Casada por mi libertad

Lance's POV

After I left, I sat in the parking lot until 5:00 pm. That was when a message popped up on my phone.

"Why haven't you delivered the proposal yet? Is this really all the effort you're putting into your work? The project's on hold for now. We'll talk again once you start taking your job seriously."

By our sixth year of marriage, Jenna Wilkinson had become downright cold and heartless toward me.

I'd had to fight twice as hard as anyone else in my pitch just to land the Wilkinson Group's cosmetic project. After we started working together, she'd slash the budget at the slightest mistake. And now, she'd gone and put the whole project on hold.

She claimed she was just being professional and that being married didn't mean she could lower her standards. But that morning, her secretary, Derek Herman, posted something on his social media.

Jenna was dressed in a white button-down and black skirt, her sleeves rolled up to her forearms as she placed bags of chips on the shelf.

Her striking profile looked soft in the light, and she had a faint smile on her face.

The caption read, "Ms. Wilkinson is personally restocking snacks for me and says eating and drinking is basically my job!"

The moment I saw the post, my heart clenched.

Jenna rarely smiled. Even back in college, she was famous for her icy expression, top grades, and absolute impartiality. But when it came to me, she was always gentle.

Even after all this time, photos of her burning the midnight oil to help me with my thesis and videos of her sweet-talking me into eating broccoli were still going around the school forum.

At some point, though, I'd stopped being the one she treated that way. My phone buzzed. It was another message from Jenna. "Something came up, so I'm staying late."

Before I could even reply, I saw them.

Derek was walking backward, laughing as he clapped, while Jenna was strolling along behind him.

She had her eyes on him, her lips curling into the faintest smile.

It took me a while to finally lower my head. I wasn't the one who could make her smile anymore.

At 11:00 pm that night, I was still awake when Jenna came home.

A variety show was playing on the TV, and the loud laughter made her brows furrow.

"Lance, it's way too loud."

Instead of answering, I grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them into my mouth.

Her brow furrowed even more. "The project was put on hold because you didn't deliver the proposal on time. You don't need to sulk at me over this."

I looked up at her. "You made us revise the draft eight times. It wouldn't have made a difference whether I submitted it today or not."

"This is my company's project. There's nothing wrong with me asking the other party to make revisions."

"Asking for revisions is normal. But making me revise every draft without even looking at it first isn't."

Jenna's face went dark.

The noise from the TV and the crunching of the chips made her go rigid. "Lance, turn off the TV. And you're leaving crumbs all over the carpet by eating chips there."

I crushed the chips in my fist.

I could still picture Derek from earlier that day, sitting on the carpet, munching on chips as he watched a variety show. The same hand that had touched his hair now grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

The living room fell silent in an instant. She turned to head back to the bedroom, but the faint crunch of her shoe stepping on the chip crumbs made her stop.

The next second, she turned around and walked straight back out.

"It's too noisy here. I'm sleeping at the office tonight."