Chapter 2

Then he turned to Mike, his voice even colder.

Dennis said, "Yeah, I remember the support, but what sticks with me most is how Leila's always been the one quietly helping me. What have you ever actually done?

"Come on, have some decency. You cheated on Leila. What makes you think everyone should just do whatever you say?"

Mike's face was dark as thunder, finger shaking as he pointed at us, but he was so pissed he couldn't even get a word out.

Finally, furious and humiliated, he snatched the divorce papers off the coffee table, grabbed a pen, and slashed his signature across the page.

He balled up the papers and threw them right at my face.

"Leila, don't think your little tricks will make me give in. I signed the damn papers, happy now?" he shouted.

Before the ball of paper could even hit me, Dennis reached out and blocked it, the shredded paper scattering from his palm.

Mike snorted in contempt as he looked at us.

He said, "You two really are on the same side, huh? But let me warn you. Don't think a divorce settles everything. A woman dragging along some punk, and you think you can take me on?

"I'll be watching to see how you two make it in this city."

With that, he yanked the trembling Julian and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

"Leila, don't stand out here in the wind. Let me walk you home," Dennis said softly.

Before I could even nod, he was already bending down, picking up the crumpled divorce papers from the floor and carefully straightening them out.

"Glad it's not ruined. You really worked hard for this, Leila," he said.

He looked up at me and smiled, all the coldness gone from his eyes; now there was only warmth and tenderness.

"Leila, was I too impulsive just now? Did I make things hard for you? I just can't stand the way Mike treats you. I wasn't trying to ruin anything between you two..." Dennis mumbled.

He dropped his gaze, looking for all the world like a guilty puppy.

Seeing him act like that, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Dennis, seriously, aren't you a little old to be playing innocent with me? You've always known what I've been dealing with, haven't you?" I teased.

At my words, Dennis jerked his head up.

That sly, innocent look in his eyes disappeared in a flash, replaced by a fierce, stubborn seriousness.

"I know."

His tone grew deeper.

Dennis said, "Ever since my senior year of high school, when I came over to borrow some notes and saw those flirty messages with another woman on his phone, I knew. That's when it all clicked for me.

"Back then, I kept telling myself maybe it was just a misunderstanding. But the more it happened, the more distant he became toward you."

He took my hand, his grip tighter than before.

"I saw you hurting, but you always pretended everything was fine in front of me. I watched you hide what you really wanted, bit by bit, just for this family, and I..." Dennis paused, swallowing hard.

"Honestly, I've wanted to pull you away from him for ages. I just want you to be mine, only mine," he added.

My mind suddenly flashed back ten years. Mike and I had been childhood sweethearts, growing up side by side.

After we got married, things were good between us for a while; we were really in love.

And Dennis was the kid we'd both helped out, someone from a tough background.

The first time I met Dennis, he was standing at the door, clutching the hem of his faded school uniform, looking all nervous and out of place.

Mike and I talked it over. We decided to help him through school and even find him a job once he graduated.

Back then, Mike smiled and said, "Looks like we've got another brother in the family. That's pretty nice, isn't it?"

But as his company got bigger, Mike started coming home later and later, and he always smelled of different perfumes.

The first time I caught him cheating was on our third wedding anniversary.

I'd made a reservation at a restaurant and waited for him for three hours.

But in the end, I found a lipstick stain in his car, one that definitely wasn't mine.

Back then, I kept telling myself maybe he just messed up once, and I still clung to hope.

But after that, he stopped even trying to hide it; his cheating got more and more blatant.

At first, he covered it up, but later, he acted like it was his right, like I was supposed to just accept it.

I yelled, I cried, and I even threatened to leave him.

But every time, he'd just brush me off with some excuse.

He'd claim I couldn't leave him, that I was just being dramatic.

After Dennis graduated and joined our company, there was always a look of concern in his eyes whenever he glanced at me.

One time, I was quietly crying in the break room, trying to hide it, and he came in and handed me a tissue.

"Leila, if you're not happy, you don't have to keep pretending everything's fine," Dennis said softly.

Back then, I just thought he saw me as a sister.

But last month, after the company party, I'd had too much to drink, and he walked me home.

At the entrance, he suddenly pulled me into his arms.

"Leila, leave him. I'll treat you right, better than he ever could, a hundred times over," Dennis said., his voice low and intense.

My mind was a mess, and I pushed him away.

But he didn't let go; if anything, he just held me even tighter.