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.

"What's this?"

Rose opened the folder with a puzzled look, about to read the content, when Zachary's sharp yell rang from upstairs.

"What's wrong, Zachary?" she called out anxiously, not even looking at the papers, hastily signing and preparing to leave.

I couldn't help but ask, "Don't you want to see what you just signed?"

Rose waved it off. "What else would you want besides money?"

With that, she hurried off in her high heels without waiting for my response.

I let out a self-mocking laugh. Her hurried figure brought back memories from years ago, when I'd fallen seriously ill and couldn't afford surgery.

Rose had told me not to worry—she would find a way. That night, I woke to find her exhausted, making call after call to borrow money for my surgery.

From that moment on, I silently promised myself that no matter what happened, I would never let her down.

Later, as our company grew and money was no longer an issue, Rose and I could never go back to how we used to be.

I tucked the divorce papers back in my bag. I was told that the divorce would be finalized in a month. After that, Rose and I would have nothing to do with each other.

By the time the elevator delivered me to the private room, my friends were already there.

After a few rounds of drinks, one of them brought up the past. He asked if I'd had a girlfriend, recalling how I'd refused his offers to join his startup.

Rose had never wanted to make our relationship public, so hardly anyone knew we were together. Even at the wedding, she invited only business partners—none of our relatives or friends.

At the time, she said we were living in another city. Even if we announced the wedding, most people wouldn't be able to come, and it might look like we were angling for wedding gifts.

She said it would be better to keep it low-key and celebrate with everyone another time when we returned to our hometown.

Back then, I didn't think much of it. Looking back now, though, the whole arrangement felt like a roundabout way of making room for Zachary to play the groom.

"I'm already divorced," I said calmly.

The room went silent. People looked unsure whether to console me.

Right then, I raised my glass and said, "From now on, I'm settling down here. Let's make some serious money together!"

"That's right! Let's make some serious money!"

The room quickly filled with laughter and the sound of glasses clinking.

The next day, I signed the contract with my friend and threw myself into the business.

The business was already running smoothly, and with the addition of the latest technology, it only grew stronger. Within just two weeks, our profits had tripled.

My friend was thrilled. To celebrate, he threw a party at a resort on the outskirts—but there, once again, I ran into Rose and Zachary.

The two of them were sitting by the bonfire. Rose was carefully peeling shrimp for Zachary.

I didn't know what Zachary said, but Rose laughed and popped the shrimp into his mouth. Then she lifted her hand—still slick with shrimp juice—as if to smear it on his face. He laughed and leaned back to dodge.

Just when Rose thought she'd gotten her way, Zachary suddenly grabbed her and pulled her back into his arms.

Rose lowered her head shyly, her face glowing with happiness.

I remembered that she had never liked it when I got up to those childish antics.

She always complained that the shrimp would get her hands dirty, so she never liked eating them. Every time, I would peel them for her and coax her to eat.

I couldn't deny it—since she'd been with Zachary, she had changed a lot.