for me just hours ago.

Norma Stewart. Fresh out of college. Hired at Zane's company not long ago, interning directly under him.

The truth was, I'd known for a while that a new intern had joined his team. Back then I was too proud, too sure of myself to give her a second thought.

When Zane suggested the three of us grab dinner, I straightened his tie and shooed him off to work：

“I don't have time for that. And you don't need to run this stuff by me. If anything happens between you two, you already know what I'll do.”

Looking back, that had been him testing the waters before he cheated.

I ignored Norma's invitation. The color drained from her face in an instant, and she turned to Zane with wounded eyes.

That was when Zane decided to open his mouth：

“I was working late and forgot to pick you up. Is that really worth this much attitude? She's talking to you. Did you not hear her?”

I scoffed. Then I unclasped the bracelet he'd given me and hurled it straight at his head.

The bracelet was solid and heavy. It split his forehead open on impact, and blood welled up instantly.

Before he could react, Norma threw herself in front of him, eyes blazing.

“What is wrong with you? Can't you just talk like a normal person instead of getting violent?”

The fierce resolve in her eyes was the exact same look I'd had the time I drank myself into coughing up blood to shield Zane at a business dinner.

I let out a cold laugh. I looked at every single one of them closing ranks against me, and all I felt was the bitter taste of irony.

I used to be stupid enough to believe I'd actually become part of his world.

Running around doing favors for his friends, drumming up business for them, helping with every little thing in their lives.

All for one lousy ‘Thanks, Mrs. Harding’ so Zane could look good in front of his boys.

In the end, none of it mattered. I'd been the only one who cared.

I was tired, and I was done looking for answers.

I picked up my bag and looked Zane dead in the eye.

“We're done. Go chase whatever freedom you think you want.”

I didn't wait to see the shock in his eyes. I turned and walked out without looking back.

He never argued. Never came home. Never sent a single message for days.

I finished tying up loose ends, ready to say goodbye to this place for good.

I was reaching for my suitcase when Zane strolled through the door, smelling like fresh body wash, in an irritatingly good mood.

He spotted me and froze, guilt flashing across his face as he shoved something behind his back.

：“Company team-building trip the last couple days. Got caught up having fun, couldn't get away,” he blurted out.

I looked at the thing he was trying to hide. A jacket. One of those matching couple's sets that had just dropped. Norma had posted the other half in the group chat, showing it off.

I didn't call him out. I just kept walking toward the door.

He raked a hand through his hair, agitation creeping into his voice：

“Eva, why won't you just let me explain? All you ever do is throw a tantrum and run off!”

I held up my hand and cut him off.

I pulled out my approved overseas transfer and felt the weight lift off my chest.

He stood rooted to the spot, clutching the paper, his eyes trembling：

“What is this? You're lying, right?”

He searched my face desperately, hunting for even a trace of a bluff.

There was none.

I shook my head, exhausted by his refusal to face what was right in front of him.

It was all there in black and white.

There was no reason for me to fake a transfer approval just to make him feel guilty.

“Stop lying to yourself. The day you started hiding things from me, you should've known this day was coming.”

I looked up at him one last time. All that was left in my eyes was disappointment.

Then I grabbed my suitcase and walked out. No hesitation. Not this time.

Zane Harding, I was setting you free.