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.