Chapter 2

The day I caught Carter and Ruby together was the day I randomly decided to bring him lunch.

I had just reached the door of the CEO's office when I saw Carter pinning a young, beautiful girl against the wall, kissing her fiercely and passionately.

The room was filled with the sound of their intimate embrace. They did not even notice me standing there.

My mind went blank.

I couldn’t understand how Carter, who had once sworn to love only me, could be kissing someone else.

The lunchbox in my hand fell to the ground, and finally, their kiss was broken as they became aware of my presence.

He instinctively shielded Ruby, standing in front of her as if to protect her from my gaze.

That day, I asked for a divorce.

Carter’s face turned pale instantly.

He quickly pushed Ruby aside and began crying, begging me for forgiveness.

"Zendaya, I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. I must have been out of my mind to do something so foolish."

"It’s my fault. Go ahead, hit me. Get all of your anger out," he said, grabbing my hand and slapping his face with it, tears welling up as he pleaded, "But please, don’t leave me, Zendaya."

He enlisted everyone around him to beg me to stay, swearing that this was the first and only time he’d ever crossed that line.

My gut told me that our relationship should end, but giving up on nine years of love felt like tearing out a part of myself. It was not something I could do lightly.

Therefore, I chose to forgive him.

However, once a crack appeared, it was impossible to repair.

Perhaps it was because he had once been such a proud person, and I had held him so tightly in my grasp that he couldn’t let go.

Or maybe, he realized he had become an indispensable part of my life, and now, he could act without restraint.

It did not take long before he brought Ruby back to his side, this time as his assistant.

In the year since, he tested my boundaries over and over again, and now, he openly posted about Ruby on his social media.

My love had become the weapon he used against me.

But what if... love really could be pawned?

I snapped back to reality. The virtual avatar on the screen was still there.

"Can love be pawned?" I asked, my voice filled with doubt.

"Pawn your love, and receive what you need," the virtual avatar quickly replied.

"Here, you can trade in your heavy, painful, or unresolvable love for everything you need, including beauty, health, and success."

"But love should be mutual," I hesitated before continuing, "My love... it may already be gone."

The virtual avatar responded, "Don’t worry, miss. This pawnshop accepts one-sided love too."

"We’ve detected that your love meets our pawning standards."

"Would you like to proceed with pawning your love?"

As soon as the words left its mouth, a pop-up appeared on the screen.

"Please confirm whether you wish to pawn your love."

At the bottom of the window were two options laid out: "Confirm" and "I’ll Think About It".

I pursed my lips. Since I couldn’t do it myself, I decided to let the Love Pawnshop handle it for me.

Without hesitation, I pressed the “Confirm” button.

"Now, what would you like in exchange?" The virtual avatar seemed to exhale in relief, and its tone of voice sounded noticeably lighter.

"We highly recommend exchanging it for career success! Customers who’ve chosen it all say it’s fantastic!"

"Alright, I’ll take the career option," I replied. Since my love was already gone, my career couldn’t afford any more setbacks.

"Ding! The pawning contract has been successfully signed," the virtual avatar responded.

"To minimize any physical and emotional harm to you, we will gradually withdraw all of your love over the next five days."

"At the same time, your career luck has been successfully activated. From now on, you will excel in your career, achieving twice the result with half the effort."

"Enjoy the experience."

Five days. Could a person’s love truly disappear in such a short time?

I felt a sharp pain in my chest, but soon, I felt strangely lighter.

When I glanced at my phone again, the Love Pawnshop page had vanished, replaced by a shopping ad for Black Friday.

Everything was back to normal, as if nothing had happened—like it had all been a figment of my imagination.

Chapter 3

The hospital room door swung open, and eight hours after my car crash, Carter finally walked in.

"How could you be so careless?" he snapped. His face was filled with irritation. He did not even try to hide how annoyed he was with me.

"I saw your posts," I said, glaring at him.

He did not even flinch, and just looked back at me with impatience. "So what? You’re gonna get jealous of Ruby now?"

"Zendaya, I told you, You will always be my wife. Don’t stress yourself over it."

"I’ve got nothing serious going on with her, so stop overreacting." My chest felt like it was being crushed.

He remembered every detail about Ruby…

How she could not sleep, so he would make her warm milk.

He remembered her fear of thunder, so he would sit with her when it rained.

He even remembered her period, and would make her brown sugar drinks during that period.

If all of that was just for a casual relationship...

Then what was I to him?

Was I no longer even worth that?

The worst part? He did not even try to hide any of this from me.

I would have put up with it before, but now, I was not sure if it was the "love pawn" I had made, or just everything else, but I could not stand it anymore.

"Nothing serious? Carter Simon, do you think I’m stupid?" I demanded, locking eyes with him.

"Then I’ll fire her. Can you find someone else to have your fun with?"

"Zendaya, try hurting her, and see what happens!" His eyes turned cold, and there was a dangerous edge to his words.

I could not breathe. My chest was tight, and my tears started flowing involuntarily.

At that moment, all I could feel was regret for choosing to pawn my love, knowing it would take five days for it to be reclaimed.

He seemed to realize his tone had been too harsh. For a second, he looked flustered, as if he was not sure how to fix it.

"I..." His expression softened, but just as he was about to speak, his phone rang.

It was Ruby.

"Carter, the power’s out here. It’s so dark and I’m scared. Can you come over?" Ruby’s voice cracked with a whimper, and it echoed in the quiet room.

"Ah!" A soft noise was followed by some faint crashes on the other end.

"Ruby, what’s wrong?" Carter asked, clearly worried.

"Stay put. I’ll be right there." He did not look at me again as he rushed out.

I bit my lip, fighting back the urge to shout at him.

It hurt. My body seemed to throb with every ache.

On the first day of pawning my love, I still felt pain for him.

I did not expect Ruby to come knocking the next day.

"What are you here for?" I asked, my voice flat.

Perhaps because Carter had finally posted about her, she felt like she was winning.

So she stood before me with no shame on her face, even casually letting me see the hickeys on her neck.

She smirked, her voice dripping with disdain: "Zendaya, do you want to know what Carter said while he was with me last night?" As she tapped her phone screen, the intimate sounds filled the quiet room.

"Ah, don’t bite me," her voice was teasing.

"Do you bite Zendaya like this too?" she continued, clearly trying to provoke me.

"Stop bringing her up. It’s annoying," Carter Simon’s voice was harsh, but then another sound filled the room—Ruby moaning under his touch.

Carter continued, his voice cold. "I’ve been bored with her for years. Now, I can’t even stand to be near her."

"Unlike her, I can’t forget you." More sensual sounds followed, making it impossible to ignore.

I trembled, my anger boiling over.

I thought I had moved on, but no, I could not understand how someone I loved so much had changed so completely.

Ruby hit stop on her phone, and the recording cut off.

She leaned in close to my ear and taunted, "Heh, look at you. If you’ve got any sense, just leave."

Then, she grabbed the water glass by the bed and splashed it on herself. "Zendaya, I know you’re mad at me. If this water helps, I’ll let you splash me again."

Her eyes reddened with fake tears, looking pitiful as if she might cry at any second.

I stared at her, my eyes burning with anger.

That’s when Carter burst in.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled Ruby into his arms protectively.

"Zendaya, I leave for a second to park, and you think you can bully her?" Ruby found peace in his arms, her fake tears dripping down his sleeve.

She pretended to be strong, saying, "Carter, I know Zendaya is upset with me. Loving you was my mistake."

"I'm willing to endure anything to calm her down, I’ll take whatever you throw at me."

Carter comforted her softly, "You’ve done nothing wrong. She’s the problem."

Then he turned his cold eyes to me as if I were the villain.

"Apologize," he commanded.

Ruby, in his embrace, shot me a smug look.

I thought I would break down, scream, and fight, but I did not.