Looking over Roselyn's choices, Frank couldn't hide his dissatisfaction. "Why are you only eating this? A salad and soup won't do anything for you. You've lost too much weight. Get something proper."

Before Roselyn could respond, Frank reached for the menu and added several warm dishes she used to enjoy.

As the meal went on, Janice kept filling Roselyn's plate, making sure each serving was something she liked.

Despite that, Roselyn barely touched the food. After a few bites, she found it hard to continue.

Janice caught on right away. "Roselyn, what's the matter? Does it not taste good?"

Roselyn gave a small shake of her head. "It's fine, really. I had something earlier, so I'm not very hungry."

In truth, her condition had taken away her appetite, but she kept that to herself to avoid worrying them.

Not long after, a dull discomfort spread through her stomach. Roselyn pushed her chair back and stood. "I'll step out for a bit," she said before heading toward the restroom.

As she passed the smoking lounge, familiar voices reached her ears. They belonged to people who often stayed around Adrian.

"Adrian, you're staying out tonight again? Didn't your wife start calling you already?" one of them said.

"Knowing her, she definitely did. Adrian probably shut her down right away."

"She used to watch his every move. Anyone would get tired of that. No surprise he lost interest. After so long, there's nothing left."

"Come on, Emma's on a different level. Looks, figure, family, everything. Anyone would pick her."

Their careless tone made it clear Adrian had never tried to stop them from speaking like that.

Lowering her head, Roselyn let out a quiet laugh at herself and turned away.

Inside the lounge, Adrian sat with his head lowered, a cigarette between his fingers. Through the drifting smoke, a familiar figure caught his eye.

Without hesitation, he stubbed the cigarette out and stepped outside.

His sudden move made the others follow, each putting out their cigarettes as they went after him.

"Roselyn," Adrian called sharply. "So this is your new move now? Calling wasn't enough, so you decided to trail after me?"

The people around him went still, glancing at one another with unease.

None of them had expected her to appear here.

Roselyn's brother, Cristian Hudson, had specifically chosen a private VIP room to keep Emma's birthday dinner quiet. Roselyn's presence disrupted that sense of control.

No one could tell how much Roselyn had already heard.

Roselyn halted where she stood, and a sudden ache tightened in her chest.

Without warning, a memory came back. There was a time when Adrian had stood in front of her, shielding her without hesitation.

That version of him overlapped with the man in front of her now. He once cared deeply for her.

At some point, that love shifted into irritation and distance.

Taking a slow breath, Roselyn composed herself before turning back with a faint smile. "You're mistaken. I came here to eat. You're not the reason I'm here."

Roselyn moved to leave for the restroom, but Adrian reached out and caught her arm.

Adrian's patience snapped. "Roselyn, do you have to do this here? I'm meeting people for work. You're making things uncomfortable."

Without raising her voice, Roselyn pulled her arm free. "What exactly did I do?"

Even something as simple as walking to the restroom was now considered a problem. The thought almost made her laugh.

When she saw the shift back then, Roselyn held on to Adrian and wouldn't let go.

She knew what it felt like to be loved, so when that feeling disappeared, she recognized it right away.

Trying to force things back to how they used to be had been her mistake.

That wouldn't happen again.

A shift passed over Adrian's face, and his gaze turned even colder.

Sensing the tension, Adrian's friends quickly stepped in, trying to ease the situation.

"Roselyn, don't take it the wrong way. We're really just here for work."

Roselyn gave a small nod. "Alright. Then go ahead and continue."

Without waiting for anything else, Roselyn turned and walked off.

Once she faced away from them, a faint, mocking smile appeared on her lips.

Whether he was talking business or sharing something more personal with another woman no longer held any weight for her.

After one month, Adrian would simply become someone from her past.

As she disappeared from view, the group stood there, still unsettled.

"Adrian, she's always watching you closely."

"You might want to follow her and fix this before it gets worse."

Adrian looked toward where Roselyn had left, his irritation building. He took another cigarette from the pack, and someone stepped in to light it.

Taking a deep drag, he exhaled sharply. "Enough. Drop it."

After a few moments, the tension eased. Adrian turned around and headed back into the private room as though nothing had happened.

After stepping out of the restroom, Roselyn made her way back to the private room. The meal had already ended, and not long after, everyone began to leave.

Later that night, Roselyn returned home, but Adrian still hadn't shown up. She took a shower, then went straight to bed without waiting.

Sleep came easily, and the night passed without dreams.

Morning arrived, and Roselyn followed her usual routine by heading to work.

Once she completed last month's report, she walked over and knocked on Gerald's office door.

Gerald skimmed through the document, then gave an approving nod.

After she left, Gerald stayed seated for a moment before opening his drawer. He took out the resignation letter she had handed in the previous day and stood up, heading toward HR.

When the elevator doors slid open, he ran into Nate Robinson, the CEO's assistant. "Morning, Nate," Gerald said with a friendly smile.

Nate returned the greeting with a nod.

As the elevator began moving, Nate glanced at him. "Which floor are you heading to?"

"I'm going to the tenth," Gerald replied.

A brief pause followed before Nate spoke again, his tone light. "Handling paperwork with HR too?"

Gerald raised the document slightly. "Not exactly. I'm turning in a resignation. It's for Ms. Hudson."

Nate's expression shifted, surprise flickering across his face. "Wait, whose resignation?"

"Roselyn Hudson," Gerald answered, looking at him with mild confusion.

The reaction felt stronger than expected.

For a moment, Gerald wondered if Nate also didn't want to lose someone like her.

Gerald let out a quiet breath and shook his head. "I did what I could to change her mind, but she wouldn't budge. She said her health couldn't keep up with the job anymore. At that point, I had no grounds to argue. Nothing comes before that."

Nate was one of the few people who knew about Adrian and Roselyn's marriage.

Nate's eyes lowered to the name signed at the bottom of the document. There it was, written plainly. Roselyn Hudson. The sight caught him off guard for a brief second.

A faint, knowing curve formed on his lips. From what he had seen, Roselyn never showed any signs of being unwell. For her to suddenly claim illness felt questionable.

It looked more like a calculated move. Another way to draw Adrian's attention.

Another attempt that leaned into drama.

The elevator chimed as the doors opened. Gerald stepped out, while Nate stayed behind with the file before heading back toward the executive floor.

After passing the documents to a secretary, Nate noticed another one preparing to deliver a separate batch to the CEO's office.

Nate stepped forward and reached out. "Let me take those. I need to speak with Mr. Riley anyway."

With visible relief, the secretary handed them over. "Thanks, Nate. I owe you one. Coffee's on me next time."

She didn't mind at all. Her workload had already piled up.

Once she walked off, Nate approached the office door and knocked.

From inside, Adrian's voice came through, steady and low. "Come in."

Nate entered, placing the documents down before giving a thorough update on ongoing matters and the schedule for the day.

When he finished, he paused, weighing his next words. "There's something else I need to bring up."

Adrian lifted his gaze. "Go on."

Choosing his words with care, Nate continued, "It concerns your wife..."

Thinking back to the previous night, Adrian immediately assumed Roselyn had stirred up something again. His expression turned grim at once.

Nate hadn't even finished when Adrian cut him off, "You don't need to bring her up anymore. Whatever she does has nothing to do with me."

"Got it," Nate replied, pressing his lips together as he held back the rest of what he planned to say.

Anyone could tell Adrian had run out of patience with Roselyn. If that wasn't the case, he wouldn't react this way just hearing her name.

At this point, Adrian clearly had no interest in anything related to her.

With nothing more to add, Nate gathered the signed documents and walked out of the office.

Around noon, Roselyn headed to the company cafeteria. A few coworkers glanced at her, surprise showing on their faces.

After picking up her tray and finding a seat, someone she was familiar with came over and sat beside her.

The colleague leaned closer and spoke in a quiet tone. "Roselyn, you're not heading home to cook for your husband today?"

She knew Roselyn was married, but she had no idea who her husband actually was.

Roselyn pushed her food around with her fork. "Not today."

Before this, she would leave every noon to cook. Adrian rarely returned home, so she would pack the meals and bring them to him instead.

Seeing him eat what she made had once been enough to make her happy. That routine had gone on for years.

Later, she learned those meals often ended up thrown away.

Curiosity got the better of her colleague. "Did something happen between you two?" she asked.

Roselyn took a bite before answering, "He's seeing someone else." Her tone was casual as she spoke while chewing.

The colleague stopped talking and focused on her food.

The news shocked her. If she were in Roselyn's place, she would have confronted him right away. Yet Roselyn stayed composed.

Later in the afternoon, around three, Roselyn received a message from her business partner, Roger Gill.

It was the same topic as before. The Medical AI Research Department had contacted her again for the third time, and Roger asked if she wanted to turn it down once more.

He added a reminder. Chances like this didn't come often. If she rejected it again, there likely wouldn't be another offer.

Roger studied at the same university as Roselyn, though he was two years ahead of her. Back when his company ran into a technical issue, their professor had pointed him in her direction.

Roselyn proved that recommendation right. In the lab, she took charge of a team and built one of the first medical diagnostic systems powered by AI.

When the project launched without problems, he gave his word that she would receive twenty percent of the company's shares as payment.

Since then, the profits from that system had grown fast. True to what he said, he made sure her dividends reached her account every quarter.

That arrangement placed Roselyn among the company's shareholders.

Three years before that, Adrian told her she should study financial management, saying she would take charge of the family's assets one day.

She took him at his word.

Leaving her original field behind, she joined Adrian's company and handled the accounts with care, making sure every record stayed accurate and in order.

Each budget she prepared was reduced as much as possible, which helped keep the company's cash flow steady.

And yet, what did she gain from all that?

That thought lingered as she read Roger's message, and this time, she gave her answer. She agreed.

The moment her reply reached him, his call came through. "So you've decided? You're really coming back?"

Roselyn's eyes moved over the documents she held. "I've made my decision. I'll return, but I need one month to complete my resignation."

Silence followed for a second before he spoke again. "I'm relieved you said yes. I didn't think you would. Roselyn, we still need you here. Come back."

Three years away from her field left her unsure. "Things have changed fast in AI. I've been out of it for years. I don't know if I can keep up right away."

Roger brushed that aside. "No one has beaten the algorithm you created. Stop doubting yourself. There's a conference on Computer-Aided Drug Design next week, and they want you there. Will you attend?"

Roselyn gave a small nod. "I'll attend."

With her decision already set, turning down that kind of chance made no sense anymore.

"Alright."

Once the call ended, she moved without delay and returned to work mode. Even after three years, her knowledge had not faded away.

Her attention had simply stayed on Adrian for too long. She had placed her marriage above everything, and over time, her edge in her field slipped.

Later that evening, she returned home and settled in front of her computer, going through recent updates in the industry while brushing up on her skills.

Dinner came, yet Adrian still had not shown up. She forced herself to eat a few bites before setting the fork aside.

Donna noticed it right away. "Ma'am, you haven't been eating much these past few days. Are you feeling sick?"

Instead of answering at once, Roselyn walked to the calendar. She pulled off the page marked for the second, and dropped it into the trash.

"I'm fine. It's just the heat. I don't really feel like eating."

Even Donna could tell something was off. Adrian, who should have seen it first, had not noticed anything at all.

Donna kept quiet after that. In her mind, Roselyn's lack of appetite came from Adrian staying away for days.

After her shower, Roselyn stepped out and caught sight of Adrian entering with his briefcase.

For a brief moment, Roselyn stopped. Seeing him tonight was not something she expected. Since the affair, coming home had not been something he did often.

Did he come back for a reason?

That thought didn't linger. Without reacting, Roselyn turned away and picked up the hairdryer as if he hadn't walked in.

Not sparing her more than a glance, Adrian moved past her and went straight upstairs to the study.

Even after getting used to that kind of distance, something still stirred in her chest. It didn't last long before it faded.

Once her hair was dry, she sat down with her laptop and pulled up materials related to CADD, continuing where she left off.

Three years had already slipped by while she focused on Adrian. Now that she had woken up to it, she knew she had to push harder than before if she wanted to catch up.

Upstairs, Adrian sat at his desk going through emails. After some time, his throat felt dry, and he reached to the side out of habit.

His hand came up empty. A faint crease formed between his brows when he realized there was no water waiting for him.

Before, the moment he stepped inside, Roselyn would come over without delay. She would pour him a drink and ask what he needed.

She used to remind him to sleep earlier, drink less coffee, and take better care of himself. He never paid much attention to any of it.

So now she was still angry?

Fine.

Without calling for anyone, Adrian grabbed the empty glass and went to get water himself. After taking a few sips, he returned to his desk.

Work pulled him back in right away.

Then his phone buzzed against the surface.

Adrian picked it up and unlocked the screen. A message from Emma appeared, along with a short video.

In it, she wore a thin silk nightgown. Holding a glass of red wine, she tilted it slowly and let the liquid spill along her collarbone before it ran down her skin.

The image carried a teasing pull, enough to stir something he didn't bother to suppress.

"Room 1008. The hotel next to your place. You've been busy all night. Hungry? Want something quick?"

Adrian's throat tightened at the message, and the look in his eyes shifted.

With one hand, he loosened his collar while typing his reply. "Stay there. I'm on my way."