Chapter 3

When the alarm clock woke me up the next day, I shoved his hand off in annoyance, but that alone woke him up.

He rubbed his eyes as he got up, "Aren't you waking up too early?"

"I'm done sleeping," I replied, getting dressed without looking at him.

He pursed his lips, noticing the medicine on top of my drawer. "Were you sick?"

I never answered, and I was ready to leave after getting dressed when he hugged me from behind.

I frowned and tried to free myself, but his arms tightened around me as he said anxiously, "I'm sorry I stood you up, but I can explain—Sophie was sick, and she's alone in the big city. I have to take care of her…"

I slid out of his grasp as I replied, "I know—you don't have to explain yourself. You told me that she's sick and frail, so it's only right you went to her. There's no need to apologize, and you can just drop it."

There was shock and disbelief in his eyes as I finished, but I didn't want to keep talking to him and patted his arm. "Alright. If there's nothing else, I'm going to work."

"Lilian!"

I turned in confusion as he called me again, only for him to say, "You haven't made breakfast."

He said it as if it was only natural, leaving me all the more annoyed.

"Go have some at the cafe downstairs. I'm going to work," I said shortly, and I could see the brief panic in his eyes just before I shut the door.

-

Since that day, I started giving Mark the silent treatment.

In the past, I would quickly cave and ask to reconcile, but I had no such intention now.

I even started sleeping in the other room and learned to lock the door since he began to slip inside my room while I was asleep.

I also reset my alarm clock so that I could sleep more, since I used to wake up very early to cook for him and would drive thirty minutes just to send him lunchboxes during his lunch hour.

Time was much more flexible without including Mark in my life, and I began to enjoy living for myself.

There were several times when he demanded to know why I didn't cook for him and starved him. I would nonchalantly reply, "Are you an overgrown infant? Don't you know enough to buy your own meals?"

I used to be the one to get hysterical, but the roles had completely reversed—I would watch him as he threw a fit like an utter clown.

Instead of wasting my time on someone who didn't deserve it, I could just spend it on improving myself.

As I spared even more time for my studies, I saw a recruitment for postgraduate programs and felt a pang of regret.

I had been so eager to graduate back in university to marry Mark that I gave up on my studies and got a job.

But now, I was going to make up for that past regret.

Every day after work, I would quickly finish dinner before heading to the library, studying until it was very late before going home.