Chapter 2

I remained calm as I stared at Kirsten's nearly-trembling lips.

"Okay. I'll leave right now."

I then ignored Sam's and Juliet's attempts to stop me and turned around, walking toward the entrance. Just as I was about to leave, however, someone gripped my wrist tightly and yanked me back in.

[Are you really mad at me, honey? I'm scared. Do you really not want me anymore? I'll die if you leave me! You can't leave me like this!]

Kirsten's inner voice echoed in my head at once. I looked back at her in shock and saw the redness around her eyes. For a moment, I felt my resolve crumbling.

However, a second later, Kirsten's cold voice sounded.

"You want to leave? Fine! Take off the shoes you're wearing and return them to me! I was the one who bought them for you!"

I froze at the command and looked at the worn, faded leather shoes on my feet.

These were the shoes that Kirsten had bought for me for our wedding. When she bought them for me, she simply put them in the living room without telling me about them. However, I heard her inner voice calling out to me.

[Honey! See the shoes? See them? Quick, come and ask me if I purposely bought them for you! I actually got someone to custom-make it to order! Aren't I the best? I really want you to be the happiest groom in the world!]

Over the past six years, I could never bear to part with these shoes and treated them like my utmost treasure. It wasn't just because it was a gift from Kirsten. It was also because the shoes represented her love for me.

But now…

I mechanically crouched over and slowly took the shoes off.

"Okay. You can have it back."

Kirsten's face turned darker. Her eyes grew even redder, as if she was suppressing her emotions.

Juliet hurried up to stop me.

"Mitch, you've been with Kirsten for ten years. It's not like you don't know that she never means what she says. How could she possibly bear to let you go home barefooted? This is just her way of trying to make you stay."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Kirsten bent down, grabbed the shoes, and threw them into the fireplace.

"You've worn them for six years, and you're returning them to me now? They're filthy."

Her tone was nonchalant, but her words fell like a sledgehammer to my heart.

I stared at the flames consuming my shoes and suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe.

So, as it turned out, the shoes I'd kept so precious to my heart over the past six years meant nothing to her and could be thrown into the fire and destroyed just like that.

Kirsten's inner voice spoke up again when she noticed my reddening eyes.

[You're upset, aren't you, honey? You still care about me, don't you? Just admit that you were wrong, and say that you only meant it as a joke earlier, and I'll immediately fill your entire rack with more shoes than you can ever wear! I'll buy one pair in every style for you!]

I listened numbly to her inner voice and felt nothing stirring in my heart anymore.

She could buy as many pairs as she wanted for me after this, but nothing could ever compare to the first pair. My feelings for her had already burned out, just like the last of the embers in the fireplace, with only ashes left behind.

I left barefoot in the end.

Nobody came out after me. Only Jordan's gloating sneer could be heard as I left.

"Are you really not going out after him? He seems pretty upset."

"What's the point?" Kirsten replied. "Let him go. He'll definitely come crawling back to me in half an hour to apologize."

She didn't know that I was leaving for real.

I was one of the candidates selected for an external transfer to the company's overseas branch, and my flight was booked for tomorrow.