Chapter 2

Adam glanced at the screen and hurried out of the walk-in closet to answer the call.

As soon as he picked up, Kylie's impatient voice came through. "Adam, hurry down. I've been waiting forever."

Seeing this, I tossed the bangle into a drawer without a second thought.

The butler gasped. "Miss Ferrell, you've always treasured the gifts Mr. Houston gave you. What's going on now?"

I didn't just treasure Adam's gifts. I practically treated them like family heirlooms and almost set up an altar for them.

But ever since Adam brought Kylie home, he'd let her help herself to anything he'd ever given me.

I'd argued with him about it, but he turned around and called me selfish and stingy, then bought Kylie even fancier, pricier stuff.

Adam hung up quickly, grabbed his luggage from the butler, and said in a rush, "I'm in a hurry. Make sure you follow up on the wedding dress we ordered. Don't let anything delay the wedding."

With that, he tried to pull me into a hug, but I instinctively stepped back, dodging him.

He shot me a puzzled look, like he wanted to say something, but then remembered Kylie was waiting outside. Awkwardly, he dropped his hand, snatched his coat from the housekeeper, and rushed out, putting on a show of urgency.

I stood by the window, watching as Adam opened the car door for Kylie with a smile, then hopped in beside her.

That car was the very first gift Adam ever gave me.

I'd kept it parked in the garage, never daring to drive it. I was afraid I'd somehow waste his kindness.

But as soon as Kylie saw it, Adam just handed it over to her without a second thought.

Then he turned to me and said, "You don't even have a license, so you can't use it anyway. Why not let Kylie have it? She lives far from the office, so she can use it for her daily commute.

"That way, she can help the company out more. Once you finally get your license, I'll buy you an even better car."

I watched quietly as Kylie grabbed the keys and pulled Adam along for a drive.

I could only smile wryly. The truth was, I'd gotten my license ages ago. It was just sitting in the drawer by my bed. But he never bothered to check.

Watching the car disappear down the driveway, I pulled out my phone and made a call.

I said, "I'd like to cancel the custom groom's suit I ordered. That's fine, I'm willing to cover any cancellation fees."

That suit was meant to be a wedding gift for Adam. I just wanted him to be happy on his big day.

But now, it looked like it would never see the light of day.

The next day, I made up my mind to quit. I had my resignation letter ready.

As soon as I walked in, all eyes were on me. My coworkers couldn't hide their strange stares.

I just shrugged it off and went straight to my desk, unbothered by it all.

With everyone giving me those looks, I had to wonder what Kylie's been telling them about me now.

Kylie was always whispering behind my back at work. At first, I didn't pay attention and figured it didn't matter. But the rumors just kept piling up.

Whenever I tried to clear things up, it just made me look guilty, so I gave up trying to explain and let them talk.

While I was pouring myself a cup of coffee, my phone started blowing up with notifications from Kylie, over 99 messages.

I didn't even need to open them to know what they were. It was just another round of her and Adam's sweet moments.

Every photo had a timestamp in the corner, like she just couldn't stop showing off, posting about them all day long.

I never realized Adam could be so attentive. All those years we were together, he never treated me like this.

He never smiled so sincerely when he was around me.

In every photo, Adam looked cheerful and carefree, a look I'd never seen on him before.

Back then, I spent ages picking out the perfect camera and even spent months learning photography, all so I could surprise him on his birthday.

But the moment I handed it to Adam, his expression turned cold. He looked at me and said seriously, "I've hated having my picture taken since I was a kid. As my fiancée, how could you not know that?

"Chloe, stop acting as if you know me inside out. It's sickening."

Adam ignored me for an entire month after that.

After two months of working overtime on his projects and helping him get promoted to VP, he finally started paying attention to me again.

It was so obvious whether someone loved a person or not.

If they really loved someone, they would remember all their quirks and preferences. Even if something annoyed their lover, they would still appreciate the effort and the feelings behind it.

With that thought, I put my phone away and headed straight to HR to hand in my resignation.

As I started to wrap things up, I glanced at my files and realized my workload had shrunk to almost nothing.

I used to have a few projects, but not long ago, Adam took them away just to please Kylie.

So, wrapping things up was a breeze.

Just as I was sorting through my files, the project team leader stormed over, holding a failed bid proposal and demanding an explanation.