My boyfriend, Rodney Prater, took me to the party that his company held. At the venue, the gas stove suddenly exploded.

Rodney's first reaction was to protect his female subordinate next to him.

The colleagues next to him were afraid that I would be angry, so they all comforted me, saying, "Rodney is just too responsible. After all, it's a company gathering. It's not good if she gets hurt. But You're his woman, so it's fine."

But I picked up my bag and turned to leave, saying, "Thanks. But I don't dare to love such a man like him."

***

Last week, I, Cordelia Holcomb, celebrated my birthday alone. Rodney didn't accompany me because his female subordinate, Jennie Burnham, was sick.

Later, we had a big fight, and he blamed me for being heartless, saying that Jennie was still a young girl who was working alone far away from her home. He said it was not easy for her.

Because of that, I got angry and didn't speak to him for a long time.

Last night, when he came home, he said his company would hold a party tomorrow, and he would take me to it.

I knew that this was his way of apologizing to me.

Just like when parents harshly punished their child, they would cook the child's favorite dishes afterward to make amends.

In the past, every time Rodney took the initiative to apologize to me like this, I would secretly feel happy in my heart.

But now, I felt it was boring.

The next day, after work, I arrived at the restaurant Rodney mentioned.

Rodney and his colleagues had already arrived, and when they saw me coming in, some of them teased, "Rodney, are you afraid that someone will steal your girlfriend, so you never bring her to hang out with us?"

Rodney crumpled the tissue into a ball and threw it at that man, saying angrily, "Shut up and chew your food."

Rodney's colleagues politely left the seat on Rodney's right side to me.

After I sat down, Rodney pointed clockwise at his colleagues at the table and introduced them to me one by one.

When it came to the last person, the girl on Rodney's left reached out her hand proactively and said to me, "Hello, Cordelia, I'm Jennie Burnham."

Hearing this, I said in my heart, So she's Jennie. I deliberately looked at her up and down for a few seconds.

At this time, Rodney turned his head and warned me, "I've brought you here to meet my colleagues. Don't cause trouble for me, okay?"

I ignored him and picked up the cup to drink some water.

The party got livelier as they began to talk and drink.

Just as everyone was bantering with me and Rodney, suddenly, a loud bang sounded.

In an instant, thick smoke blurred my vision. I instinctively reached out to grab Rodney's hand.

But I missed it. I turned my head and saw that he had half of his body out of his seat, firmly protecting Jennie in his arms.

At that moment, I felt like everything around me froze, and my heartbeat was the only thing I could feel and hear.

The people around us soon came back to their senses and asked each other if they got any hurt. Rodney also let go of Jennie and carefully examined her.

I stood there silently, watching this scene.

Seeing the cold expression on my face, others started coughing to remind Rodney.

Finally, Rodney noticed me. Though he felt a little embarrassed, he just said to me, "I knew you would be fine because I saw you were far away from that."

I sneered and said sarcastically, "She was at your left hand while I was at your right. How did you know which one was farther away? Rodney, I never knew you were actually a genius at calculations!"

Hearing me satirize him in front of his colleagues, Rodney was even more embarrassed. His face clearly showed impatience as he shouted, "That's enough. Don't be so unreasonable. Aren't you fine now? If I had known, I wouldn't have brought you here."

Hearing his words, I couldn't help but sneer in my heart, So this is my fault now?

Maybe he's right. Maybe I shouldn't have come with him in the first place!

At this time, I felt exhausted and didn't want to argue with Rodney anymore.

Suddenly, Jennie let out a scream. It turned out that her arm was scratched.

Rodney ignored me and directly carried Jennie out of the room.

I watched Rodney's back, feeling empty in my heart for a moment. It was as if something had broken in my heart silently.

Rodney's colleagues were afraid that I would be angry, so they all comforted me, saying, "Rodney is just too responsible. After all, it's a company gathering. It's not good if she gets hurt. But You're his woman, so it's fine."

I picked up my bag and turned to leave, saying, "Thanks. But I don't dare to love such a man like him."

I didn't go home. Instead, I went to eat a big plate of spicy spaghetti that I had long wanted to eat.

Because Rodney didn't like spicy food, I hadn't eaten it for a long time.

As the spicy spaghetti entered my stomach, I gradually felt a sense of satisfaction.

It turned out that I could also be happy when I was alone.

After finishing my spaghetti, I went home to wash up. I felt so relaxed that I didn't even realize when I fell asleep.

But in the middle of the night, I was awakened by some rustling sound.

I knew it was Rodney, but I didn't care. I only wanted to sleep now.

In a half-dream and half-awake state, I heard him calling me cautiously, "Cordelia?"

I ignored it because I really didn't care.

The next day, I got up early and went to work on my own, feeling that everything around me was beautiful. Even the sky was bluer than usual.

I put all my energy into work. My colleagues joked with me at noon, asking, "Why are you so happy today? Something good happened?"

I held the cup and asked back in confusion, "Why do you ask so?"

She explained, "You look somehow different today. I always felt that you were impatient before. But today, you seem to have calmed down completely."

I explained with a smile, "I was stuck in a dead end before. But I have thought something through and have broken free from it now."

I was always anxious before because I had been with Rodney for five years, yet we still hadn't gotten married. And my parents had been urging me to get married.

Meanwhile, I often quarreled with Rodney. That was where my impatience came from.

Now, when I thought of it, I felt like I was really stupid before. How could I let a man affect me that much?

After all, I knew that a man might betray me, but my money earned from work would never do.

After work, I didn't call Rodney. Instead, I directly went to the supermarket to buy the food I liked.

After finishing the housework, I half lay on the sofa and watched TV shows, relaxed.

Rodney returned home early, which was quite unusual.

Seeing that I ignored him, he took the initiative to walk up to me and ask me, "Why didn't you make me dinner?"

I lazily half lay on the sofa and casually replied, "I thought you were eating outside, so I didn't make any for you."

Rodney walked up to my front and explained in a low voice, "I know you're angry, but I really didn't mean it yesterday."

I moved my head, continued watching TV, and casually replied, "Hmm. I believe you."

Seeing this, he angrily turned off the TV and spoke sternly, "Are you even listening? I'm seriously explaining it to you."

I sat up straight, composed myself, smiled at Rodney, and sincerely said to him, "I'm really not angry. I believe that you didn't mean it."

But my words only made him even angrier, and he strode back to the bedroom in a rage. But I calmly turned on the TV and continued watching it.

In the past, when I didn't believe his explanation, he would be unhappy. And now, I said I believed him, yet he was still unsatisfied.

Did he want me to cry and make a scene like before, with a distorted face and hysterical behavior?

I was not a madwoman, okay?

After getting washed, I got into bed. But just then, Rodney leaned over and slowly put his hand on my waist.

I turned over, shook off his hand, turned my back to him, and said, "Go to sleep early. We both have to go to work tomorrow."

He asked sullenly, "Will you make breakfast for me tomorrow morning?"

I pretended to be asleep and didn't reply. After a while, I heard him sigh.

The next morning, Rodney woke up before me, which was rare.

When I walked out of the bedroom, I saw milk and bread on the table. Rodney said to me gently, "Have some."

But I shook my head and said, "I'll be late for work. You may enjoy them yourself." With that, I went to the door.

Rodney hurriedly caught up with me with the bread and handed it to me, saying, "Then take this. Put it in your bag."

"Okay." I took the bread and stuffed it into my bag in a hurry. Then, I rushed to the company.

Because there were not so many distractions in my mind, I worked particularly smoothly.

In the afternoon, Rodney called me, saying that Jennie wanted to apologize to me and invited me to have a meal together.

Without thinking, I blurted out, "No. You guys enjoy your meal."

Before Rodney could speak, I heard Jennie whisper next to him, "Is Cordelia still angry with me?'

Rodney said softly, "Cordelia, just come. I promise I won't make you angry this time."

I frowned and rubbed my forehead. I decided to lie to him and said, "I also have a gathering tonight, in our department. You guys have fun. Also, you may explain to your colleague, telling her that I'm really not angry."

Rodney had no choice but to give up. But before hanging up, he told me not to drink alcohol and to go home early.

If it were before, I would definitely smile sweetly. But now, I just perfunctorily responded.

After hanging up the phone, I suddenly empathized with Rodney. Maybe in the past, when I said the same thing to him, he was also quite impatient on the other end of the phone, like me now.

When I went home, as soon as I entered the apartment, I saw a new friend request. I clicked on it and found that it was from Jennie.

After thinking about it, I accepted it.

When Jennie saw that we had become friends, she immediately texted me, apologizing to me with some cute words.

I politely replied that it was okay.

Even if there was really something between Rodney and her, I wouldn't blame her.

After all, I knew very well that no one could force Rodney. Everything he did was his own choice.

Before going to bed, I browsed my Instagram and saw Jennie's new updates. There was a photo of Rodney patiently peeling shrimp, a photo of a close-up of a bowl of peeled shrimp, and a photo of Jennie and Rodney.

In the last photo, Jennie was leaning tightly against Rodney's arm, making a victory sign with one hand and smiling sweetly.

Rodney was also smiling at the camera. The caption for those photos said, [The best boss in the world.]

I suddenly remembered a time in the past when Rodney and I had supper together. Influenced by a certain female celebrity, I half-jokingly asked Rodney to peel shrimp for me.

But Rodney sarcastically said to me, "Come on, you're not a princess. If you want to eat shrimp, peel it yourself. I don't have the habit of peeling shrimp for women!"

Since then, I no longer liked to eat shrimp.

Looking at these photos, I somehow wasn't angry at all, as if I was browsing a stranger's Instagram.

Before going to bed, I thought that I still had a lot of free time, so I might as well take some classes to enrich myself.

No sooner said than done. The next day, I compared the prices of the courses from different organizations and finally bought an online course.

When I returned home in the afternoon, Rodney had already made dinner and was waiting for me. When he saw me back, he kindly fetched my slippers for me.

Then, he pulled me to the dining table, where there were delicious dishes and a cake.

He took out a bouquet of flowers from the corner and handed it to me, saying, "Happy birthday."

I took the flowers and pulled the corners of my mouth, saying, "Wow. Thank you so much."

After he lit the candles, I put my hands together in front of my nose, made a wish to win 5 million dollars in the lottery, and then blew the candles out.

While Rodney was cutting the cake, he casually asked, "What wish did you make?"

I put a big scoop of cake into my mouth and mumbled, "If I speak it out, it won't come true."

Rodney looked at me with an indulgent smile and reached out to wipe the cream off the corner of my mouth. I instinctively turned my head to avoid it.

When he saw this, his face instantly darkened. I pulled out a tissue and explained, "I can do it myself."

He frowned and said firmly, "You're still angry! Since last night, you haven't asked me when I came back!"

I widened my eyes in confusion and asked, "You're already an adult. Do I still need to remind you to come home early?"

But as soon as my voice fell, I suddenly felt it familiar. It seemed that in the past, when I asked Rodney to come back early, he often said to me, "I'm already an adult, and I can go back whenever I want, understand?"

At this time, he raised his voice, asking, "What do you want me to do to make you not angry?"

I explained helplessly, "I've already told you that I don't mind it. It's you who has been keeping bringing it up.

"How many times do I have to say it for you to believe me?"

As soon as I finished my words, I suddenly realized that I had again said the same sentence Rodney used to say to me.

I quickly explained, "I didn't mean to imitate you."

But Rodney was so angry that his chest heaved violently, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Good!" Then, he slammed the door and left.