All Chapters of When I Walked Away: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

She demanded to know why I was suddenly so determined to divorce her. She insisted that I’d always tolerated everything before, so why was it that this time, of all times, I refused to back down?In fact, I knew she already understood the truth and wasn’t really looking for an answer. She just wanted things to play out the way they always had—kick up enough chaos, make me miserable enough, and eventually I would cave. This time, though, she miscalculated. Not once did I regret the divorce.As I never gave Lucy a direct response, she started calling me a jerk, accusing me of cheating, and flinging every insult she could think of at me as if dumping her anger on me would turn the situation around. She assumed I would defend myself the way I used to, but what she didn’t know was that, back then, I defended myself because I cared, and her opinion mattered to me. Now that I’d decided to walk away, her accusations and wild guesses meant absolutely nothing.After a full week of my staying

Thinking it was the decorations I had ordered earlier, I slipped on my house slippers and jogged to the door. The moment I opened it, a huge bouquet was shoved right into my face. Before I could even react, a chorus of excited voices filled the hallway.“This place is really nice. It’s a great location. The only problem is, it feels kind of lifeless.”“It’s a good thing I insisted on buying flowers, huh? It was totally the right call.”I froze for a second before realizing who it was. Hugh was standing there, along with Rylee and several co-workers from the company—the same ones who had claimed they were going on a trip.They were all carrying bags of groceries consisting of fresh vegetables from the supermarket, snacks, and even fruits. I stared at the pile, completely confused.“Why are you guys here?” I asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be traveling?”Before Hugh could answer, Rylee smiled and spoke up first, “We got halfway there and decided traveling was boring. Then, we rememb

“I’m sorry, Graham. I’m really sorry,” Lucy pleaded, her voice thick with sobs. “I can’t live without you. Please come back, okay?”Under the streetlight, I could see how red and puffy her eyes were.“I saw the messages between you and Zack,” she said hurriedly. “But it’s not what you think. We don’t share that kind of relationship. I just felt bad for him being alone. I didn’t want him to suffer more than he already has. But I’ve never liked him that way. You’ve always been the one I love. I can’t lose you.”I frowned and tried to pull her arms off me, but instead, she hugged me even tighter.I pushed her away and threw her own words back at her. “Lucy, what’s all this fuss about now? Haven’t we made things perfectly clear?”She stared at me in shock. Her face went deathly pale, her eyes bloodshot.“Just give me a few minutes,” she begged. “Can we talk?”In the past, seeing her like this would’ve made me soften instantly. Now, her words bore me.Rylee gestured subtly, signalin

I wasn’t surprised, considering Hugh had mentioned, a few days earlier, that things weren’t looking good for Lucy’s company.After a major partnership with a key client fell through, the company took a heavy hit. On top of that, Lucy had been here almost every day lately, neglecting company operations. Several partnerships ran into issues, and seeing the instability, many partners began demanding to pull their investments.That was just the external pressure. Internally, things were no better, so Lucy held a company-wide meeting to take responsibility and reflect on her mistakes. However, no one bought it. In the end, it was Zack who went out of his way to speak with those people privately. I had no idea what methods he used, but somehow, he managed to keep them from leaving. With Lucy and Zack now tied together by the company, when I heard they had registered their marriage, it was exactly what I expected.Without Lucy’s interference or constant stalking, my collaboration with Ry

He placed a bank transfer record in front of me.“Take a look. Is this account yours?”I took the photo and saw it was a transfer record—the exact sum Lucy had sent me yesterday.I nodded honestly. “Yes, it’s mine.”“Care to explain how you got this large transfer yesterday?”I was about to point to Lucy, but then I realized this wouldn’t be simple. They had called the police before I even returned, meaning this was premeditated.Seeing that I remained silent, Zack let out a laugh. “You’re speechless, huh, Graham? That’s because this money was sent by an employee of our company yesterday. You sold your company’s confidential information to him for money.”He handed a file to Hugh with a polite smile. “Our company despises this kind of behavior, of course, so we’ll work with you to deal with it seriously.”Hugh took the file expressionless. When he opened it, I caught a flicker of subtle change in his expression. Very quickly, I realized why. It was the proposal I had only recen