"Victoria's car malfunctioned. I gave her a ride because we were going the same way," Travis explained.

I rubbed my nose and said, "I see. Her perfume smells quite nice."

We spent the rest of the car ride in silence.

When we made it to the restaurant, Travis showed no signs of getting out of the car. Instead, he turned to look at me with a frown. "Why didn't you criticize Victoria this time? I thought you hated her."

I arched my brow.

Travis wasn't wrong. If I behaved like how I did in the past, I would have sought Victoria out and berated her until she was in tears. I would have then demanded that Travis fire her.

However, I had no desire to do such things this time. I also didn't feel the need to trouble myself.

"Let's eat. I want to turn in early tonight after dinner. I'm exhausted."

I got out of the car and strode into the restaurant.

Travis trailed behind me. His lips curled up into a smile again after we took our seats. He told me in a mysterious tone that he had a surprise for me before he stood up and walked off.

I suddenly thought that he was incredibly childish as I watched his retreating back.

Travis had left his phone on the table. It started ringing a few seconds after he left.

Victoria was calling him.

Travis had yet to return even after she called him twice.

I decided to pick up the call when she called a third time.

"Save me, Mr. Somerson!" Victoria wailed the moment the call connected. "I'm trapped in a basement!"

Just then, Travis returned while balancing a cake decorated with fresh flowers in his hands. The ecstatic expression on his face stiffened in an instant when he noticed that I was holding his phone.

He stormed over to our table and carelessly dropped the cake in front of me. The fresh flowers that had been arranged in a flawless design scattered on impact. A cream-stained rose rolled off the table and fell onto the floor.

Travis snatched his phone out of my hand. He became even more furious when he glanced at the screen.

"Who told you that you could accept my calls without my permission, Harper? Don't forget that we're not married yet. You're not my wife!"

Travis had a grim expression on his face when he hung up.

"Something happened to Victoria. I have to go to her right now. I'll be back soon. Wait for me here."

He then hurried away after he was done speaking.

The ghost of a smile tugged at my lips as I stared at the distorted cake in front of me.

It was a little hard to believe that Travis didn't see right through Victoria's flimsy ploy.

Why didn't she call the police and ask them for help if she was stuck in a basement? Why did she keep calling Travis even though she needed help as soon as possible?

It was preposterous.

I waited until the restaurant's closing time, but Travis still hadn't returned. Fortunately, I had asked the waiter to serve the dishes that Travis had ordered beforehand. At the very least, I didn't have to wait for him on an empty stomach.

I was about to get up and leave the restaurant when Travis suddenly burst through the doors.

When he noticed the leftovers on the table, he asked in a disgruntled tone, "Why didn't you wait for me, Harper? Why did you eat by yourself?"

It was the first time I hadn't waited for Travis before starting to eat even though we had been in a relationship for a decade.

In the past, I wouldn't even order any dishes before he showed up. After we moved in together, I would prepare the dishes and only start eating after he had taken his seat at the dining table.

"My bad. I thought you weren't coming back anymore since you left to meet Victoria. That's why I started eating by myself," I said unapologetically.

Travis' expression darkened. He slammed whatever he was holding onto the table, causing a loud bang to resound through the restaurant.

"I left to pick up the new wedding invitation sample!"

I lowered my gaze and glanced at the invitation.

The cover did look different now.

Travis continued staring at me, his eyes shining with glee and anticipation. It seemed that he was waiting for me to flip open the wedding invitation.

I knew that he must have checked the invitation beforehand, ensuring that the bride's name was mine this time.

Unfortunately for Travis, I had no desire to open the wedding invitation.

"Aren't you going to take a look?" Travis asked in disbelief.

I shook my head while wearing an indifferent expression.

Earlier, right after I finished eating dinner, I noticed that Victoria had posted a new update on her social media account.

She had posted a photo of the new wedding invitation. The groom's name was Travis Somerson. Meanwhile, she intentionally censored the bride's name. Only the last name "Somerson" was vaguely visible while the first name was blurred out.

The caption read, "I love the new design. Do you?"

I tried to usher Travis out of the restaurant. It was already past the restaurant's closing hours, and we were the only ones left in the building.

However, Travis remained stubbornly rooted to the spot. He picked up the wedding invitation and offered it to me.

I knew that he was waiting for me to coax him after I looked at it.

I had no desire to look at the invitation, so I lifted my hand to knock it away.

Meanwhile, Travis assumed that I was going to take the invitation from him. He let it slip through his fingers, and it ended up landing on the cake, soiling it.

He was stunned for a few seconds, before he punched the cake in a fit of rage.

"When are you going to stop causing a fuss over something so petty, Harper? I've already given you an out. What more do you want?"

"I just want to leave and turn in early for the night," I said.

My calm tone seemed to anger Travis even more.

"We can go home after you look at the wedding invitation. Why do you refuse to look at it? I looked through tens of thousands of covers before picking this one especially for you. Why won't you even spare a glance at it?

"Have I been treating you too well, Harper? Is that why you're being so immature? Everyone's been saying that you don't match up to my status anymore, but I ignored their pleas to reconsider and insisted on marrying you. What else is there for you to be dissatisfied with?"

I lowered my head and barked out a bitter laugh.

Travis was spouting his usual speech again.

Every time we got into an argument, he would use this same reason to force me to concede to him. Travis and the people around him believed that I should be kissing the ground he walked on to show my gratitude just because he was willing to marry me.

However, I didn't feel like conceding to him anymore.

"It's fine if you don't want to marry me anymore," I said.

I didn't spare him another glance after I was done speaking. I simply turned around and took my leave.

In the past, Travis would just let me leave while he ran off to get drunk with his friends. He would stay out for the entire night until I begged him to come home.

This time, I had only taken a couple of steps when I felt a hand clamp around my arm.

Not only had Travis chased after me, but he also dragged me along with him, telling me that we were going home together.

I stared into his eyes and asked, "Who said I was going home?"

Travis immediately frowned and let go of my arm.

"Didn't you say that you wanted to turn in early for the night? It's already so late. Where else would you go but home?"

His questions rendered me speechless. I nearly laughed aloud.

It was true that I didn't have anywhere else to go in this city. I had spent the last decade orbiting Travis ever since we became a couple.

I sighed and pulled out my phone. "I just purchased a travel blind box. The first flight is tonight!"

The cab I ordered earlier slowed to a stop in front of the restaurant just as I exited the building.

I didn't have any luggage with me. I only had my phone as I began my solo vacation. It was the first time in a decade that I was traveling by myself.

When the plane touched down, my phone was bombarded with dozens of messages.

Travis had only sent one message.

"Are you happy now?" he asked.

The rest of the messages were from Victoria, apologizing profusely to me. The last message she sent me was a voice message. Her voice was thick with tears as she exclaimed, "I've learned my lesson, Ms. Ellis. Mr. Somerson told me that he was going to fire me if you don't forgive me!

"I can't lose this job. You know about my family situation. Are you going to be so cruel and do nothing while Mr. Somerson fires me, Ms. Ellis? My mother will be chased out of the hospital and my brother will be forced to leave school if I can't pay their bills."

I looked up at the sky. It was a different color from the sky of the city that I had just left.

I decided to switch off my phone, blocking out all my troublesome thoughts.

In the past, no matter how big of an argument Travis and I got into, I would never go radio silent.

Travis was allowed to ignore my calls and messages, but I had to pick up his calls and reply to his messages within seconds.

It was the first time I had ignored his message. I knew that he would get angry, but I still decided to switch off my phone.

I ended up staying abroad for a week. I only realized how free the wind felt after I left Travis.

I would update my social media account every time I touched down in a new place.

Travis liked all of my posts, but he never left any comments.

I ended my solo vacation a week later.

I spotted Travis the moment I disembarked from the plane. He was cradling a massive bouquet of fresh flowers in his arms, making him stand out among the crowd.

We spent the ride home in silence.

When we arrived home, I realized that the house had undergone a drastic transformation. The rooms were all decorated to celebrate our upcoming wedding.

A stack of wedding invitations were arranged on the coffee table in the living room. However, instead of the printed ones from before, these new ones were hand-drawn.

Travis possessed some artistic talent. In fact, he had won awards for his artworks during his school days. He looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to praise him.

I pretended not to notice that his eyes were shining with anticipation. Instead, I returned to my room and packed my personal belongings, thinking about how I needed to find a chance to talk to him to clarify our current situation.

I had just laid down on the bed to rest when I heard someone entering the password and unlocking the front door from the outside.

A few seconds later, a clear voice drifted into the room.

"I forgot to take my eyemask with me, Mr. Somerson."

Victoria strode into my bedroom and made a beeline for the bedside cabinet. She averted her gaze when we made eye contact.

Meanwhile, Travis stood at the doorway with only a towel wrapped around his body, water dripping from his hair.

…

In the end, Travis told Victoria to leave without giving her a chance to retrieve her eyemask.

He stood before me. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally stammered out an explanation.

"I've been busy decorating the house, so I decided to give her the password to make things more convenient. Also, I actually haven't been home for the last few days. I had no idea that she was staying here.

"She was only helping around the house. There's nothing going on between us, so there's no need for you to overthink things."

I looked at him calmly and said, "I'm not overthinking. If anything, you're the one who's overthinking."

"Is that so?" Travis asked, his voice dripping with disbelief.

He repeated his question several times, breathing a sigh of relief when he was certain that I believed his words.

Just as I was about to use this opportunity to clear things up with him, someone rang the doorbell.

Travis dragged me into the living room and asked me to close my eyes, telling me that he had a surprise for me. He was adamant that I follow his orders and only left to open the door after I closed my eyes.

I heard people walking around the house and the sounds of items being set down.

I only realized what Travis' big surprise was when he returned to my side and told me that I could open my eyes again.

Dozens of jewelry sets were displayed before me. I could tell from a single glance that each set cost a small fortune.

I became even more certain of the jewelry sets' value when I spotted a familiar figure.

"Travis has been pulling out all the stops for your wedding, Harper. He forced me to bring all the jewelry sets from my flagship store here so that you can have your pick."

The man speaking was Travis' childhood best friend, Brandon Potts, the owner of a jewelry store.

I hadn't expected Travis to make such a fuss. If I had known what he was planning beforehand, I would have told him that there was no need to go to such lengths.