"Thank you, Rose," Zachary replied.

A chorus of mutual praise, exactly as I expected.

I felt nauseated, but I was used to it by now.

Rose had always coddled Zachary endlessly. In the office, everyone had to call her Ms. Lane—only Zachary could call her by her first name. Anyone else who made a small mistake would get chewed out mercilessly, but Zachary? No matter what chaos he caused, she'd turn a blind eye.

A month ago, Zachary had blown a deal worth tens of millions of dollars. Everyone in the company was furious. And yet, to calm the uproar, Rose didn't even consult me—just shoved the blame on my shoulders and docked a year of my pay.

I stormed at her, furious. She just shrugged and said, "After all these years together, you're still hung up on trivial matters? This money is nothing to you, but Zachary's in a different position. If we docked his salary, how would he get by? If you want, I can make it up to you."

So, this wedding was her idea of "making it up to me".

When I stayed silent, Rose sighed and said on the phone, "Marcus, can't you take a page from Zachary's book? He's younger than you, but he's more sensible. When something goes wrong, he's proactive. He even flew his parents in just to make sure the wedding went smoothly.

"You don't have parents—fine. But when problems arise, you can't just throw a tantrum, refuse to talk, and run away, leaving a mess."

I snorted when she mentioned my parents.

Rose's house caught fire when she was a child, and she was alone at that time. My father had rushed in to save her and was fatally burned. My mother, crushed by grief, died soon after.

The night my mother died, Rose held me as I cried, promising over and over that she'd never leave me.

And now, barely eight years later, in her eyes, my parents' deaths were just another reason I didn't measure up to Zachary.

In the past, I would've lost it and yelled at her. But by now, after witnessing Rose do countless absurd things for Zachary, I was mentally prepared. Surprisingly, I felt calm.

"You're right. I was wrong," I said softly.

Perhaps sensing my calm, Rose softened her tone. "It's okay to make mistakes. As long as you acknowledge it and improve… Just apologize to Zachary, and this matter will—"

"You misunderstand," I said, cutting her off flatly. "What I mean is, I shouldn't have gone to you, shouldn't have registered the marriage first, and I definitely shouldn't have had my dad save an ungrateful person like you."

Rose froze, anger flaring. "Marcus, what are you saying?" she fumed.

Hearing her rage, I didn't grovel like before. I stayed calm. "Rose, let's get a divorce."

Rose was stunned. "What did you just say? Marcus, you've become so petty. Over this? You want a divorce?"

I expected her to blow up and agree to it right after. After all, a few nights ago, I heard her calling Zachary's name in her sleep.

She liked him that much—if I divorced her to clear the path, she'd probably be delighted.

But to my surprise, Rose exhaled deeply, her voice unusually calm. "Marcus, I know you're just saying that in anger. I'm not going to hold it against you. Stop joking around, okay? Talking about divorce like that is hurtful. And after all these years, we can't split up just like that.

"I'll pretend you never said those things, so don't repeat them again. Oh, by the way, we got a last-minute notice. I have to go on a business trip for a couple of days. I'm giving you a month off. Take some time to cool down."

With that, Rose hung up.

Just before the line went dead, I heard Rose explaining to Zachary softly, "I can't. Divorce is complicated—property, finances—"

I didn't hear the rest, but I got the gist. She was worried I'd claim part of her wealth if we divorced.

I scoffed and was momentarily speechless.

Rose told Zachary everything—from the trivial, like what she ate, to the company's sensitive information. I had warned her to be careful, but she didn't listen. She trusted Zachary and reserved all her suspicion for me.

However, none of that mattered anymore.

I contacted a lawyer to draw up a divorce agreement. To speed things up, I chose not to claim anything from the divorce.

I also submitted my resignation to the HR department. They didn't know my relationship with Rose, so they quickly replied formally, "Ms. Lane and Mr. Zimmer are on their honeymoon. I won't disturb them now. You can bring this up in a month."

I wasn't surprised. I'd already guessed Rose's "business trip" was a lie. Her wedding was the talk of the town—there was no way work would actually get her.

"I can't wait. Go ahead and process it. Just inform her after her honeymoon. If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it," I replied.

The HR staff hesitated but agreed after I reassured her.

Rose and I had signed an eight-year contract back then. It expired two years ago, but she never renewed it—forgotten or indifferent, I didn't know.

For the past few years, her attention had been mostly on Zachary anyway.

That ended up working in my favor. Now, I didn't need her approval to resign.

Next, I called a friend who was out of town. When he heard what I had in mind, he was thrilled and insisted I come join his company immediately.

A while back, he had started a new company and had everything in place—except for a strong technical lead. He'd asked me several times to join him, but I'd refused without a second thought.

The company Rose owned now had started out as something we built together. Back then, we rented a tiny cubicle to save money, and it was just the two of us. Now, it was on the verge of going public, spanning an entire building.

I'd poured myself into it as if it were a child of mine, and even though she'd never given me a dime in equity, I had no complaints.

Now, thinking back, all that effort seemed wasted.

I accepted my friend's offer unhesitatingly and booked a flight to Haddon.

When I arrived at the airport, I saw him waiting in the terminal. The moment he spotted me, he rushed over, took my luggage from my hands, and fussed over me, checking if I was tired, hungry, or needed anything at all.

I felt a little awkward and laughed. "We're friends. You don't need to go through all this trouble."

My friend smiled, "Close friends take care of each other, right?"

For some reason, his words sent my mind drifting back a few years, to when Rose had asked me to give up a high-paying job and start a company with her. She'd simply sent me an address, and I lugged my bags through a maze of streets to reach a small, obscure apartment, sweating from the effort.

When I arrived, she was in pajamas, gaming with her friends.

She didn't say anything, but I could tell from her expression that she thought I'd come at the wrong time.

Once she finished the game, I teased, "Why didn't you come pick me up? Weren't you worried I might run into trouble?"

Rose glanced at me, scoffing. "You're a grown man, aren't you? What could happen? Besides, we've been together forever. You could come on your own, so why should I bother?"

In hindsight, all the talk about us being together for a long time was just a pretense. The truth was that I didn't matter to her.

That afternoon, my friend showed me potential apartments. Once I had a place lined up, he rounded up a few friends and took me to a luxury hotel for dinner.

When we arrived, he went to park the car while I headed upstairs first.

But as I stepped through the revolving door, a familiar voice rang out.

"Huh? Isn't that Marcus?"

I instinctively turned and saw Rose and Zachary at the front desk, hands entwined, leaning in close.

Rose reflexively pulled her hand back when she saw me.

Zachary's face flickered with irritation, but he quickly masked it with a casual smile as he approached. "Marcus, I just heard from the HR department that you wanted to reach Rose. Why come all the way here yourself? You could've just called."

Rose frowned, as if realizing something. "Did you follow me here? What's this? Don't trust me now?"

I stifled a laugh, not bothering to explain. "I wasn't following anyone. I came to see a friend."

She clearly didn't buy it. "Cut it out. Don't you think I know you have no friends here? If you were following me, just admit it—why lie?"

Her sneer suggested she already thought she had me figured out.

I stayed silent, unsure what to say.

Rose knew me better than anyone. She knew I was far from home and had hardly any friends, yet she still left me alone in that city to "cool down" after the wedding. I remembered last year, though, when she claimed she was going back to her hometown for the New Year, she actually spent it with Zachary.

Her excuse had been that Zachary was lonely and in a bad place—he had no friends there, and she didn't want him to do anything reckless.

"Rose, since Marcus is here, you two go ahead and talk. Right, give me the card for the room." Zachary reached out toward Rose with a grin on his face.

Rose opened her bag and passed him the card. "Wait for me upstairs."

"Okay."

Before leaving, Zachary shot me a triumphant glance. The implication was clear—they were sharing a hotel room.

For a moment, Rose seemed to catch on, her eyes flickering with a brief panic.

"The front desk said there was only one room left. Don't overthink it. It's a suite, and he's sleeping on the couch," she said.

But I remembered her habits. Whether it was a business trip or a vacation, she always planned ahead and booked hotels in advance.

I didn't bother confronting her. Instead, I pulled the divorce papers I'd prepared from my bag. I had originally planned to sign them after sorting out the new job—but since I'd run into her here, this was as good a time as any.