Chapter 2

But Olivia and I were already damaged beyond repair. I didn't want to stay tangled up with her anymore.

"Fine. I'm cold-hearted." I nodded calmly. "I'll leave right now and stop getting in his way."

With that, I grabbed my suitcase and headed for the door.

As I passed Olivia, she suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm, her voice cold and ruthless.

"Patrick, that's enough. Apologize to Shawn right now, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened. Otherwise—"

I cut her off with a mocking laugh.

"Otherwise, what? Otherwise, I'll never get the chance to come crawling back to you? You want me to apologize to him? Is he even worth it?"

Olivia's face went completely dark, her tone dripping with warning.

"Patrick, I'm done playing around. I'm giving you one last chance. Apologize to Shawn right now, or don't blame me for turning on you."

Before the standoff could go any further, Shawn gently tugged on Olivia's wrist, putting on a considerate act.

"Olivia, don't be mad at Patrick. He didn't do anything wrong. It's my fault… I'm the one who should leave…"

The second Olivia saw his pitiful face, she immediately let go of me and turned to comfort him.

Seeing my chance, I pulled my suitcase behind me and walked out without looking back.

Just as I was about to step through the door, Olivia's icy voice rang out loud and clear behind me.

"Patrick, if you walk out that door today, don't you ever think about coming back. Let's see what kind of life a worthless piece of trash like you can have without me."

I still stopped in my tracks and turned around.

Not because I was having second thoughts. Not because I regretted my decision.

I just wanted one last look at the girl I once loved so deeply—to see with my own eyes how ugly her face had become.

And after I saw it, I walked away without a single look back.

Olivia had once been the woman I could never reach—the center of every decision I ever made.

She was always the untouchable heiress of the Ranch family, while I was nothing more than someone insignificant, buried in the dust beneath her feet.

We met in college, though at first our lives barely overlapped.

Every day, I quietly followed in her footsteps—attending the same classes, eating at the same spots, even walking the same routes after school.

Eventually, just to see her more often, I pushed myself relentlessly and transferred into her department.

Before today, the thing I was most grateful for was that decision to switch majors.

Because that one choice changed everything between us.

At the time, our professor announced that anyone who didn't want to fail the final exam had to form teams and run experimental data together.

I had always been one of the top students in the class.

Olivia turned down everyone else who approached her and took the initiative to ask me to be her partner.

I still remember how thrilled I was back then.

The moment I looked at her beautiful face, my heart started racing. My cheeks burned so hot I could've fried an egg on them.

Resting her chin in her hand, Olivia looked at me with amusement in her eyes and teased lightly, "Patrick, if you keep staring at me like that, class is going to be over soon."

The whole classroom burst into laughter.

I snapped back to reality and dropped my head, so embarrassed I wanted the floor to swallow me up.

But Olivia hadn't meant to make fun of me.

"All right, stop laughing," she said with a smile. "Being partnered with Patrick is my honor."

That was how we gradually grew closer and closer.

In the end, Olivia was even the one who confessed to me first.

We had three and a half wonderful years together in college.

To everyone around us, we were the golden couple—the one everyone envied.

But even while we were dating, I never let my studies slide.

I kept my full scholarship the entire time, and after graduation, I even received an offer from a world-renowned international corporation.

But Olivia was the only daughter of the Ranch family. She had no choice but to go home and take over the family business.

When I saw the sadness in her eyes at the thought of us being apart, I turned down the kind of opportunity most people spend their whole lives chasing—without a second thought.

I joined the Ranch Group with her instead, doing everything I could to help her establish herself in the company.

To keep anyone from saying I was riding on her coattails, I deliberately started from the very bottom.

As time went on, our relationship grew more and more solid. Eventually, I felt the timing was right and proposed.

But no matter how many times I asked, she always said no.

Whenever I pressed her for a reason, she just gave me vague excuses.

It was only later that I found out Shawn was already by her side by then.