Chapter 4

It took me a moment to place the voice on the other end. Then it clicked.

He was a vice president I had worked with on a previous project. His company was massive, with its headquarters in Millbrook. He had tried to recruit me several times after we wrapped up that project together, but I had turned him down every time.

Back then, I had stayed because of Kyle. I felt sorry for him, carrying the weight of the company on his own. There was already plenty of internal pushback against him, and if I left, his position would only get worse.

So I said no, again and again.

Still, Kyle never appreciated any of it. He did not even think twice about it. He downplayed my contributions at every opportunity and criticized my abilities in front of the whole office.

Yet if I were truly as incompetent as he made me out to be, the company would never have made it this far. Partners would not have been lining up to work with us.

At the end of the day, it was never about my capabilities. He simply did not care. And now, I was done believing him.

The silence stretched on, and the man on the phone asked again.

I steadied myself and answered calmly. "Yes. I accept."

We exchanged a few more words, settled on a start date, and I hung up. Then I hailed a cab and went home.

I pushed open the front door and went straight upstairs to pack. I was moving out. If I was going to end things, there was no point dragging it out.

Packing did not take long.

Looking down at the worn-out clothes and pants so faded they had turned white, it hit me just how lean these years had really been.

When we first moved in together, I had spent every dollar I had to renovate the house so he would have a place worth coming home to. I ate nothing but plain bread for 3 months just to make ends meet.

I had redesigned the entire interior to match his taste. I had spent 2 months studying color psychology so I could pick out custom furniture for him, all so he could walk through the door after work and feel at ease.

I still remembered the way his eyes had lit up when he came home and saw the finished house for the first time.

He made me a promise. "I'm going to live here for the rest of my life. No one touches this house."

His version of "the rest of my life" turned out to be painfully short. It was over before it ever really began.

Anya visited the house once and tossed out a casual remark. "The decor is so dated."

Kyle immediately called a designer to have everything redone.

When I questioned it, he snapped at me for being narrow-minded and not understanding modern aesthetics. He thought Anya obviously knew better than I did.

Then he picked up a hammer and smashed the porch swing I had spent an entire month building for him by hand.

Standing in the wreckage, I should have seen him for who he really was right then. But I had been too naive. I genuinely believed I was the one who was out of touch, that I just could not keep up with the times. So I stood by and let the two of them destroy nearly a year of my work.

Looking back now, I could not believe how foolish I had been.

Once everything was packed, I dragged my suitcase downstairs.

I stood in the empty living room and looked around the house I had lived in for nine years. Then I set the key on the coffee table, pulled my suitcase to the door, and walked out.

I took a cab straight to the apartment I had prepared as a wedding gift for Kyle.

I had handpicked this place myself. I had spent weeks negotiating with the real estate agent to get the price down, and I had carved out time to furnish and decorate it personally, all so Kyle would be happy with it when he finally saw it.

The deed had only just come through. I had been about to transfer it into Kyle's name as a symbol of our marriage. But before I could even get the words out, Anya sent me a video of their engagement ceremony.

The venue was extravagant. The guest list was overflowing, and both sets of parents were there. It was as grand and official as an engagement could get.

Kyle stood in a tailored suit, smiling as he slipped a ring onto Anya's finger.