Chapter 3

However, I had decided to decline their offer and stay put where I was because I wanted to accompany Gianna and achieve our dreams together.

On the other end of the line, the HR representative, Daisy Lindt, continued briefing me on their company benefits and how much they would welcome a talented genius like me on board.

Our conversation went on for a while, and soon, I realized that I was already back at home.

I looked at the hour-long call log and gripped my phone even tighter.

I had given up a top-management position that was within grasp for Gianna's sake. I had given it up to start a company from scratch with her. I had then busied myself for years at the company, neglecting my health and being constantly on edge at work. Now, I was worn out, both physically and mentally by now.

Finally, our company took off, and we managed to achieve significant milestones, though we started from nothing. But now, I realized that Gianna's heart had quietly left me a long time ago.

I decided that I was only going to live for myself moving forward.

After thinking for a while, I texted our project partner, Ronan Walters, and informed him that someone else was going to replace me as the project manager.

Ronan's company had only been willing to collaborate with us and invest in our company because they thought highly of my work and wanted to continue working with me. They had also brought in a considerable amount of funding for our company because of it.

Now that I was leaving, I knew that I had to inform them about it.

After I was done sending the text message, I bought a plane ticket for the next day and began packing up my things.

I retrieved my coat from the bottommost drawer in the closet and didn't realize that I had also accidentally flipped open a photo album under it. I then caught sight of a photo of Gianna and me in the album.

The photo had been taken eight years ago, when Gianna and I first began dating. We were still young and shy with each other back then. Our faces in the picture were bashful.

I brought out the photo album and flipped through each page slowly.

Now that I thought of it, Gianna had been the one who suggested we take these photos. She said that she wanted to record our lives, especially our hardships, so that we could make up for them in the future.

Gianna and I experienced a lot of hardships in the past, and we used to live a difficult life back then.

We used to huddle together in a small, rented flat and watch pirated DVDs at night. We also used to fight over the last chicken nugget during Christmas dinner.

However, those moments of financial hardship still felt like happiness to me. They had served as motivation for me to continue fighting for our dreams.

Soon, the clothing we wore in the photos became brighter and more designer-like, while our photo backgrounds became fancier and more luxurious. Yet, the photos also became fewer and farther apart.

We used to take photos together once every few days, then once a month, then once a year.

Then, we stopped taking new photos since Shane appeared in Gianna's life.

Eventually, the only exchange Gianna and I still had with each other was the conversations we had with each other at work, with her as my superior and me as her subordinate.

I didn't know when it all began, but Gianna never even bothered anymore when she saw me skipping meals, bleeding from alcohol consumption, or getting injured when conducting experiments with our products.

Yet, she protected Shane like a mother hen, declining all intercompany events so that she could take Shane, who had gastric issues, out for dinner. It was as if she were trying to make things up to him. She was spoiling him rotten.

Feeling hurt, I once asked her why she behaved this way.

Gianna's eyes turned cold and steely at that time. She chided me, saying that she and I both came from nothing, and yet, I was very petty for my age, and that Shane was far more mature and understanding than I was.

She told me that she admired Shane's kindness and innocence, and she didn't want him to go through the same hardships that we both went through.

I quickly snapped back to the present and stared at the photo album that used to be full of loving memories between Gianna and me, suddenly realizing that none of this mattered anymore. So, I took the photo album and threw it into the trash can.

I continued folding my clothes and packing them away. My phone suddenly began ringing in my pocket.

It was a call from the five-star restaurant. The manager on the line said, "Mr. Hemsworth, I would like to remind you that you are half an hour late for your candlelit dinner reservation. If you do not arrive within the next ten minutes, I am afraid that we will have to give up your reservation for other paying customers instead."

I had always preferred eating stews and soups, but Gianna's favorite kinds of restaurants were steakhouses because she thought it was classier and more romantic. Thus, I had proposed to her at a steakhouse.

Since Gianna had promised to make our relationship public today, I even purposely reserved a spot at the best steakhouse in town to celebrate with a candlelit dinner tonight, but she ultimately left me hanging.

My eyes were indifferent as I said, "Cancel my reservation, please. You can give the table to someone else."