Chapter 2

I was up at six the next morning, spending forty minutes in the kitchen.

I made her favorite breakfast: fried eggs, toast, avocado salad, and an oat latte.

Time passed, but she still hadn't come back.

I covered the food with plastic wrap and sat at the table, scrolling through my phone.

StellarTech's stock had gone up again, but it didn't mean much to me.

At 10:40, the door unlocked. Olivia pushed it open and walked in.

Her hair was a mess, her makeup was smeared, and her dress looked like it had been through a war.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me sitting at the table.

I stood up and pulled off the plastic wrap. "You're back. Are you hungry? I made breakfast."

She didn't move. She stared at me, not even blinking.

I knew that look all too well.

Every time Olivia came back like this, I'd totally lose control, smashing stuff, shouting, grilling her about where she'd been.

And she'd give me that cold stare and say, "What's it to you?"

But that day, I didn't ask. I slid the oat latte over to her. "It's gone cold. Want me to warm it up for you?"

She finally moved, came over to the table, and sat down, slow and cautious, as if she was feeling things out.

She picked up her fork, stabbed a piece of avocado, and popped it into her mouth.

After a long pause, Olivia finally spoke, "Don't you have anything to say?"

I shook my head. "Nope. You're an adult. You don't have to check in with me."

She set her fork down and stared at me for a long time.

Then she smiled, not a sarcastic or cold smile, but a genuine one, like a weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders.

She said, "Ethan, you should've acted like this a long time ago. You know, the way you used to be really made me feel suffocated."

I smiled. "I'm sorry. That was my fault."

She nodded, took a sip of her latte, and, as if she were giving me a little reward, said, "Next time, I'll be home earlier."

"Okay," I said.

She got up and headed back to the bedroom. As the door clicked shut, I caught her humming to herself. It had been forever since I last heard her sing at home.

I sat at the table and poured the rest of her oat latte down the sink.

At two in the afternoon, Maya Linear showed up. She was Olivia's best friend.

From the very first day I met her, she never once bothered to be nice to me. She was the kind of woman who could size one up in a second and slap a price tag on one.

As soon as she walked in and saw me mopping the floor, she let out a laugh. "Well, Ethan, you're actually working hard today."

Then she leaned in close to Olivia, whispering loud enough for me to catch every word. "So, did you have fun last night? How was Nathan treating you?"

Olivia glanced at me.

I kept mopping, head down, my face blank.

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Well, not jealous anymore? Did you finally get him tamed?"

Olivia took a sip of her coffee. "He's finally behaving himself these days."

Maya lounged on the couch, crossing her legs. "I told you, didn't I? You gotta ignore men. The more you leave them hanging, the better they behave."

She added, "See? All that effort he spent chasing after you for eight years, now he's pouring it all into cleaning the house."

They both laughed.

After I finished mopping, I put the mop back on the balcony.

As I walked through the living room, Maya stopped me. "Hey, Ethan, get me some water."

I poured her a glass. Warm, the way she liked it.

She paused for a second when she took it, probably surprised I still remembered her preference.

But she quickly slipped back into her usual queen-bee attitude. "Well, look at you, getting better at playing the perfect housekeeper."

I smiled and headed into the study.

I closed the door, opened my laptop, and double-checked the paperwork to transfer the three apartments I owned again.

All of them were going to Olivia. I would call it a breakup settlement, not that she ever asked for anything.

Four days left.

*****

On the third day, Olivia suddenly said she wanted to take me to a class reunion.

I was a bit surprised. In the whole year we'd been married, she'd never once brought me to any social event.

She didn't say why. Maybe it was because I'd been on my best behavior these past couple of days, and she figured I wouldn't make her look bad in front of everyone.

Or maybe she wanted to show off her Mr. Perfect to the whole crowd.

I threw on a fresh shirt and went out with her.

The reunion was at a private restaurant in Wynestland, and they'd booked out the whole floor.

When we got there, there were already a dozen or so people there. All of them were her college classmates, and I recognized a few.

As soon as I walked in, everyone started checking me out from all sides.

Someone called out with a grin, "Hey, Ethan, you're here. Long time no see."

Someone else whispered, "Isn't that the guy who spent eight years chasing Olivia?"

Another person tried not to laugh. "Wasn't he the one who got down on his knees at school to give her flowers?"

I nodded back at everyone and headed straight for a quiet corner to sit down.

Olivia was right in the middle of the crowd, laughing and chatting with a few of her girlfriends.

I noticed she kept sneaking peeks at the door. It looked like she was waiting for someone.

Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Nathan walked in.

The second he walked through the door, the whole room seemed to freeze.

He had that sharp, high-powered look with a crisp white shirt, black pants, and a Patek Philippe on his wrist. It was the very picture of a corporate hotshot.

Olivia stood up, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Nathan walked right over and, without missing a beat, wrapped his arm around her waist. It was so casual, so natural that it was like I was invisible.

A few of the guys started teasing, "Nathan, long time no see. Back from Unairea?"

Nathan grinned and chatted with everyone, his gaze sweeping across the room before finally settling on me.

He walked over with a glass in hand, standing over me like he owned the place. "Ethan, long time no see."

I looked up at him. "Nathan."

He smiled, gentle on the surface, but I could see the smugness in his eyes. "Livvy... Mind if I steal you for a bit? Hope that's alright."

He was talking to me, but he called Olivia "Livvy" right in front of me.

I used to try calling her that too, but Olivia always told me to stop. She said it made her cringe.

The whole place went dead silent for a beat, then everyone burst out laughing.

I looked at him and nodded. "Suit yourself."

He was caught off guard.

A few people around us clearly didn't expect me to react like that. The laughter got even wilder.

One guy slapped the table. "Damn, Ethan, you've really matured. Did you finally let it go?"

Another girl covered her mouth. "Oh my god, is this really the same Ethan who waited in the rain all night for Olivia?"

Maya was there too, leaning by the window with a glass of red wine, giving me a little nod. "He knows when to move on. Eight years of chasing, and he finally gave up."

Olivia stood next to Nathan, looking at me with a complicated expression in her eyes.

I smiled back at her and took a sip of my coffee, feeling oddly calm inside.