Chapter 4

I calmly explained the situation to Katherine. I even felt somewhat malicious as I anticipated watching Mark get told off.

After all, Katherine hated people who shirked their responsibilities and stole credit at work.

She herself had experienced a lot of mistreatment when she was just starting out.

But now, she just gave me a cold glance. "Mark is your superior. Do you think you're in any position to decline work assigned to you? You joined the company early on, but even now, you're still an ordinary employee. Have you ever wondered why? Well, I'll tell you. It's because you're too petty, and you start making excuses as soon as you have work to do!"

That had to be the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

My colleagues in my batch were all promoted, even if their performance wasn't as good as mine.

I was the only one who was still running around in circles.

The newer employees might not understand what was going on, but could Katherine really have been so clueless?

Mark nudged Katherine. "If Victor doesn't want to help, that's fine. It's not like I can't do it myself."

But Katherine hadn't gotten over it. "Victor, if you still refuse to change your ways, it may be necessary for me to—"

I cut her off. "Let's break up."

The whole office plunged into silence.

Katherine's eyes widened. "What did you just say?"

Looking her in the eye, I said slowly, "I said, 'Let's break up.'"

Mark looked surprised. "Victor, what's gotten into you? Katherine has been nothing but nice to you…"

Ignoring him, I got up to leave.

Katherine gripped my wrist with surprising might. "Victor, why do you keep pulling these dirty tricks?"

I was confused. "What do you mean?"

She scoffed. "You said you wanted to break up, but I know you just wanted to let the whole company know that we're dating. Didn't I tell you that there's no need to make it public in case someone misunderstands?"

I looked down at my wrist, which was turning red from her grasp. I suddenly felt exhausted.

It always turned out like this.

As soon as I complained even a little bit, I would be considered immature, sulking, and out of my mind.

But if Mark so much as frowned, Katherine would treat it like an emergency.

I shook off her hand and took a step back. "Well, we've broken up now, so you don't have to worry about people thinking you pulled some strings for me."

As soon as I got off work, I went back to the apartment and began packing up.

I had lived in this house for five years.

I had thrifted the couch back when we were staying in a rented apartment.

Later on, when we moved to our new place, I still couldn't bring myself to get rid of it.

After all, it had witnessed my life with Katherine as we worked hard for a better future.

I had also searched through every store for the perfect curtains with the best value for money.

The photo we had taken together when we had just moved in was still hanging on the wall.

In the photo, Katherine had a paintbrush in her hand while I held a broom.

We were dirty, but our smiles were bright and radiant.

After all, we had just gotten a new home, and we had finally settled down in a new city.

I took the photo out of its frame. Then, I shredded it and tossed the pieces into the trash can.