I went alone to my favorite singer’s concert.

During the song selection segment, I was really excited and hoped that I would be lucky enough to be picked.

But in the next second, I saw my husband, who was supposed to be on a business trip, appear on the screen. Next to him was Mia Louise, his first love.

“I’d like to pick Back To The Past. I want to go back three years when I hadn’t broken up with Mia.”

The entire stadium cheered and celebrated their love.

I was the only one in tears.

During the next song selection segment, I saw my teary face show up on the screen.

“I’d like to pick Back To The Past as well. I want to return to the time when I never said yes to Samuel Gardner’s proposal.”

Before my voice faded away, my phone rang.

I looked at the phone screen. It was Samuel Gardner, my husband.

I rejected the call.

When I looked up, I found my face still on the screen.

I put on a perfect smile. “Samuel, I agree to the divorce. I’ll see you at the courthouse at 9 a.m. on Monday.”

Whispers rose all around me. Some of the friendlier people even approached me to comfort me.

A girl handed me a tissue and gave me a sympathetic look. “You shouldn’t feel sad over that piece of trash, girl.”

I thanked her and wiped away my tears. I also sang the song with the singer.

During that entire time, all I could think about was Samuel asking me for a divorce a few days ago.

It had happened during breakfast, and Samuel had looked at me coolly when he said, “Let’s get a divorce.”

I froze with a soft-boiled egg in my hand as I stared at him in surprise.

“What did you say?” I was wondering whether I was hearing things.

Ever since I agreed to Samuel’s proposal three years ago, we had lived a happy life together.

Even though he was still as aloof as ever and was only ever passionate in bed, we had no relationship troubles.

I just thought he was joking when he suddenly asked for a divorce.

But Samuel looked at me seriously. “Let’s get a divorce. I’m fed up with this life.”

When I did not answer, he chuckled bitterly.

Samuel stopped coming back home from that day on. Whenever I called him, he would say that he was out on a business trip.

Later, I found that the singer I had liked for more than a decade was organizing a concert in my city, so I sent him a text asking him to come with me.

He had said no again with the excuse that he was out on a business trip.

To think that he had actually come with someone else to the concert!

I knew the woman beside him. She was in his graduate class yearbook.

While he had taken pictures with other girls in the yearbook, he always had his lips pursed and looked very aloof in them.

It was why the picture with that woman was so different from the rest. Samuel smiled happily in that picture. It was the kind of smile he never showed me.

After seeing that woman, I finally realized that he was not always aloof. He could smile happily when he was with the person he loved.

After the concert, I saw a face I knew at the door.

It was Samuel, and he looked troubled after being caught red-handed.

I instinctively looked around, but I did not see that woman.

I did not intend to linger long and was about to leave, but Samuel grabbed my arm.

“Let’s talk.”

I did not turn around and only asked, “Is it because of her?”

Samuel did not say anything. Based on what I knew about him, his silence was basically a confirmation.

I sneered but did not ask any more questions. I yanked my arm back and left.

When I got home, I found Samuel sitting in the living room.

I was surprised to see him, since he had not been back for more than ten days.

I blurted out, “Don’t you need to send her back?”

Samuel scowled but did not answer.

It was only then that I realized how blunt my question had been, and I did not demand an answer.

When I turned around to wash my face and get ready for bed, Samuel said, “It’s not because of her.”

Those words came out of nowhere, but I understood what he meant.

He was saying that he was not divorcing me because of Mia Louise.

But that was no longer important. I did not want to be with a man who cheated on me.

“You’re sleeping in the guest bedroom today.”

I locked the master bedroom, and the tears I had been holding back finally fell.

I had thought that Samuel was joking when he asked for a divorce, but that was far from the truth.

…

The next morning, I packed my luggage, ready to move out.

When I walked past the guest bedroom, I instinctively looked inside.

Samuel was not there.

It seemed the sounds I heard last night were not in my dream.

“You’re scared? Alright. I’ll come over right now.”

That was followed by Samuel’s hurried footsteps.

He walked to the master bedroom and stood in front of the door for a long time before leaving.

Samuel had never lost his composure because of me during our three years of marriage.

Once, when I was out on a social gathering, someone got handsy with me, and I immediately called Samuel to ask for help.

But he only said, “You have to grow up. This is something you can take care of.

“My time is precious. Don’t call me for such stupid things.”

Yesterday, I kept trying to convince myself that I was dreaming, but when I looked into the guest bedroom, I could no longer lie to myself.

After I stifled my sadness, I moved all of my belongings to the apartment that I had lived in before I got married.

To my surprise, when I arrived in front of the courthouse on Monday morning, Samuel did not show up.

I called Samuel, but no one answered the phone.

Refusing to give in, I called him repeatedly until the call finally went through.

“Why aren’t you here?” I immediately asked.

But Samuel was not the one who answered the phone.

“Are you looking for Samuel? He’s in a meeting. I’ll ask him to call you back once the meeting ends.”

The moment she spoke, I knew it was Mia, the woman who went with him to the concert.

She had responded to Samuel’s confession during the concert. I could never forget her voice.

Even so, I was not expecting Samuel to have found her a job in his company.

“Who are you?” I could not help and asked.

“Mia Louise, Samuel’s secretary.”

Secretary?

I sneered.

I had once argued with Samuel and demanded that he let me work at his company. I was even fine with a small job.

I just loved him too much and wanted to see him every day.

But Samuel rejected the idea immediately.

“I might be the company president, but I can’t abuse my power like that.

“If I hire you, how will the other employees look at me? Dawn, don’t make things hard for me.”

For his reputation’s sake, I never spoke about it again.

But he had hired Mia and made her his secretary.

I could not take it anymore. I hung up and went straight to his company.

Since I had accompanied Samuel to his company’s dinner parties before, all of his employees knew me.

But when they greeted me that day, they had strange looks on their faces. I just pretended not to notice.

Soon, I made it to Samuel’s office.

When I got there, I knew why they were giving me such strange looks.

They pitied me.

Samuel’s formerly black-and-white office was filled with cute decorations that he did not care for. There was also an office table right next to his own.

I pushed down the bitterness I felt and walked to the extra office table, only to find a work ID left behind.

Mia’s name was on it.

Tears streamed down my face. I could no longer hold my emotions back.

“Why are you here?!” Samuel’s voice suddenly resounded from the door.

He froze when he saw my tears.

When he tried to explain, hurried footsteps sounded not too far away.

I looked over and saw Mia rushing over.

Her gaze landed on the work ID I held in my hand, and she instinctively looked at Samuel.

Samuel said nothing. He just pursed his lips as he stood there.

Mia instantly teared up as though she had never been ignored by Samuel in this way before.

“I’m sorry, but that work ID belongs to me. Could you return it?”

I snickered. “Your office table is right here. Why should I give it back to you?”

I put the work ID back on the office table.

“Dawn, don’t cross the line.” Suddenly, Samuel spoke up.

There was a warning look in his eyes, as if he was displeased because I was being “unreasonable”.

I looked at him in surprise. I was crossing the line?

When Mia saw that Samuel was protecting her, she smiled, but she still tried to look pitiful.

“Samuel, don’t be angry at her. She doesn’t know what happened.”

Then, she walked to me, as if she wanted to offer an explanation about the whole thing.

Her words only proved that my assumptions were right.

“I came here to work because I was in trouble…”

“That’s enough. You don’t have to say anything to her.” Samuel scowled. “You were hired through proper procedures. She can’t do anything about it.”

I sneered at that.

Based on the information I got from a private detective, Mia was just an undergraduate from an ordinary university that was not even ranked among the top universities in the country.

Samuel’s company was supposed to only hire those who were postgraduates.

When I asked him to hire me, he had refused and used that exact excuse.

I was furious when he said no. That was the only time he had spoken to me gently when I seethed silently in a corner.

“It’s not that I don’t want to pull some strings, but we only hire postgraduates, and you’re just an undergraduate.”

At that time, I glared at him in indignation.

“I was guaranteed a postgraduate position but didn’t go for my studies because of special circumstances. Have you forgotten that?”

Samuel sighed. “But in the end, you didn’t go, did you?”

I could not argue after that because it was true that I did not go for further studies.

“I thought your company only takes in postgraduates,” I said coolly.

I realized that I was insulting myself by saying that.

Samuel did not answer, only glaring at me in dissatisfaction.

I sucked in a deep breath before looking at Mia.

“Please step out. I need to discuss some things with Mr. Gardner.”

Mia nodded, but Samuel grabbed her as she was walking out.

“Her office is here. Where is she supposed to go?” His frown deepened.

I was not expecting Samuel to show me such blatant disrespect, but I did not want to appear undignified, so I just brushed aside the bitterness in my heart. “If that’s the case, shall we talk in the meeting room?”

Samuel said nothing and just left.

I said nothing to Mia and followed him into the meeting room.

He sat at the head of the table and stared at me like he had already won.

“So, why are you here?”

“Why didn’t you come to the courthouse?”

Honestly, I thought that it was unnecessary to even ask that question. “Are you seriously going to protect her to this extent?”

Samuel said, “I’m not doing it to protect her…”