I confirmed Lucas’s betrayal on Christmas Eve. 28-year-old Lucas was dressed as Santa Claus, entertaining a young woman. I returned home in a daze and sat numbly in the living room for hours. When Lucas finally came home, I asked him, “When are we getting married?” He frowned and replied without hesitation, “Didn’t we agree to discuss this after the company is more stable?” I nodded and went to bed. The next morning, I woke up early and packed my things, ready to leave. Later, I sold my company shares to Lucas’s competitor. When I discovered that Santa was actually Lucas, I wasn’t even angry. Even though he had just flirted with a young woman right under my nose and then kissed her. I simply calmly confirmed the fact of his betrayal. Light snow was still falling from the sky, and a thick layer had already accumulated on the ground. In this weather, staying in a warm room with the heater on would have been so comfortable. Unfortunately, I was out running errands for the company. I had just received a message that my business partner couldn’t make it. Which meant that after waiting for three hours, I had been stood up. Perhaps the cold had numbed me, to the point where even seeing Lucas’s betrayal didn’t stir much emotion in me. I moved my nearly numb legs and decided to take a cab home. When I returned to the home Lucas and I shared, the living room was pitch black. I turned on the lights, and it finally brightened up. On the dining table was the loving breakfast I had made for Lucas before leaving this morning, untouched. Next to it was a sticky note with hearts and smiley faces drawn on it. I froze for a moment, unconsciously picking up the note. Lucas had taught me how to draw these simple doodles back when we were still in the honeymoon phase. He had held my hand and shown me how to draw them. It was just a simple sketch, but he had insisted on being close to me while teaching it. Now, it had been five years already. I suddenly realized Lucas and I had been together for five years. It had been such a long time, no wonder he had fallen for someone else. After a moment of silence, I tore up the note in my hand and threw it in the trash along with the untouched breakfast. It had gone cold anyway, no point in keeping it. Might as well throw it out. Sitting on the couch, I didn’t know what to do for a moment. I was tired today and didn’t want to go to the office. In the past, I would have been excitedly making travel plans at a time like this. So that Lucas and I could go on a trip together when he had time. I loved traveling, but Lucas didn’t enjoy it as much. As a result, out of ten times, Lucas was only willing to accompany me once or twice. And even on those occasions, it was mostly because I had landed a big deal for the company. Thinking of this, I gave a self-deprecating smile. I didn’t know when I had become one of those people I used to look down on. Before getting together with Lucas, I would encounter women who mistreated themselves for love. I always found it incomprehensible. Now that I was in the same situation, I could understand a little. It was just craving some warmth after all. Who doesn’t have some unforgettable memories when they’re in love? I don’t know how much time passed before Lucas came home.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Lucas frowned as soon as he saw me. I couldn’t tell if his words were out of concern or accusation. He used to say this in the past too. Back then, he would follow up with another question. “Is something bothering you?” But now, I waited and waited. And never heard those words. Of course, I had just witnessed his betrayal with my own eyes. Why was I still clinging to these things? I didn’t answer him, just looked up and stared at him intently. “Lucas, when are we getting married?” This was the first time I had asked this question directly. But I had said similar things countless times before. Back then, I would ask: “Lucas, when are you going to marry me?” But the result was always a polite refusal. This time was no exception. “Why are you asking about this again?” “Didn’t I tell you before? We’ll talk about these things after the company is more stable.” I wanted to argue – what exactly counted as stable? The company had already gone public, wasn’t that enough? But I didn’t ask. I just nodded and went to bed. I hadn’t really expected him to agree anyway. I was just asking one last time, for the sake of these five years. The bedroom was very cozy, with warm color tones. It allowed my mind to relax a little whenever I was exhausted from work. Lucas and I had chosen it together. There were still many stuffed animals on the bed, remnants of our honeymoon phase. Back then, he would say: “What guy plays with these things?” While shouting loudly to me: “Baby, come quick, this stuffed animal is so cute!” Those sweet memories flashed through my mind, but ultimately froze on the image of Lucas embracing and kissing that young woman today. I paused, then packed up my things and went to the guest room. As expected, Lucas didn’t ask me a single question. I slept until dawn. When I woke up, there was probably still a smile on my face. Because in my dream, I had seen those beautiful memories from the past. In the dream, 23-year-old Lucas was still holding my hand, loudly promising: “We’ll be together forever!” But when I woke up, I had to face the reality of 28-year-old Lucas’s betrayal. The huge gap left me feeling disoriented.
I decided to move out. When I made this decision, I felt a bit sad. Not for any other reason. But because the house was under Lucas’s name. If it had been under my name, I could have asked Lucas to move out now. Instead of having to leave myself. I realized again that Lucas probably stopped loving me long ago. If it was the Lucas from before, he should have put the house under my name when we bought it last year. For men, where the money goes is where the love goes. No exceptions. As I was packing, I ran into a problem. In the short year since moving in, I had already accumulated many items. Things that seemed insignificant in daily life all needed to be taken when moving. I was packing frantically, not even noticing when Lucas woke up. “What are you doing?” Maybe the dream from this morning still had too much of an effect, because hearing his voice made me feel a bit nauseous. I held my chest, patting it lightly. Before I could speak, he spoke first. “You’re not pregnant, are you?” Pregnant? Realizing my period was late this month, my face instantly turned pale. Although Lucas and I always used protection, what if…? Lucas must have noticed something was off, because he immediately took me to the hospital. The whole way there, Lucas seemed to have returned to how he was before. Asking if I was feeling alright, constantly checking if I was uncomfortable. If I didn’t know about his betrayal, I might have been fooled by this facade. This all lasted until we ran into that young woman at the hospital. “Jasmine, why are you here?” Lucas immediately let go of my arm when he saw her. The worried look on his face was something I hadn’t seen in a long time. I looked at the young woman. Before this, I hadn’t planned on confronting her. Because I had thought that maybe she was tricked by Lucas. That she didn’t know Lucas already had a girlfriend. But it wasn’t until I clearly saw her face that I realized. She and I were actually old acquaintances. Jasmine. Jasmine Lin. The junior I had personally mentored. I stood there, watching them fuss over each other in front of me. After a while, Lucas finally brought Jasmine over. “Senior.” Jasmine greeted me sweetly, not showing any sign of guilt. “Jasmine wasn’t feeling well, and she’s never been to a hospital before, so she’s not familiar with the procedures. I’m going to help her out.” “You’re more familiar with hospitals, and it’s probably nothing serious anyway, so why don’t you go first? I’ll come pick you up when I’m done.” Lucas had some nerve, accompanying an employee to see the doctor while leaving his official girlfriend behind. It was truly laughable. But right now I was anxious to confirm whether I was pregnant or not, so I didn’t have the energy to deal with them. If I wasn’t pregnant, that would be fine. But if I really was pregnant, I’d have to suffer through it. Fortunately, my streak of bad luck didn’t continue. It was just an irregular period. I left the hospital, planning to take a cab home by myself. But then I heard Jasmine’s voice.
Jasmine was sitting in Lucas’s passenger seat, waving at me. Her face was radiant with joy, making her look bright and lively. “Senior, come on!” This made it impossible for me to pretend I hadn’t heard. Might as well take the ride. The whole way, Lucas and Jasmine were chatting and laughing. Making me feel like an outsider. I kept quiet, not intending to interrupt their little world. But Jasmine kept trying to provoke me. “Senior, Lucas is so thoughtful and caring, you must be very happy!” “Senior, you have to treat Lucas well, I’m so envious of you!” “Senior…” “That’s enough, be quiet!” I finally couldn’t stand her constant chatter. I just wanted to get home in peace, was that so hard? “Why are you yelling? Jasmine was just saying a few words.” “When did your temper get so bad? Jasmine is still your junior.” I had only raised my voice a little, but Lucas was already defending her. “She’s my junior, why are you speaking for her?” I couldn’t help but snap back at him. “Jasmine is my employee too, what’s wrong with me saying a few words for her?” “Employee?” I found it laughable. “More like your little mistress, right?” As soon as I said that, the car fell silent. After a while, Lucas coughed awkwardly. “What nonsense are you talking about? Jasmine and I are completely innocent.” Seeing his reaction, I turned to Jasmine. “What, you’re with him but he won’t even give you a proper title?” Jasmine stammered, unable to reply. I gave a cold laugh, not saying anything more. Jasmine got out of the car first. On the way back home, Lucas and I didn’t speak. When we got home, I ignored Lucas behind me. I went straight to finish packing the luggage I hadn’t finished this morning. These were gifts Lucas had given me, I didn’t want them anymore. These were things Lucas and I had bought together while shopping, I didn’t want those either. After clearing things out for a long time, I finally realized that most of the items were related to Lucas in some way. I didn’t want any of it. It’s not like I was short on money anyway. I could just buy new things later. I sorted out some things I particularly liked and some essentials I had to take. As I was about to leave, Lucas finally spoke up. Before that, Lucas had just been quietly watching me. He seemed convinced that I was just putting on an act. “Olivia, are you really leaving?” “There’s nothing going on between Jasmine and me, can you stop being so petty?” “I didn’t say anything when you were out drinking with those businessmen all night for work, I just accompanied her to the hospital once.” “Slap!” Lucas’s words made me tremble with anger. I turned around and slapped him. “Nothing going on between you and Jasmine? You’re still trying to fool me, I saw everything yesterday!” After saying that, I took a deep breath. “Forget about your betrayal, what did you mean by what you just said?” “What do you mean I was out drinking with those men until late?” “If I hadn’t worked so hard to land those big deals, would the company be this successful?” “Now that the company has gone public, you’re using this against me? Where were you when I was drinking until I vomited blood?” I couldn’t believe that the person speaking to me so harshly now was the boyfriend I had loved for five years. The person who used to care for me so tenderly. My throat hurt from yelling earlier. “Lucas.” I couldn’t help it, my voice cracked a little. He was the only person I had ever truly loved. “Let’s end this here.” I left without looking back. Two months ago, I had bought myself a house. Without telling anyone.
Maybe I had already sensed something was wrong back then. It’s too easy for a woman to notice when something’s off with her partner. Not coming home at night, unexplained overtime. Suddenly finding cute little decorations at home that weren’t there before. All these little things, I had long suspected something was wrong. But Lucas had hidden it so well, I just couldn’t find any evidence. Wiping away my tears, I moved my things from the car into my new home. I didn’t have the energy to properly unpack everything, so I just rested for now. Things had gotten to this point with Lucas, and I wasn’t short on money anyway. I still had to go to the company tomorrow. Lucas owned 30% of the company shares, while I owned 21%. There was no reason for him to sit in the office every day while I had to run around for business, putting on fake smiles and drinking until I threw up. The next day when I arrived at the company, I noticed everyone looking at me strangely. Before I could ask, my former assistant quietly told me. Lucas had promoted Jasmine to be his personal secretary. The two of them were openly affectionate at the office, no longer caring about others’ opinions. “Olivia… this…” My assistant felt indignant on my behalf, but I shook my head. “Lucas and I have broken up, his business is none of my concern.” I actually have a very gentle personality. In the past, my friends would call me a pushover. Because I seemed to never get angry, not even knowing how to fight back when bullied. After getting together with Lucas, he would always stand up for me when I was wronged. But now, Lucas was the one bullying me. I didn’t know what to do. I decided to resign. There was no point in staying at this company anymore. I arranged all my work and gave instructions. I had shares in the company, so I didn’t need to worry about money. Now I wanted to travel and relax, not be a workhorse anymore. “Senior, what’s wrong?” I heard Jasmine’s voice as I was giving instructions. The smugness in her tone was about to overflow. I couldn’t be bothered to deal with her and continued delegating tasks. “Senior is resigning? Why not stay on? Even though you broke up with Lucas, if I put in a good word, you could still keep working here.” “After all, our company’s benefits are quite good. Most people wouldn’t want to leave. Don’t you agree, senior?” Jasmine sat down at my desk, crossing her legs and playing with her nails. Seeing her arrogant attitude, I couldn’t imagine how this Jasmine was the same person who had begged me for help before. Back then, she had clung to me, constantly calling me “senior”. Later she said she couldn’t find a job. I pulled some strings to get her into the company, and personally mentored her on how to negotiate deals. But Jasmine couldn’t adapt to running around for business. So I arranged a cushy job for her instead. But now that she had hooked up with Lucas, she came to flaunt her power in front of me. I looked down at her and smiled. “You should stop calling me senior. I don’t have any juniors who are homewreckers.”
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