I evaded Hayden's grasp and stepped back. "It's office hours right now, Hayden."

Hayden frowned. "I know that you're still angry with me. How about I drive you over to the hospital to visit Mrs. Atwell after work?"

I snorted coldly. "That's no longer necessary."

Mom was no longer around, and he didn't deserve to see her anymore, regardless.

If she knew that I was being criticized for being someone's mistress because of him, she would be angry and upset.

Hayden felt that I was behaving strangely. He paused for a moment before saying, "In just a few more days, I'll be able to divorce Scarlett. We can get married after that."

He then retrieved two gift bags from under his office desk. "I especially asked a friend to buy these from abroad. They're supplements for Mrs. Atwell."

I gazed at him and took a deep breath.

It was too late. Mom could no longer accept his sincerity.

Hayden was rather confused by my silence, but just as he was about to ask about it, his phone suddenly started ringing.

He took out his phone, then glanced at me. In the end, he seemed to arrive at a decision and turned to leave.

I knew that it had to do with Scarlett.

At the moment, Hayden's legitimate wife was her and not me.

Still, I felt at peace with myself, because it no longer mattered to me.

I dropped by the HR department and handed in my resignation letter. My sudden resignation didn't surprise the HR manager, Hilda Errington, at all.

"Hayden will definitely take care of your affairs for you, Lucy," she reassured me.

I looked at her, unable to stop myself from sneering inwardly at her comment.

Everyone seemed to think that I was Hayden's secret lover and that he should be paving a way out for me.

It didn't occur to any of them that I was his actual girlfriend and he had betrayed my feelings by marrying someone else behind my back. It never crossed their minds that I had only chosen to leave because he had thoroughly broken my heart.

I packed up my personal belongings into a box. Then, I carried the box with me as I walked toward the elevator in a daze.

I looked up only to see Scarlett and Hayden walking in my direction, smiling. They were in the middle of flirting with each other.

"You're too bad."

"Do you like that side of me?"

Hayden noticed me and became nervous. "Don't overthink it, Lucy. I brought Scarlett along because—"

Scarlett, on the other hand, outright grabbed Hayden's arm and interjected, "I came to my husband's company to familiarize myself with the environment."

I remained silent.

"You don't mind, do you, Lucy?" she added, her tone filled with provocation.

I simply stepped out of their way without saying a word.

Hayden opened his mouth to speak, but just as he grabbed my arm and attempted to explain himself, Scarlett noticed and quickly dragged him away.

…

Later in the afternoon, I cried as I watched Mom's body pushed into the furnace for cremation.

I delivered her ashes to the cemetery afterward.

Hayden never contacted me, even when evening came, but I no longer cared. My mom could leave in serenity without him disrupting her peace.

Mom used to treat him as if he were her own son while she was alive and could remember all his preferences.

She was allergic to mangoes, but she would still endure the discomfort they brought her when she made him his favorite mango cake.

However, it was clear that he really didn't deserve her love and care.

He had not only cheated on me but also deceived my mom as well.

Wherever she was in heaven now, she definitely wouldn't want me to remain in such a shaky, uncertain relationship with Hayden, much less watch us get married.

It was time to let go of our seven-year relationship.

It was quiet around the cemetery at night.

I hadn't walked around alone at night in a long while.

Mom used to hold my hand in the past, and later on, I would hold onto Hayden's arm instead.

From now on, though, I would be moving forward alone. I believed I would be able to adapt to it.

I only arrived home at 1:00 am.

Hayden wasn't asleep yet. Instead, he was staring at his phone screen and typing messages.

His nervous expression dropped as he saw me return, and he immediately rushed over to hug me. "Where have you been? None of my calls went through, and you didn't reply to any of my messages. If you hadn't come back, I would've gone to the police and reported you missing!"

I was stunned for a moment, after which I broke free from his embrace. "I just wanted to spend some quiet time with my mother."

A trace of guilt flashed across his face at my words. He had even promised to visit Mom earlier.

Suddenly, his expression shifted. He pulled out an exquisite little gift box from his pocket and held it out to me.

Seeing how serious he looked, I opened the box and was stunned to see a diamond ring nestled inside.

Hayden once seriously confessed to me and said that he would get down on one knee to propose to me with Mom as our witness. He wanted her to watch as we received our marriage certificate and bear witness to our happiness.

I waited countless days and nights since that day, eagerly looking forward to the promised day, but those expectations had since dried up.

I closed the box and handed it back to Hayden.

He frowned slightly before recalling what had happened earlier today and explaining, "Yet another day has passed. Just wait a little more, and I'll be able to divorce Scarlett. I'll definitely fulfill my promise from back then.

"How about the day after tomorrow? I'll formally propose to you then, and we'll order a certified copy of our marriage certificate right away. I'll even personally put the ring on your finger."

I could no longer feel moved by his words and simply replied indifferently, "I get it, but I'm too tired right now. I'm going to sleep first."

Hayden had truly experienced my nonchalance for the first time, and his happy expression disappeared instantly.

He attempted to hug me from behind as I turned around, but Scarlett stepped out of our bedroom just then. She was even wearing my nightclothes.

She rubbed her eyes before running over to take Hayden's hand. She swung it lightly while cajoling, "Lucy's back now, so stop fretting and come to bed already."

Hayden looked at me and said quickly, "Scarlett fought with her mother, so I let her stay in the guest room for one night."

He stared closely at me as he spoke, as if deathly afraid that I would misunderstand the situation.

I replied expressionlessly, "Sure. It's fine. I'll just stay over with my mother."

Hayden looked at me in astonishment, surprised that I would agree so readily.

Scarlett showed no hesitation upon hearing my answer and smugly walked back into the bedroom.

Hayden was still trailing after me as I dragged my suitcase out of the house.

He bit his lip and kept his hand on mine, refusing to let go. His eyes were filled with heavy guilt.

Scarlett was still nagging at him to return, so he said quickly, "We'll go to the city hall early the day after tomorrow to get our marriage certificate, then visit Mrs. Atwell immediately afterward."

Early the next morning, I visited the company to settle the handover of affairs.

As soon as I entered the building, many people whispered and cast curious gazes at me behind my back.

It was no wonder that they were all giving me strange looks. As it turned out, Scarlett was already sitting at my desk.

Although the other employees were looking straight at their computers, they couldn't help glancing at us out of the corner of their eyes.

Scarlett declared arrogantly, "I've come to work at the company. I've decided that this spot is pretty decent, so you can pick somewhere else to sit instead."

I glanced at her and nodded. "Alright. I'll move my documents elsewhere."

There was nothing special about our conversation, but our colleagues all assumed that I didn't dare to argue with her because she was Hayden's legitimate wife.

They couldn't discuss their views openly while I was still here, but it didn't stop them from casting me disdainful looks as they worked.

Although I wanted to explain myself, I had no idea how to.

Scarlett was Hayden's legal wife, after all, so I would only become more of a laughingstock the more I tried to explain myself.

As I picked up the documents and stood to leave, Hayden walked over to us. He looked panicked when he saw me leaving my desk. "Where are you going?"

"I—"

Scarlett cut me off rudely. "She's making room for me because I want to sit here."

As I turned to leave, Hayden hurriedly grabbed me by the wrist. "Don't leave. This is your workstation, and nobody can—"

I interrupted him, explaining, "If she likes it, then just let her sit here."

I had already resigned, after all, so I didn't care who wanted to sit in my original spot.

Hayden was stunned for a while. He was conflicted and only came back to his senses after I had already left.

In full view of everyone, Hayden slapped Scarlett and swept all the office supplies she had happily arranged on the desk to the floor.

"I may have agreed to enter a fake marriage with you, but how dare you take advantage of it? Have you forgotten your place? I warned you not to blame me for flipping out on you if you offended Lucy!"

Just after I left the company building, my phone chimed, notifying me of several new text messages.

"I'll wait for you in front of the city hall tomorrow morning. Let's visit Mrs. Atwell after picking up our marriage certificate. I'll also arrange for Mrs. Atwell to receive consultation from a specialist tomorrow."

I smiled helplessly.

It was too late, Hayden.

I had already packed all my things and boarded a plane.

…

The next day, Hayden put on a suit and rushed to the city hall to wait for me right after finalizing the divorce from the courthouse.