Chapter 5

Whitney stood frozen, completely stunned. "Are you disgusted by me?"

"I have somewhere to be later. I'm going to change first," I said flatly, then turned to head back to my bedroom.

Whitney tried to follow me, but I shut the door and locked it without hesitation.

"Fine! Neil, don't come crying to me later!"

Whitney seemed genuinely angry. After making her threat, she kicked the door hard and stormed off.

When I came out of the bedroom, the living room was empty.

Whitney sent a message in the company group chat, saying she wanted to treat everyone to dinner and asking who wanted to come.

No one responded.

Only Jude replied, with a string of happy emojis.

I knew Whitney was doing it on purpose just to tick me off.

This had happened many times before. Every time, the other coworkers stayed out of it, while Jude was always eager to join.

In the past, I would have gotten jealous and followed them, only to be mocked by the two of them.

This time, I couldn't be bothered.

After changing, I went to see the place I planned to rent. Once I made sure everything was fine, I paid the rent.

Then I contacted a real estate agent and asked them to handle the sale of my current home.

Although I had bought the place and handled the entire renovation myself, I had put Whitney's name on the deed back then.

At the time, Whitney and I barely had any money between us. I had spent all my savings on the house because I wanted her to feel secure.

Now that the company had grown so much, I doubted this house was worth much to Whitney anymore.

The agency told me Whitney would have to be there to sell the house. If she couldn't make it, she would need to sign an authorization letter.

I had no choice but to text her again, but the message never went through.

She had blocked me.

She had done the same thing before. Whenever we had a serious fight, Whitney would angrily block me and leave home.

I would worry about her safety, so I sometimes borrowed someone else's phone to call her and beg her to unblock me.

On the other end of the phone, she would ask in a high-and-mighty tone if I had learned my lesson.

Looking back, I had said countless things I didn't mean just to make her happy.

After thinking it over, I decided to call her.

"Come home tonight. I need to discuss something with you," I said.

"What is it? I'm busy." Her tone was icy.

I pressed my lips together. "We'll talk when you get home."

Whitney let out a scornful laugh. "You push me away whenever you feel like it. Now you tell me to come home, and you expect me to come running?

"Neil, do you think you can talk to me like that and call it an apology? Have I been too nice to you lately? Is that why you forgot how to say sorry?"

As she continued to mock me, I lowered my voice as I always had. "I'm sorry. I was wrong."

I had already apologized so many times without meaning it. One more apology made no difference.

Besides, this time, my apology would help me sell the house.

Even though the place was mine, I wouldn't be able to sell it if Whitney made trouble and refused to sign the papers.

Even with proof that I had paid for it, I would still have to take her to court.

Whitney could afford to drag this out, but I couldn't.

Sure enough, Whitney sounded a little more pleased after hearing my apology. "Just wait."

With that, she hung up without another word.

I remained calm. I listed the house online and set the price well below what I had planned so it would sell sooner.

After that, I contacted Dylan and signed the contract.

He was so excited that he kept asking if he was dreaming. He even arranged a special dinner to celebrate.

I had planned to go home early. But then I realized I had no idea when Whitney would return, and there was no point in going home too soon. So I agreed to stay.

After we'd had a few rounds of drinks, I headed to the restroom. As I passed the next private room, I heard a familiar voice.

I stopped without thinking.

Through the partly open door, I saw Whitney leaning against Jude. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Whitney was laughing hard.

Taking the opportunity, Jude quickly lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.