Shane spoke in a very low and humble voice as if I'd just scolded him earlier. He then carefully nudged the work badge toward me a little.

Gianna hurried up to him and immediately slammed her purse against my car windshield. There was a very loud thump.

She then started yelling at me.

"Brandon Hemsworth! Don't you know how to get out of the car when Shane is talking to you? What if you accidentally ran over him? Don't you know that is also considered workplace harassment?"

A mocking grin played on my lips.

I rolled down my window, wanting to say that I didn't want the position anymore. However, Shane thought that I wanted to snatch the work badge away from him, and a hint of panic appeared in his eyes momentarily. He hurriedly wound his fingers around the lanyard and gripped it tightly.

A split second later, he suddenly doubled over, seemingly in pain. He was clutching his stomach. His face paled as he whispered weakly that his stomach hurt.

His acting was horrible. However, that didn't stop certain people from falling for it.

Gianna stopped talking to me and immediately went over to help Shane up. Then, she rummaged in her bag for some painkillers and gave them to him.

Not knowing what to do next, she then turned to me and hollered, "Brandon Hemsworth! Get your ass down here and help me send him to the hospital!"

I rolled my eyes internally, starting up my engine once more and wanting to leave.

However, Gianna stood in front of the car to stop me from leaving. Her face was grim and serious. She looked as though she would rather let me run her over if I refused to take them to the hospital.

How ridiculous.

Some time ago, I had drunk a little too much at an intercompany event one night and suffered from stomach bleeding. While I was busy throwing up blood in the toilet, Gianna simply ignored my plight and suggested that I take some painkillers and call it a day.

Now, Shane was just pretending to be sick, and it got Gianna, who was always calm and aloof, to get all flustered and panicked without even caring about her own safety.

I frowned and gave in. I sent both of them to the nearest hospital, feeling frustrated.

At the hospital, Gianna finally heaved a sigh of relief after hearing from the doctor that Shane was fine. Her eyes were filled with gratitude.

However, I wasn't interested in continuing to watch them put on their bittersweet lovey-dovey act. I turned to leave.

Gianna ran up to me and cornered me in the hallway, grabbing me by my arm.

I frowned again. I thought that she was going to yell at me and blame me for making Shane sick. But moments later, she put the work badge on my shirt again and even helped me straighten out my coat, which had crumpled up a little.

She said softly, "Brandon, Shane's just fond of cracking harmless jokes here and there. It's not like you don't know there are still plenty more chances for us to make our relationship public next time. Just wait a while longer.

"The project manager position is a very crucial one. You shouldn't fool around with it. I won't hold what happened this time against you."

I just hummed nonchalantly in response.

Gianna looked up at me for a moment, looking like she was in a helpless dilemma, before handing me a crumpled-up box.

"Alright, Brandon. I saw the roses you prepared for me in the front passenger seat. I like them a lot. Go home and put the flowers in a vase for me, okay?

"Actually, I also prepared a gift for you."

I knew that this was one of Gianna's carrot-and-stick tricks again. She always used this tactic on me.

The box in her hand looked quite familiar. I recalled Shane posting a photo of a similar box on his Instagram feed before.

At that time, Shane had accidentally gotten some grease on a necktie that she had given to him. So, he said that he had no choice but to throw it away. Yet, there were clear elements of boasting in his caption.

Gianna had then commented on the post, saying that she would buy him ten more neckties as compensation.

I took the box from Gianna and opened it. In it lay a replica of a very expensive, designer necktie. I only rubbed my fingers against the edge of the tie, and the color faded immediately.

I also noticed that the receipt was still tucked inside the box.

Gianna never flinched whenever it came to buying luxury, designer items for Shane. And yet, now, she was trying to bribe me back with fake goods.

I didn't even bother exposing her. I simply replied, "Got it. If there's nothing else, I'm leaving now."

When I turned the corner, I caught sight of a trash can and threw the gift box into it without a second thought.

After that, I fished out my phone and called the company that had been trying to poach me for a long time, saying, "I've decided to accept your offer and work at your company."

Byte Technology, or Byte Tech, was a Wealth 500 company, and they had been trying to convince me to jump ship and work for them for the past few years.

However, I had decided to decline their offer and stay put where I was because I wanted to accompany Gianna and achieve our dreams together.

On the other end of the line, the HR representative, Daisy Lindt, continued briefing me on their company benefits and how much they would welcome a talented genius like me on board.

Our conversation went on for a while, and soon, I realized that I was already back at home.

I looked at the hour-long call log and gripped my phone even tighter.

I had given up a top-management position that was within grasp for Gianna's sake. I had given it up to start a company from scratch with her. I had then busied myself for years at the company, neglecting my health and being constantly on edge at work. Now, I was worn out, both physically and mentally.

Finally, our company took off, and we managed to achieve significant milestones, though we started from nothing. But now, I realized that Gianna's heart had quietly left me a long time ago.

I decided that I was only going to live for myself moving forward.

After thinking for a while, I texted our project partner, Ronan Walters, and informed him that someone else was going to replace me as the project manager.

Ronan's company had only been willing to collaborate with us and invest in our company because they thought highly of my work and wanted to continue working with me. They had also brought in a considerable amount of funding for our company because of it.

Now that I was leaving, I knew that I had to inform them about it.

After I was done sending the text message, I bought a plane ticket for the next day and began packing up my things.

I retrieved my coat from the bottommost drawer in the closet and didn't realize that I had also accidentally flipped open a photo album under it. I then caught sight of a photo of Gianna and me in the album.

The photo had been taken eight years ago, when Gianna and I first began dating. We were still young and shy with each other back then. Our faces in the picture were bashful.

I brought out the photo album and flipped through each page slowly.

Now that I thought of it, Gianna had been the one who suggested we take these photos. She said that she wanted to record our lives, especially our hardships, so that we could make up for them in the future.

Gianna and I experienced a lot of hardships in the past, and we used to live a difficult life back then.

We used to huddle together in a small, rented flat and watch pirated DVDs at night. We also used to fight over the last chicken nugget during Christmas dinner.

However, those moments of financial hardship still felt like happiness to me. They had served as motivation for me to continue fighting for our dreams.

Soon, the clothing we wore in the photos became brighter and more designer-like, while our photo backgrounds became fancier and more luxurious. Yet, the photos also became fewer and farther apart.

We used to take photos together once every few days, then once a month, then once a year.

Then, we stopped taking new photos since Shane appeared in Gianna's life.

Eventually, the only exchange Gianna and I still had with each other was the conversations we had with each other at work, with her as my superior and me as her subordinate.

I didn't know when it all began, but Gianna never even bothered anymore when she saw me skipping meals, bleeding from alcohol consumption, or getting injured when conducting experiments with our products.

Yet, she protected Shane like a mother hen, declining all intercompany events so that she could take Shane, who had gastric issues, out for dinner. It was as if she were trying to make things up to him. She was spoiling him rotten.

Feeling hurt, I once asked her why she behaved this way.

Gianna's eyes turned cold and steely at that time. She chided me, saying that she and I both came from nothing, and yet, I was very petty for my age, and that Shane was far more mature and understanding than I was.

She told me that she admired Shane's kindness and innocence, and she didn't want him to go through the same hardships that we both went through.

I quickly snapped back to the present and stared at the photo album that used to be full of loving memories between Gianna and me, suddenly realizing that none of this mattered anymore. So, I took the photo album and threw it into the trash can.

I continued folding my clothes and packing them away. My phone suddenly began ringing in my pocket.

It was a call from the five-star restaurant. The manager on the line said, "Mr. Hemsworth, I would like to remind you that you are half an hour late for your candlelit dinner reservation. If you do not arrive within the next ten minutes, I am afraid that we will have to give up your reservation for other paying customers instead."

I had always preferred eating stews and soups, but Gianna's favorite kinds of restaurants were steakhouses because she thought it was classier and more romantic. Thus, I had proposed to her at a steakhouse.

Since Gianna had promised to make our relationship public today, I even purposely reserved a spot at the best steakhouse in town to celebrate with a candlelit dinner tonight, but she ultimately left me hanging.

My eyes were indifferent as I said, "Cancel my reservation, please. You can give the table to someone else."

I had only just hung up when Gianna sent me a text message.

"I've got a business meeting tonight, so I won't be having dinner with you anymore."

It was just a simple sentence, but I found it weird. She had never liked making the initiative to tell me about her whereabouts and would often just stand me up whenever she felt like it.

However, I found out the reason for the text message very soon.

Shane had suddenly posted on his Instagram Story, and the photo showed Gianna in the background as she was cutting her steak. And judging from the background scenery, they were at the steakhouse that I had initially booked a table at for both of us.

The caption read, "My boss is such a sweetheart. The steak she carved for me tastes absolutely wonderful!"

What a coincidence that the paying customers the steakhouse manager had told me about turned out to be them.

I didn't ask Gianna why she lied about being at a business meeting. I didn't feel upset about it either. My feelings for her were all gone now, and all I wanted was just to have a good night's sleep.

I went to bed after washing up and fell into a deep sleep at once. This was the first night I'd slept so well in ages.

However, sometime at midnight, I was suddenly rudely awakened by a flood of bright light in my eyes.

I blinked sleepily and finally got my eyes to adjust to the harsh light. I realized that Gianna was standing beside the bed.

Her eyes were wide with disbelief. She exclaimed, "Brandon Hemsworth! You actually fell asleep?"

I glanced sleepily at my phone screen and saw that it was 3:00 am. Why hadn't Gianna spent the night outside since it was already so late at night?

Gianna would stay up all night to take care of Shane if his gastric issues got triggered in the middle of the night because she was worried that he would relapse.

But now, Gianna seemed entirely displeased with me. Her face was dark and grim as she said, "Don't you think that you're going overboard by not texting me or waiting up for me when you realized that I hadn't come back yet, Brandon?"

Did she just say I went overboard?

I wanted to roll my eyes at her so badly.

I used to text her and get worried about her when she still hadn't returned late at night. I would even call her to make sure she was safe, but each time, she would accuse me of trying to control her and not trusting her enough.

Whenever I stayed up to wait for her, even preparing snacks and offering her a massage or a foot bath, she would then accuse me of not having enough work to do at the office. This caused my insomnia and added to my ever-growing pile of work the next day.

And yet, now that I wasn't doing any of those things anymore, she still had the nerve to be mad at me.

I really didn't know what she was playing at anymore.

I just briefly hummed as a response and proceeded to turn off the lights to go back to sleep.

Gianna then nudged me and flopped on top of my body as if her bones had just turned to jelly. She said, "Brandon, I'm so tired today. Why aren't you getting up to wash my feet yet?"

I quickly detected Shane's cologne on her clothes and found it extremely disgusting.

If this had happened in the past, I would have immediately gotten up to help her cool off and wind down without her even asking me to, and I wouldn't have gone to sleep until she was fast asleep.

But now, I just found her annoying.

I shoved her aside and frowned, feeling more agitated than usual because my sleep had been rudely interrupted.

"I'm very sleepy. You can jolly well take care of yourself."

Gianna looked shocked. She still looked like she hadn't recovered from the fact that I'd shoved her aside.

A long while later, she gripped her purse so hard that her knuckles went white. She gritted her teeth and said, "Fine! Is this the attitude you're showing me just because I stood you up for dinner, Brandon? Did you really think I wanted to come home to you in the first place?"

Then, she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

I heard her grab her keys and leave the house.

The old me would have run out after her at once and begged her to stay. But now, I just turned all the lights back off and went back to sleep.

I slept in and woke up feeling refreshed and as light as a feather.

I had thought of making breakfast for myself, but I realized in surprise that Gianna was home.

In the past, if I failed to comfort her in time, she would get pissed at me and leave for work early in the morning so that she wouldn't have to see me.

Gianna was now sitting upright on the couch. A beautiful gift box sat in her lap, and she was toying with the ribbon on the lid.

She turned to look at me when she heard me coming down.

Gianna then approached me, grabbed me by my wrist, and took out the wristwatch from the box before putting it on for me.

The ice-cold metal against my skin made me shiver all of a sudden.