After eight years of building a startup with my boyfriend, Elias Huxley, the company was finally publicly listed.

At the shareholders' meeting, his first love, who had abandoned him for being poor, came back. Elias held the woman cuddled in his arms and announced in front of the entire company that Kara Merrick was to be the future mistress of the company. The employees whispered and sneered, their laughter feeling like needles stabbing at the dark circles under my eyes from sleepless nights spent revising proposals. Everyone assumed I would surely cling to him, but he seemed to have forgotten who was truly responsible for the company's success.

"Damn, are you really coming to help me?" Nolan Prescott's excited voice boomed through the phone. "Last week, the client said we had money but no creativity. Let's see who dare say that crap now!"

Nolan giggled foolishly, "My designer god has finally manifested! Now, with you on board, the board will stop riding my ass!"

I chuckled and teased, "Stop talking nonsense and prepare to welcome me."

"An honor, Your Majesty! Don't worry, money isn't an issue, you go ahead and do your thing!"

The moment I hung up, Elias walked through the door. The pungent smell of perfume on him made me frown.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked, coldly glancing at me. Before I could reply, he snorted, "Forget it, it's probably a colleague. As if you know anyone worthwhile."

He never cared about who I was associating with. Whether I was running business alone day and night, it was always like this. Even now, it was the same. This time, I didn't bother to explain. I simply picked up my phone and started booking a ticket to Rithar City.

When Elias emerged from the bathroom, he didn't find me, as usual, eagerly waiting to help him dry his hair. Finally, his gaze fell on me, as though he was bestowing some sort of favor. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around me, his tone teasing:

"Julia, getting jealous now?" he murmured, sweetly coaxing, "You know Kara's father passed away; she's all alone. I said that to have an excuse to give her some shares later."

My fingers hovered over the phone screen, and I smiled, faintly saying, "Just do as you planned."

That afternoon, I transferred all my shares and submitted my resignation. Elias noticed my unusually cold demeanor and furrowed his brows, trying to see what I was doing. Just then, his phone rang.

Seeing the name on the screen, his stern expression melted immediately and he rushed out.

Half an hour later, an unnamed call came through. I answered it.

From the other side came a woman's coquettish voice, "Elias, as soon as I mentioned my stomach ache, you hurried over to be with me. It's late, Julia won't misunderstand, right?”

Then came Elias’s pampering voice, “Silly girl, your health is more important than anything. I'll stay with you tonight; I’m not going anywhere.”

The woman giggled, "Elias, you're the best."

A loud kiss sound followed by a faint “naughty” came through, then the call ended.

If it had been before today, hearing about Elias’ affair would have stabbed my heart like needles. But now, on the brink of leaving, it just seemed ridiculous. At that moment, the booking page finally loaded. Without hesitation, I booked a ticket to leave in three days.

The next morning, Elias was surprisingly home. He handed me a beautifully packaged gift box. Seeing my puzzled expression, he smiled nervously.

"Especially got you a gift last night. Open it and take a look."

I unwrapped the package to find a bottle of perfume. Surprised, I quickly realized that the perfume was meant for Kara. It was her usual brand.

I covered my nose and mouth, unable to resist asking Elias, "We've been together for eight years. Did you not know I'm severely allergic to perfume?"

Elias's face changed, and he abruptly stood up, letting out a cold laugh, "Picky as ever. Take it or leave it."

He slammed the door and left.

Five minutes later, I scrolled through Kara's Instagram:

"Perfume from my darling. He asked me what I liked, and I said just this brand. He bought out the entire counter for me. So domineering!"

There were several comments below.

"Wow! Truly Mr. Huxley!"

"Kara's boyfriend is so good to her!"

"Jealous! How do you pray to find such a powerful boyfriend?"

I developed my allergy to perfume during the years I lived in the basement with Elias. The poor living conditions and excess dust caused it. Since then, even the slightest whiff of something irritating made my body break out in rashes.

During the eight years of running business for the company, I had gone into perfume allergy shock three or four times, yet he never remembered. He even gave me perfume as a reconciliation gift.

And now that Kara was back, he couldn't wait to present everything she liked before her. Thinking about this, I let out a mocking laugh.

"Julia, you are the world's biggest fool!"

I packed up my materials at the company. Eight years’ worth of all my designs, drafts, and finished products, along with the client information I painstakingly expanded—nothing was left behind.

Because yesterday Elias had publicly announced that Kara would be the future mistress of the company, colleagues had been looking at me with derision all day today.

In the afternoon, I overheard several colleagues whispering in the bathroom.

"So, Julia really got dumped by Mr. Huxley?"

"Definitely. She was probably kicked to the curb. I live in the same building as Mr. Huxley's FirstLove. You guys have no idea. Last night, Mr. Huxley rushed over there, and this morning, I saw the two of them leaving together!"

"Oh my god! They're already living together. No wonder Julia looked so distracted today; she got dumped. So pitiful."

The bathroom door opened, and they were met with my thoughtful face. Instantly, they stopped talking and scattered like startled birds.

I took a deep breath to steady my emotions and quietly stared at my haggard reflection in the mirror.

I won’t let Elias hurt me anymore.

Due to the amount of material, packing took time. I was banging away at the documents, working overtime until eleven o'clock at night.

There was no one left in the company but me.

In the silence, a well-defined hand suddenly landed on the desk beside me, knocking heavily.

Then came Elias's voice, full of anger, "Ignoring my messages? Not coming home so late? Julia, what do you want?"

I paused my actions, feeling a familiar chill in my heart. Without looking at him, I lowered my eyes and lit up my phone, seeing the unread message:

"Bring two servings of tomato pasta to the hospital."

Treating me like a servant?

Seeing the unread reminder on the screen, Elias's voice softened, "Oh, you were busy working. Don’t ignore my messages next time."

"I brought you dinner. Eat it while it's hot."

He placed a taco in front of me. Glancing at the packaging, I recognized it from Kara's Instagram. Half-heartedly, I said, “I’m not hungry.”

I sensed his mood drop beside me. Rubbing my temples in frustration, I thought it better not to make a fuss.

I unwrapped the taco, revealing it was drenched in Mexican chili sauce.

Because of the years spent working day and night to meet deadlines, I had ruined my stomach and couldn't eat spicy food.

The smell of the spice made me nauseous, so I instinctively pushed the taco away. "I can't eat this."

Elias's expression darkened instantly, like a thundercloud.

He sneered and asked, "How long are you going to keep this up?"

"Julia, you're almost thirty. I'm not going to keep indulging you."

After a moment of silence, Elias lit a cigarette and walked over to the window. "You have five minutes to pack up. We're going home."

Just then, the phone Elias had left on my desk lit up.

It was a message from Kara.

"Elias spent the whole day with Kara today. Really exhausting."

"Even though hospitals are boring, being able to eat tacos with Elias made it all worth it. Kara's becoming a little chubby pig being fed by Elias. What to do? Wuwuwu."

We got home close to midnight.

I wiped my face and began sorting through the wardrobe. Despite my exhaustion, time was running out.

Elias emerged from the bathroom, towel in hand, and noticed the large empty space in the closet. He frowned.

"I'm going on a business trip abroad in a few days. If there's anything you want, make a list."

I gave him a surprised glance. Elias had never given me anything before, and suddenly he seemed like a different person.

Was this supposed to be compensation for his infidelity?

I couldn't care less.

Shaking my head, I replied, "I don't want anything."

After all, I was leaving soon. Why bother with something unnecessary? If it didn’t meet my expectations, I wouldn’t want it anyway. Besides, I didn’t plan on keeping Elias himself anymore. Why would I care about his gifts?

Elias's face turned stern again, glaring down at me. "Just because I said Kara would be the future mistress of the company at the shareholders' meeting, you're throwing a fit?"

I couldn't be bothered to explain and simply shook my head silently.

Elias suddenly leaned in, gripping my chin tightly, his eyes filled with mockery. "Julia, you need to fix that bad temper of yours."

"You’ve been with me for eight years. Who else would want you besides me?"

With that, he let go and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Elias was a male chauvinist. Throughout our eight-year relationship, he had escalated our arguments with cold violence time and again. I had repeatedly lowered my stance to make amends. But this time, my heart was completely cold—no longer capable of any stir of emotion.

Elias didn't sleep a wink all night, and his phone didn’t buzz even once.

The next morning, Elias returned with a face of frost. Seeing him, I paused in my bread-making. I had only prepared one breakfast.

Elias obviously noticed.

His face darkened as he looked at me. This was the first time I hadn’t made him breakfast.

I spoke, slightly delayed, "Have you eaten? I can make you some more."

Elias's eyes bored into mine, as if they were on fire. "Don't you care where I was last night or who I was with?"

I blinked slowly. Would caring make any difference?

Elias soon forgot this minor episode, as a woman's sugary voice came through his phone.

"Elias, my tummy hurts so much. But I know you have work to do today, so I’ll just be strong."

Elias frowned worriedly, then his gaze shifted back to me. He commanded, "You take the day off. Make some tomato pasta and bring it to the hospital to take care of Kara."

I almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of the man in front of me.