Many of Lucas’s employees liked and commented on the post. Seeing this, I tapped the “like” button as well. To my surprise, the employees who had liked it quickly withdrew their likes one by one. I couldn’t help but laugh, then set my phone down and drifted into a deep sleep.

Lucas returned early the next morning, just in time to see me having breakfast at the table.

He snatched the spoon from my hand, his gaze cold. "Didn't you see my message?"

I shook my head and he tossed the spoon back into my bowl, splashing soup onto my clothes.

I knew why he was so angry. In the past, if he didn’t come home at night, I would keep messaging him without waiting for him to contact me first. Not seeing his message would have been unheard of.

Ignoring him, I wiped my mouth and was about to go upstairs to change, but Lucas called out to stop me.

"Zinnia, have you finished writing our invitations? Don’t miss anyone on the list—those are important clients."

Then he changed his mind. "Forget it, you probably don’t understand anyway. Let me take a look."

My eyes fell on the ashes by the door that I hadn’t taken out yet. Just as I was about to confess, Mary’s special ringtone went off again.

Lucas, not caring that I was right in front of him, took the call without hesitation.

"Don’t worry, I’ll bring it to you soon, silly girl."

I turned and went back to my room, swallowing the words I’d wanted to say. Hearing the closet door close, I remembered the ashes by the door and went downstairs to throw them out.

It was raining outside and from the corner of my eye, I noticed an umbrella left on a chair, so I picked it up.

Just as I took a couple of steps out, Lucas’s scolding voice came from behind.

"Zinnia, do you just love touching other people’s things? Such poor manners. Didn’t your mother teach you better?"

Before I could react, he slapped my hand holding the umbrella. I winced in pain as the umbrella fell to the ground, leaving me standing there, drenched.

"I... I’m your fiancée. Can’t I at least use an umbrella?" I asked.

He looked unfazed, even letting out a cold laugh. "Don’t think being my fiancée gives you the right to test my patience."

With that, he didn’t spare me another glance. He picked up the umbrella, pushed my shoulder aside and headed straight to the garage.

Facing another cold response from Lucas, a wave of exhaustion and heartbreak washed over me. Back in my room, I lay in the bathtub, absentmindedly opening Instagram.

This time, Mary hadn’t posted in her story. Instead, she sent me a direct message.

[Zinnia, I’m so sorry you got caught in the rain. Lucas was just worried I might get wet since I didn’t have an umbrella.]

So that’s it. No wonder Lucas was so upset. When it came to Mary, I was always the one left behind.

I focused on the first message Mary sent me:

[Zinnia, you’re so lucky to have such a great boyfriend like Lucas! I really envy you!]

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. It turned out that she had already had a crush on Lucas at that time.

[As long as you’re happy.]

After replying, I went through my profile and deleted all the engagement photos I had pinned, including the one featuring Lucas.

As the elevator doors opened, before I could step out, I saw Lucas and Mary walking ahead of me.

Lucas had one arm around Mary as they playfully teased each other while walking. When they spotted me, Mary pretended to be angry, struggling to break free from Lucas’s embrace, but he pulled her back effortlessly.

“Zinnia, you have to help me! Lucas is being such a pain and insists on me carrying him!”

Before I could respond, Lucas smiled and patted Mary on the head. “If you keep calling me a pain, then I won’t take you out for dinner or buy you a bag later.”

With that, he made her so flustered that she couldn’t say anything in return. Then, when he turned to me, his gaze was filled with impatience.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you not to come looking for me if nothing’s important? And don’t bring me food; it creates a bad impression.”

In the past, I would bring Lucas’ meals just to spend more time with him. The last time I did that, he finally snapped and dumped the food into the trash can in front of his assistant.

I thought maybe I had cooked poorly and I held back my tears. Then I suggested we go eat at the restaurant downstairs instead. But he still refused.

“Oh, come on, Lucas! What are you talking about? Zinnia is just concerned about you.” Mary chimed in, pulling away from Lucas to take my hand. “Let’s go eat together!”

“I’m here to deliver the company project documents.”

Seeing me brush off Mary's hand, Lucas’s expression darkened immediately. His gaze fell on the documents I was holding.

“Give it to me.”

Just as I was about to hand the documents to him, he suddenly pulled his hand back and suddenly let out a cold laugh. The documents fell to the floor in a mess.

Mary feigned surprise and looked down at me, her eyes filled with smugness and provocation.

“You can’t even hold onto a document properly? Pick it up and put it on my desk. I’ll take her to eat first.”

I knew that Lucas was just taking out his frustrations on me for Mary’s sake. He couldn’t stand to see his flustered secretary being neglected by me and didn’t even bother to ask if I had eaten.

I silently picked up the documents from the floor and called a real estate agent. “Hello, please help me find a new house as soon as possible.”

That evening, Lucas surprisingly returned home early. He came over and pulled out a brand-new dress. Just an hour ago, I received a message from his number.

[The dress is beautiful, but unfortunately, it’s not my size. I’ll let Lucas give it to you.]

Then came the photo Mary had secretly taken of Lucas trying on a suit.

This suit looked familiar. I suddenly remembered it was the one I had specifically ordered for him to wear at our wedding.

A week ago, I had tried to persuade Lucas several times to go suit shopping with me, but he had refused each time, saying he was too busy with work. I never expected he would go to the suit store with Mary instead.

“Here, I bought this just for you. It should suit you perfectly,” Lucas’s voice pulled me back to reality.

I thanked him flatly, not even bothering to look at him.

Lucas seemed surprised by my reaction. In his mind, I should be excited and running up to hug him.

“You’re acting like this when I’m being nice to you?” he asked.

I didn’t respond to him but continued typing up my resignation message on my phone. The company still had business dealings with Lucas, after all.

But I didn’t want to see him anymore. After thinking it over, I decided to resign.

Seeing my indifferent demeanor, Lucas stepped forward and grabbed my hand.

Before he could say more, I shook off his hand, leaving him standing there in confusion. “I have something to take care of at the company; I need to go print a document.”

As I walked out of the print shop, it started raining again. Suddenly, my phone rang.

“It’s raining. I’ll come to pick you up. Just wait for me,” he said before hanging up without giving me a chance to refuse.

But as I waited, the rain continued to pour and Lucas still hadn’t shown up. My mind suddenly drifted to Mary.

I flipped to her Instagram profile. Sure enough, I saw her complaining about feeling unwell and having a fever on her story.

When I tried to call a taxi to go home, I realized it was too late and the rain made it hard to find a driver willing to take the order. Reluctantly, I had to walk back in the rain and by the time I got home, I was completely soaked.

Lucas, I would never trust you again.

With that thought, I slowly drifted off to sleep on my bed.

I was in a deep sleep when suddenly someone shook me awake. Turning on the light, I realized it was Lucas, his face clouded with anger.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait for me at the store?” he asked, irritation etched in his features. “I went there and there wasn’t anyone else around. Didn’t you see it was pouring outside?”

He was the one who had abandoned me to chase after Mary, yet here he was, questioning me for not waiting longer. “I waited for you a long time, but it was already dark and cold outside. Weren’t you worried I might encounter danger out there?”

As soon as I finished speaking, I sneezed. It seemed the rain had caught up with me and I had caught a cold.

Lucas’s expression changed slightly at my sneeze, a hint of guilt flickering in his eyes. He dropped the previous line of questioning and coldly remarked, “You still catch a cold at such an old age. Don’t come spreading your germs to me.”

Just as I was about to lie back down and rest, Lucas suddenly reached out, placing his hand on my forehead. The warmth radiating from his palm contrasted sharply with the words that followed, sending a chill down my spine.

“Luckily, you don’t have a fever,” he said, pausing briefly before continuing, “Zinnia, could you make me some chicken soup? I haven’t had it in a long time.”

I was taken aback. Lucas had never actively asked me to cook anything for him, let alone ask for soup to take to the office. A smile involuntarily crept onto my face as I recalled Mary’s recent post about being sick.

I pushed his hand away gently, catching a glimpse of the red mole on his palm. It was the same hand that had saved me from the burning laboratory all those years ago.

“I’ll go make it now, so you can take it to the office for…yourself tomorrow,” I said, my voice faint as I prepared to head downstairs.

But just as I was about to leave, Lucas hesitated and spoke up. “It’s quite late. Why don’t you make it tomorrow afternoon instead? In the morning…”

He trailed off and I could sense his reluctance.

I interrupted Lucas and walked straight past him down the stairs. "I have something on at the company tomorrow and won't be back."

The person behind me fell into silence.

In the morning, he carefully poured the chicken soup I made last night into a thermos. When he turned around and saw me, his expression looked a bit unnatural.

Just before leaving, he unexpectedly called out to me. "Zinnia, when I get back from this business trip, let's go to the civil affairs bureau and get the certificate, okay?"