After Divorce, He Begged While I Thrived

Synopsis

I had once believed that as long as I tried hard enough, I could warm Derek Vance's icy heart. For a vague and intangible system mission, I stayed by his side for twenty years. I watched him grow from a brooding teenager into a titan of the business world, pulling him bit by bit out of the abyss and back among the living. On the day the mission was completed, the system notification sounded. [Congratulations, Ms. Fairfax. Your target Derek's affection level has reached 100%. Mission complete.] I thought that was the ending, but it turned out to be only the beginning of another lie. Five years later, his first crush, Iris Hawthorne, returned. The way he looked at her carried a burning intensity I had never seen before. At a high-profile gala attended by countless guests, Iris nearly stumbled. As he rushed to steady her, he instinctively shook off my hand. My palm suddenly felt empty, and so did my heart. I watched him hold Iris tightly, his expression tense, before he cast me an impatient glance. Somehow, I suddenly laughed. Calmly, I withdrew my hand and leaned close to his ear. "Derek, let's get a divorce." He froze for a moment, then let out a scornful laugh. Those deep eyes of his were filled with contempt and absolute certainty. "Cordelia, don't play such a boring trick." He thought I would behave just like before—throw a little tantrum and then obediently return to his side. But he didn't know that the system mission had already been completed. I no longer needed to depend on him to survive. When I made a name for myself, when another gentle man held an umbrella over me in the rain, and when my world no longer included him, the man who had always stood above all finally felt panic. With reddened eyes, he begged again and again. "Cordelia, come back. I can't live without you."