Chapter 2

I came home and sat for hours, staring at the wedding invitations I had designed myself, still lying untouched on the table.

The company group chat was buzzing with excitement. Teencent's stock price had risen again as the wedding approached.

My bestie sent me a video, saying the bridesmaid dress was stunning.

Before hanging up, my mom said, "I'm glad you've found happiness. Grandma's been in poor health these two years, and your marriage is her last wish, the only thing keeping her going."

In the end, Levi said, "Flora, go easy on Ryan tonight, alright? Just don't give him the cold shoulder."

I collapsed onto the sofa, drained and numb. I was too tired to even cry. One thought kept circling in my mind: Why would he want a cold war with me?

At two in the morning, Ryan walked in. The room was dark. He paused for a moment in the darkness, then turned and went to his study.

Like many men, he found comfort in the solitude of his car or the silence of a bathroom, anywhere their wife wasn't.

He reeked of alcohol and carried that same inexplicable indifference.

If I didn't know better and tried to approach him now, he'd probably snap. His temper had been like that a lot this month.

We'd argue, then go silent, and in the end, he'd disappear.

I didn't know how much time passed, but eventually, Ryan came out of the study.

He ignored me on purpose as if waiting for me to break the silence and start a fight.

The third time he passed by, he stopped before me.

Frowning, he murmured, "Why aren't you asleep?"

Tears slipped down without warning. That familiar, concerned tone was painful because it felt so fake.

I looked at him. "And you? What have you been thinking about tonight?"

He sighed. "What else could I be thinking? I just wish we hadn't argued today. I should've listened to you about the wedding details."

Ryan tapped my nose playfully, coaxing me with the picture of flawless devotion, just as he always did.

I turned away from his kiss, but he didn't get upset. He just gently took my hand and led me back to the bedroom.

I stared at his familiar back, feeling the warmth of his palm in mine.

How could the man who was once so good to me become like this?

We endured the hardest days together and neither of us ever gave up.

The memories were too heavy. Reliving them tore me apart.

Back in college, I was accused of plagiarism, publicly condemned by everyone, and cyberbullied into depression.

Ryan, then just a high school classmate, flew across half the country to support me without hesitation. He was even harassed offline by extreme netizens because of it.

When we started our business, he once worked non-stop with a client for 30 hours without a word of complaint.

Time, like water, wore away the sharp edges of youth and turned me into someone smooth, even cowardly.

I began to worry about instability at the company, and grew greedy for the idea of a stable life I'd imagined countless times.

I couldn't bear to let go of the carefully planned wedding, or to let Grandma carry any regrets.

I had so many reasons. But when it came down to it, I knew the deepest one: I couldn't let him go.

I couldn't let go of the version of myself who had trusted him for ten years and was once confident and full of life.

I seemed to waiting.

Perhaps I was waiting for him to turn back or for myself to let go.

In the stillness of the night, I gently slipped out of Ryan's arms.

"Ryan, are we still getting married?"

His voice was thick with sleep. "What are you talking about? Of course we are. We promised to spend our lives together."

"But if your heart is with someone else, then marrying me isn't fair."

The air froze. I thought Ryan was considering what I'd said.

Then suddenly, he pulled me tightly into his arms, gripped the back of my neck, and kissed me fiercely, ignoring my resistance.

His kiss burned with anger, intense at first, then gradually softening.

Only when I was breathless, limp in his arms, did he let go.

Ryan buried his face in my hair, his warm breath sending shivers down my neck.

"Why would you think that? Who's been feeding you such nonsense?"

Ryan wasn't stupid. He knew I'd picked up on something.

But he thought since he hadn't slept with Sia and kept his distance from her in public, it didn't count as cheating.

He probably figured I'd just heard some gossip.

After all, ever since he made it big, there had been plenty of rumors about him.

Though all the previous ones had turned out to be false.

"You mean that girl from the office?

"She's nothing but an employee to me."

Seeing my silence, he feigned complete openness.

He asked, "So, what do you want?

"Should I just fire her?"

I closed my eyes. For the first time in ten years, we were facing the issue of betrayal.

Suppressing the ache in my chest, I said, "It's exhausting. I don't want to deal with her.

"Fine."

"Get a new secretary."

"Alright."

He answered as if it didn't matter, as if he'd agree to anything I asked.

I didn't even know what else to ask. It all felt so hopeless and draining.

The room fell into a heavy silence.

"Do you love me?" I used to be so sure, but now I was not.

Still, I wanted to hear it from him. If he said he didn't love me, then...

"Of course I do. I love you so much."

Ryan sounded serious as if he were making a promise.

"Flora, you're the woman I love most in this world."

I turned and gazed into his deep eyes.

For a moment, I saw again the pure, determined boy he'd been at twenty.

He wasn't lying.

A quiet relief rose unbidden in my heart.

For the first time, I hugged him back, throwing caution to the wind.

"Ryan, let's stop fighting. Just stay with me before the wedding, okay?"

I told myself I should give him one more chance and give our ten years together one last chance.

As long as he didn't leave before the wedding, as long as he stayed by my side, then even a relationship that was only 90% perfect would be enough for me.

He leaned in close, his warm breath brushing against my ear as he whispered, "Alright, I promise. I'm not going anywhere."