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.