Lahat ng Kabanata ng This Is Goodbye, Mr. CEO: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 9

"Ms. Snow, are you sure you want to strip down the wedding procedures and decorations? Would you like to run it by Mr. Lane one more time?"The head wedding planner, Astrid Rune, repeatedly confirmed. She'd overseen all 12 of my previous weddings with Jared Lane, so she knew me well enough.I smiled bitterly at her. "No need. Just keep it simple."Jared and I had been married on paper for seven years, but not once had we walked down the aisle. Today, on my birthday, he had promised for the 13th time that we'd finally have our wedding. But at the party meant for me, I sat alone, while the crowd gathered around him and his assistant, Maeve Fischer, clicking glasses.I swallowed the nausea rising in my throat and sat alone in front of the massive cake. Jared never bothered to glance my way. And just like that, my birthday party ended under his icy indifference and the guests' mocking glances.When the party was over, he was supposed to come with me to finalize the wedding details f

I looked at the few gifts left scattered around me, picked up the stuffed toy that had fallen when Jared slammed the door, and held it for a long while in silence.My mom never believed in marriage but insisted a woman should have a child of her own. That was how I came into the world.When I was 16, she left for a new career and love abroad, leaving me in the care of Grandma Eleanor of the Lanes.When I first arrived at Lane Manor, I'd been drowning in grief from being abandoned. It had been Jared who came to me with this stuffed toy and talked to me. That toy had marked our beginning.I packed it away into the box with everything else and dropped it into the trash, along with the last trace of my attachment.…"Yvie, have you really made up your mind?" Grandma Eleanor's grip tightened on my hand as her eyes fell on the divorce papers on the table."I have, Grandma Eleanor. This was never my place to begin with. It's about time I set everything back to the way it should be. And

Last night, Jared had had a chance, but he'd ruined it by snapping at me. Then, he'd stormed out and spent the night with Maeve.But it wasn't just last night. He'd never left her side ever since she came back.After Grandma Eleanor left, he tore through the house, but all he found was a single photograph of me clipped from a mock bridal photoshoot. That was the only photograph I'd ever left in the house.Jared sat in the corner, clutching it motionlessly through the long night. And that night, memories came flooding back into his mind.He thought of the day we first met in Lane Manor when I was 16. I had been quiet, withdrawn, drowning in grief. Then, like a burst of sunlight, he'd barged into my dark world.At first, he had really liked me. To him, I had been a beautiful young sister, a companion to share the house with.Even when Maeve abandoned him and Grandma Eleanor pressed him into marrying me, he hadn't minded.Over time, something shifted. My moods began to affect his

"No, Yvaine… Please just give me one more chance." Jared's voice cracked as though he couldn't bear to accept what he was hearing. He stepped forward, almost frantically, and reached out to pull me back."Do you need help?"While I was frozen in shock, Kielior stepped in front of me and shielded me completely behind him.Something about the gentleness in his voice steadied me, and after a pause, I gave a small nod."Mr. Lane, I think Yvaine has made her refusal clear. There are many ways to show sincerity, but harassment and clinging on are the worst of them."Kielior's words might sound polite, but the sharp dislike in his expression was almost impossible to miss."Who are you? This is between me and Yvaine. It's none of your business." Jared's eyes narrowed as he scanned Kielior with growing unease."At Ms. Snow's request, I'll be looking after Yvaine and making sure she isn't bothered by jerks who can't move on."Kielior's last remark wasn't polite. Knowing Jared's temper, I

Jared's Point-of-View.I was Jared Lane.Once, I had a wife, Yvaine Snow. She was kind and exceptional, and I really loved her.I met her when I was 17 and she was 16. She had looked as if she'd just finished crying, her eyes swollen and her nose red.At first, I hated the idea of having another person around the house, but she was so beautiful that I thought maybe having a younger sister like her wouldn't be so bad.Most of the time, she drifted off into silence, her sadness almost unbearable to watch. Grandma told me it was because she missed her mother, so I started pulling her into games and teasing her to cheer her up.Exactly as I'd hoped, she brightened and clung to me more by each passing day.When I was 23, Maeve had left me for a foreign guy and fled to Melodale. I had fallen apart after that and drowned myself in alcohol, consumed by the sorrow of her departure and the bitterness at being dumped.Grandma finally had enough. She told me not to waste myself over a pers