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.

Gianna held my wrist up and stared at it for a while from a few different angles. Then, she said with a satisfied tone, "Looks good. The size is perfect too, and it looks elegant yet low-profile enough."

I had seen a photo of this wristwatch before in a magazine, and it was the latest design of the season, costing at least a few million dollars.

However, before I could withdraw my hand, Gianna quickly slipped the watch off again and wiped it down carefully with a satin cloth.

As she placed it back carefully inside the gift box, she mumbled under her breath, "Thank goodness your wrist size is about the same as Shane's. Since it looks good on you, I bet he'll love it too."

I stared at the tight bun on Gianna's head and found everything preposterous.

Still, it made sense. Shane was the one who liked collecting designer watches. Of course, Gianna would never even give me a second glance.

Gianna put on her coat, grabbed the gift box, and headed out of the house with lighthearted steps.

I reached out to stop her from leaving. Then, I took out a document that I'd prepared and printed out yesterday.

"Gianna, sign this document, please."

Gianna frowned and didn't even bother looking up. She said impatiently, "Give it to me at the office."

I handed her the document again and said, "It's nothing related to the company, and it's pretty important. It'll only take a second of your time."

Gianna inhaled deeply and grabbed the document from me, irritated. She mumbled, "You're so annoying!"

However, she froze when she looked down and flipped through the document I had given her.

It was a divorce agreement.

Gianna was shocked. Moments later, she slammed the agreement heavily against the shoe cabinet and smirked at me.

"Really, Brandon, I thought you'd have come up with something fresh, but as it turns out, you're just threatening me with divorce. You really think you're a big shot just because you were put in charge of a massive project, don't you? Trying to leave before you get another?

"I'm a very busy woman. I don't have time for your stupid little fusses."

I handed the agreement to her again and said coldly and calmly, "I'm not causing a fuss, Gianna. I'm setting you free. You can make your relationship with Shane official now."

Gianna frowned. She grabbed the agreement and crumpled it up. Then, as if thinking that it wasn't enough, she tore it into pieces and flung it into the air so it scattered like snowflakes.

She pointed at me and said in a cold voice, "And yet, you still say that you're not being a jealous bastard. Brandon Hemsworth, I'm warning you, don't you dare threaten me with divorce ever again!

"I'm only caring for Shane because I find his situation very similar to what we went through in the past. I'm only attracted to his talents. I'm not as dirty-minded as you are!

"I was even considering the best time to announce our relationship, but you've completely disappointed me now!"

Then, without waiting for me to respond, she turned and stormed out the door. Her high heels clacked noisily against the floorboards.

I had already expected that this would happen, so I didn't take it to heart.

Since we couldn't end things on a positive note, I then called my divorce lawyer to prepare to file for divorce on my behalf.

I also sent our HR manager, Cassandra Keating, my resignation letter.

Soon, she called me up and told me to go to the office to settle my resignation paperwork and hand in my work badge.

However, as soon as I stepped into the company, I could hear my colleagues' words of admiration.

"Mr. Jagger! The watch you're wearing is the latest design from Patek Philippe, isn't it? Ms. Richmond sure spoils you a lot!"

"You and Ms. Richmond are a perfect match for each other. With both of you as our leaders, I'm sure that our company will only continue achieving greater heights!"

Shane purposely scratched his head to show off the glittering watch on his wrist. As soon as he caught sight of me, however, he hurried up to me and grabbed my hands eagerly, saying, "You're finally here, Brandon! Gianna told me that I would need some time to get used to taking over the project. She's buying coffee for everyone so that they will take good care of me.

"What kind of coffee do you want? I'll put it in the order list."

I shook his hands off me.

Before I could say anything, Gianna, who had been watching me coldly from her spot, stepped forward and shielded Shane behind her.

"Brandon is late. He does not deserve free coffee. I will inform HR to revoke your annual bonus for your tardiness today.

"Also, someone with a terrible concept of time does not deserve to be the project manager. I think that you should no longer participate in any of the major projects the company is handling."