Chapter 2

When I refused her orders without a second thought, a flicker of disbelief flashed across her face.

"Elio, are you really throwing a tantrum with me over something so minor? I did all of this for the company, for our future!

"Don't you hear me speaking to you? Have you gone deaf?!"

Serena continued to scream from the sofa, but I'd already returned to the bedroom to rest.

-

Probably trying to get back at me for what I did, Serena didn't return to our bedroom at all the entire night.

The next morning, I made a two-person breakfast like I always did.

To my surprise, she offered to drive me to work with her.

Ever since we got married, she had never made our relationship public, insisting that business and personal matters remain separate at the company.

Even when we left home for work in the morning, she had never once let me ride in the same car with her.

I didn’t refuse.

I thought that this unnatural act of her fetching me to work was because of how coldly I treated her last night, but the car had only been on the road for ten minutes before it stopped. There outside the window was Hugo, standing there and waving.

After Serena parked the car steadily, Hugo opened the door and sat in the front passenger seat.

"Why is Mr. Goodman here too today?"

I glanced at Hugo, catching the provoking glint in his eyes.

"Serena fetches me every day, and this is the first time I've ever seen you on here, Mr. Goodman."

So Serena had been fetching him to work every day.

During the rainy season this year, with several consecutive days of heavy rain, I went to Serena's office to ask her if she could fetch me home after work because I couldn't get a ride.

She immediately scolded me harshly right then and there, telling me to remember that personal matters weren’t to be discussed at work. If I couldn’t get a car, then I could walk home.

Later, I saw Hugo get in her car.

She was willing to go the long way to send Hugo home, but wasn't willing to fetch me home with her during a rainstorm.

"Hugo doesn't have a car, and he lives far from the company, so I'm only giving him a ride on the way to work," Serena explained.

"Mhm. Mr. Snow's capable enough to warrant this kind of treatment, I'm sure."

When he heard my words, Hugo turned around and looked at me with a smug expression.

"Serena wanted to assign me a car, but I turned her down because I'm not all that good at driving. You don't mind that she fetches me to and from work, right?"

Serena replied before I could: "It's just fetching you to and from work. He doesn't care about small matters like these."

I retracted my gaze from outside the window, turning to meet Hugo's gleeful gaze.

I only replied with a soft "mhm", not bothering to elaborate further.

Serena was clearly displeased by my attitude, and she took one glance at the office building before ordering me with an aggravated tone, "Once I turn that corner, get out of the car. It's not far from the company anyway, so walk the rest of the way yourself."

Serena disliked the notion of having our colleagues find out about our relationship more than anything, so even if she brought me to work out of the blue today, she was still unwilling for others to see her doing so.

"We're almost at the company, so why don't you let Mr. Goodman get off with us at the company?"

Just one sentence from Hugo was enough to make Serena change her opinion.

"Fine, then you can get off at the parking lot with us, Elio."

With Hugo also in the car today, even if company employees saw me there, they probably wouldn't think much of it. They'd simply assume the two of them were kind enough to give me a ride.

I did not pay attention to whatever Serena and Hugo were saying. I only wanted to get to the office quickly and figure out a way to get HR to approve my resignation.

Hugo and I got out of Serena's car one after another.

It was the morning rush hour, and several colleagues looked our way, but all the colleagues were focused on was how Serena and Hugo walked into the office, hand in hand.