"Are you finally sorry now?" Yvonne asked.

"It's too late for apologies. I'm really mad, and it's not going to be easy to make it up to me.

"I have to go to my parents' house for something, so I won't be home tonight."

Right after she said that, I heard Jim ask, "Yvonne, should we get a cat or a dog?"

The call ended abruptly.

A cat? A dog? Yvonne did not like pets.

She was just using her parents as an excuse to go pick out a pet with Jim.

She'd always claimed she was allergic to pet dander and couldn't have pets. To make things work with her, I even rehomed the dog I'd had for eight years.

Now, she was out choosing pets with Jim.

Love sure could change people.

I set aside my jumbled thoughts and led my team to our new company to discuss our pay and benefits.

My teammates took turns confessing to me. "You know, we've always thought Yvonne wasn't that nice, but you liked her so much, so we didn't want to say anything."

I could not help but give them a sad smile.

I thought back to when I first met Yvonne.

Back then, she was just a sweet, simple girl in her crisp white school uniform.

However, she was cruel to me, lying to me left and right about other people.

I knew I was partly to blame since I had let her get away with too much. Whatever she wanted, I was always there, ready to give in.

All it took was a slight pout, and I would do anything for her, even the impossible.

I did not realize she would start to think she could do anything and I would still stay.

Even when she messed up, she would not back down. If I did not sweet-talk her, she would just keep fussing.

It had gotten to the point where I could no longer take it.

My constant habit of letting things slide had only given her more chances to hurt me.

I kept thinking she would change, but I guess I was just being too naive.

I stayed quiet and quickly changed the subject. "Let's drink! We're not going home until we're totally drunk tonight!"

Everyone cheered at that.

We drank, sang our hearts out until the sun came up, and then, we all headed home.

I dragged myself home, tired to the bone. I opened the door, ready to crash, but Yvonne was sitting on the couch. She was supposed to be at her parents' place, but she had waited for me until the break of dawn.

She smelled the smoke on me and stepped back, looking annoyed. "I've told you I hate the smell of smoke. Why do you keep smoking? Don't you care about what I say?"

I just laughed at that.

She had said she hated smoking, and I quit my decade-long habit just like that.

However, what about her?

I thought about that taunting video Jim sent me not too long ago.

In the video, he spoke carefully. "I'm sorry, Yvonne. I didn't realize you hated cigarette smoke. I won't smoke anymore."

Yvonne gazed at him with warmth in her eyes. "Silly, you can smoke if you want. It's not the smoke I hate. It's the cigarette butts. I don't like cleaning them up."

She caught the cigarette butt from Jim's hand. "But if it's yours, I don't mind."

Thinking about that, I took a few steps back. "Weren't you supposed to be away tonight?"

Yvonne handed me a glass of water, sounding a bit upset.

"I was worried about you being alone at home. What if something happened?

"See how nice I am to you? I stood in line all night to get your favorite limited edition album, hoping to surprise you. Meanwhile, you were out all night having fun and didn't even come home."

I used to worry about her all the time.

If she did not answer a text within thirty minutes, I would call her repeatedly to make sure she was safe.

This time, I had not texted her all day. She must have felt something was off and came home.

I looked at the limited edition album she bought. It was definitely something I would like.

However, I did not open it.

Yvonne liked mixing the bitter with the sweet.

'I don't want to be tricked again,' I thought.

Yvonne did not realize I was upset. She thought she could just do something nice and I would forgive her, like always. She said, "Come on, stop sulking. Don't be so grumpy.

"You blamed Jim for something and got him in trouble. I'm not mad about that anymore, but you should still give him that big project.

"He's really good at what he does. If you hadn't been so hard on him, he wouldn't have had such a tough time.

"Just agree, and we can forget about the pay cut."

That was when it hit me.

That was why she came home early today and bought me the album.

It was all for Jim.

She was always so kind to Jim, putting on a show and going out of her way to be nice to him.

I could not help but sneer. "Very nice."

Yvonne smiled and wore a knowing look. She was not surprised at all, because I usually gave in to her.

"If you weren't so jealous, not liking Jim's posts and telling your team to badmouth him, we wouldn't be in this mess.

"Enough! I won't waste my breath on you. Just go and give him the big project."

I took off my work badge and tossed it at her. "Just giving him one project isn't enough. He can take my entire job too!"

Yvonne froze and asked, "What are you doing?"

"You say he's so talented, so he should have my job."

"I'm speaking to you properly. What's your problem now?" She was annoyed, and her face turned sour.

If I kept my job, she would accuse me of picking on Jim.

Now that I was offering it up, she claimed I was just being dramatic.

Understanding a woman's heart was impossible.

I was done giving in to her.

Seeing that I did not respond, Yvonne looked even more upset. "Is this about having kids? I'm pregnant now, aren't I?

"You're a grown man, so why are you being so petty?"

She still thought I was upset about the baby. "Forget it. Let Jim be the father.”

Furious and humiliated, Yvonne threw a cup at me.

"Haven't I told you? Jim and I are just boss and employee. Why won't you trust me?"

Could a boss and employee with a purely platonic relationship be so close?

She treated us so differently, yet she was still trying to fool me.

"You're the only one who knows the truth about the relationship."

Yvonne, fuming, yelled, "If that's how it is, then give me back the account. I worked hard for a month to keep that virtual baby alive."

She said that and lunged for my phone.

I quickly stepped back from her grasp and turned my phone on to show her.

The screen showed that her account had been successfully deleted.

"Did you really think I cared about a virtual baby in an app?

"Don't worry. I didn't just cancel the account, I deleted the app too. Happy now?"

Yvonne's face was wet with tears as she looked at me, her hands thumping on my back.

"Gosh, you're so mean!"

After yelling at me, she burst into tears and ran out the door.

I used to hate making her cry.

However, seeing her cry did not shake me at all now. I was tired, so I decided to take a nap.

I had not been asleep long when my phone started buzzing with messages.

It was a notice issued just for me about my demotion.

[You wanted to step down, right? Well, here you go.]

This time, no one stood up for me. They did not want to get dragged into it.

I did not care. I took my team, and we all quit.

HR was in a panic and called Yvonne. "Ms. Rogers, this is bad. Many people are quitting!"

However, it was Jim who answered. "Yvonne, if you've got something to do, go handle it. I can pick out a pet by myself."

"You've been through a lot. This is to make it up to you. I can't just leave."

Then, he snapped to the HR, "I pay you so well, yet you disturb me over this little thing. What good are you if you don't want to work?"

"But, Ms. Rogers—"

"Enough! Decide for yourself, and stop bothering me."

He hung up, and when they tried to call back, the phone was turned off.

HR was losing it.

However, they had no choice. They had to let us go.

The impact was huge. Word got out that we were fired.

Jim's cronies were secretly happy as they told him about it.

"What did all those years together mean if someone else has taken his place?"

"The real loser is the one who isn't loved."

Their voices got louder as we passed by.

One of my teammates could no longer take it and wanted to stand up for me.

I stopped them and said calmly, "I hope you find that kind of true love one day too."

After seeing their embarrassed faces, I walked away with my team.

I stopped by the county clerk's Office to pick up my divorce certificate.

Holding the certificate, I finally smiled and said, "Today's a great day. Let's go out for a big meal!"

My teammates debated whether to go to a fancy restaurant or have seafood, arguing back and forth.

I was on my phone when suddenly, the chatter stopped.

Confused, I looked up to see a teammate pointing somewhere. I followed his gaze.

Yvonne and Jim were hand in hand, about to walk into a fancy restaurant.

Jim's friends were teasing him loudly, "You finally decided to introduce us to the girlfriend you've been hiding for four years!"

Yvonne blushed and said, "I've been so busy at work. I only just found the time to come out. Sorry, everyone!

"To make it up to you, I'll cover tonight's bill."

Four years ago, Jim was still a student.

It finally made sense why Yvonne had pushed so hard to get him hired at the company. They had been together since then.

A teammate clicked their tongue, clearly unimpressed, and Yvonne heard it.

She looked over, saw me, and quickly let go of Jim's hand, flustered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

I scoffed. "So, this was the 'professional relationship' you were talking about?"

Yvonne's guilt was fleeting. Remembering we were in the middle of an argument, she defended herself boldly, "I'm just making it up to him by pretending to be his girlfriend. Can't you tell?

"And why are you here during work hours? Don't you care about your paycheck?

"Do you want you and your team to all get pay cuts?"

Jim was outside during work hours too, was he not? He seemed fine, but he was really after our paychecks.

When I heard this, I could not help but laugh. "Don't worry about it. You can go ahead and try. We've already quit, so you can't take anything from us.

"Enjoy your date. We won't be hanging around like spare parts."

Yvonne looked puzzled. "Quit? What's this new game you're playing?

"Cut it out. I'm swamped and don't have time for your games."

I thought, 'She really is swamped.'

She was swamped with hanging out with her younger boyfriend, taking care of his friends, and trying to cut our pay.

Jim looked like he was trying to calm things down, but he was really stirring the pot.

"Yvonne, if he says he's quit, then he's quit. He obviously doesn't care about your feelings.

"And he's even trying to take the company's key players with him. Isn't that going to hurt you?"

His buddies joined in. "Exactly, Yvonne! Only our Jim is truly good to you.”

"We've all heard from Jim that Luis is a bully and picks on the newbies. He deserves to be fired.”

"You should just divorce that loser already. Jim's handsome and tall. He's a much better fit for you."

Yvonne knew those were lies, but she did not say a word. Instead, she said with a sense of resignation, "Luis, we've been together for so long, so I'll give you one more chance.

"If you apologize to Jim and hand over all your big clients to him, I'll put you back in your old job. Otherwise..."

Otherwise, it meant divorce.

From all the times we had argued, I knew what she left unsaid.

Before, whenever she would start that sentence, I would get so worried, pleading with her not to say that dreaded word.

However, now...

I tossed the divorce papers from my pocket right in front of her. "You can't threaten me anymore. We're already divorced."