Love on Borrowed Time

"Why is the wedding contract so thick?" Max Curtis asked with a frown. He flipped through the pages one by one, yet never put pen to paper.As one of Riverport's most well-known business elites, he wasn't a man easily fooled.On the second-to-last page was the divorce settlement agreement I had secretly slipped in.I kept my head down. I didn't feel very nervous."There seems to be a lot of settlement terms. If you have time, you can read through them slowly," I said.He wouldn't have time.Today was the day his first love, Sandra Lynch, returned to the country.Back then, when Sandra got engaged, he married me in a fit of anger.Now, Sandra was divorced. He drank himself senseless, and once he sobered up, he asked me to redo our wedding.It was nothing more than a way to provoke Sandra into coming back.My marriage was just a prop in their game.Sure enough, the impatience on Max's face was obvious."I need to head out to pick someone up. I don't have time to read all this

"Someday, we'll make it public," Max said. "For now, our top priority is still handling this project."I nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.I didn't remind him that the real priority seemed to be the wedding that was just around the corner.I also didn't remind him that on that very day, the divorce cooling-off period would end.After all, in his eyes, Sandra still mattered most.Throughout the project, Max's deliberate efforts to avoid situations where I might run into Sandra didn't go unnoticed by my partner.Curious for gossip, she asked me, "Did you and Mr. Curtis have something going on in the past?"I smiled. "How could that be?"She smiled. "He's stolen a few looks at you. Those really guilty ones. It's the look of a man who isn't a complete jerk. He still stares at an ex he hasn't gotten over."I froze for a moment and thought back carefully.It wasn't that I hadn't noticed. It was just that everything in the past made it impossible for me to trust what I saw i

I turned the plane ticket over and showed it to him. The name of a city 2,000 miles away was printed on it.Max frowned. "Why are you suddenly going somewhere so far away? And you didn't even tell me. What if something happened to you?"I shrugged and spoke nonchalantly. "That's highly unlikely. It's just a normal work transfer."Max grabbed my wrist. He was clearly unconvinced. "Why so sudden? Didn't we just finish a project together? Are you just going to leave it behind?"I gently pried his fingers away and stepped back, putting some distance between us."The project is already in its final stage. I've handed the rest to my partner. I have other projects to work on."But that small step back hurt Max more than my words.He looked at me with confusion. His outstretched hand trembled slightly, yet he couldn't bring himself to lower it.As if sensing something, he asked softly, "When will you come back?"I shook my head and answered with a smile, "I'm not coming back."Max se

I landed in an unfamiliar coastal city feeling lighthearted.I bought a new SIM card and contacted my partner first.Then, I blocked everyone connected to Max on all social media platforms.I didn't watch a single one of the videos they sent about how Max had broken down crying at the airport.I deleted everything. My phone was clean again. There was nothing left that could upset me.I focused on building a new company here and gradually shifted the core of our business over. The busy days left me with no time to think about men at all.So this was what it felt like to be free from worrying about men. It was unbelievably liberating.My partner called to start an online meeting, excitedly telling me that the project back there had wrapped up perfectly.The road had been full of obstacles, but thankfully, the ending was good. Most importantly, it hadn't affected our ability to make money.I casually asked what had happened with the project after I stopped overseeing it.My part

"Get lost!"That was the only thing I said to Max.Whatever plan my business partner had come up with, I hadn't even gotten any satisfaction out of it. Max managed to disgust me first.Max couldn't believe I was really this heartless. He stood up and tried to grab me, but the handsome cafe owner stepped in and blocked him."Stop embarrassing yourself. She told you to get lost. Didn't you hear?"Max was meek and cautious around me, but the moment he faced someone else, he suddenly toughened up."What does this have to do with you?"He looked the bakery owner up and down, then raised his voice and asked me, "You refuse to marry me. Don't tell me it's because of some guy who sells cakes? What can he offer you? Can those cakes even cover rent?"I was so furious, I spun around and was ready to curse him out. Before I could speak, the cafe owner calmly wagged a finger in front of Max's face."Not quite. I don't pay rent for my cafe. This entire building is mine. I'm not particular