Chapter 3

But to my surprise, Rose exhaled deeply, her voice unusually calm. "Marcus, I know you're just saying that in anger. I'm not going to hold it against you. Stop joking around, okay? Talking about divorce like that is hurtful. And after all these years, we can't split up just like that.

"I'll pretend you never said those things, so don't repeat them again. Oh, by the way, we got a last-minute notice. I have to go on a business trip for a couple of days. I'm giving you a month off. Take some time to cool down."

With that, Rose hung up.

Just before the line went dead, I heard Rose explaining to Zachary softly, "I can't. Divorce is complicated—property, finances—"

I didn't hear the rest, but I got the gist. She was worried I'd claim part of her wealth if we divorced.

I scoffed and was momentarily speechless.

Rose told Zachary everything—from the trivial, like what she ate, to the company's sensitive information. I had warned her to be careful, but she didn't listen. She trusted Zachary and reserved all her suspicion for me.

However, none of that mattered anymore.

I contacted a lawyer to draw up a divorce agreement. To speed things up, I chose not to claim anything from the divorce.

I also submitted my resignation to the HR department. They didn't know my relationship with Rose, so they quickly replied formally, "Ms. Lane and Mr. Zimmer are on their honeymoon. I won't disturb them now. You can bring this up in a month."

I wasn't surprised. I'd already guessed Rose's "business trip" was a lie. Her wedding was the talk of the town—there was no way work would actually get her.

"I can't wait. Go ahead and process it. Just inform her after her honeymoon. If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it," I replied.

The HR staff hesitated but agreed after I reassured her.

Rose and I had signed an eight-year contract back then. It expired two years ago, but she never renewed it—forgotten or indifferent, I didn't know.

For the past few years, her attention had been mostly on Zachary anyway.

That ended up working in my favor. Now, I didn't need her approval to resign.

Next, I called a friend who was out of town. When he heard what I had in mind, he was thrilled and insisted I come join his company immediately.

A while back, he had started a new company and had everything in place—except for a strong technical lead. He'd asked me several times to join him, but I'd refused without a second thought.

The company Rose owned now had started out as something we built together. Back then, we rented a tiny cubicle to save money, and it was just the two of us. Now, it was on the verge of going public, spanning an entire building.

I'd poured myself into it as if it were a child of mine, and even though she'd never given me a dime in equity, I had no complaints.

Now, thinking back, all that effort seemed wasted.

I accepted my friend's offer unhesitatingly and booked a flight to Haddon.

When I arrived at the airport, I saw him waiting in the terminal. The moment he spotted me, he rushed over, took my luggage from my hands, and fussed over me, checking if I was tired, hungry, or needed anything at all.