Chapter 1

I had been with Ryan Stone for seven years, and for six of them, I was his second choice.

He was devoted to the girl he could never let go of, while I gave him my whole heart.

Then one day, I came across a post from his first love, Susan Cooper, on her social media.

The first photo showed a blue horizon of sea and sky, and the second was a sunset.

The caption said: [I'm back.]

I stared at those two images for a long time, strangely calm.

That was when I realized I didn't love him anymore.

At some point, my heart had stopped fluttering when he tossed out a casual "good morning".

I no longer rushed to soothe him when he lost his temper in public. To me, he had become the most familiar stranger in my life.

Still, I kept taking care of him, the way I always had.

I made his breakfast, poured his water, and squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

I set the AC to the temperature he preferred.

I said goodbye, just like every other day.

Without looking up, he drawled, "Come home early tonight. I'll make you a steak."

*****

I'd been buried in a new project lately, and it wasn't until one in the morning that I finally got all the details sorted out.

That was when it hit me.

I hadn't thought about Ryan even once all day.

No matter how busy I was, I always made sure to update him on where I was.

There was a time I stayed up late working on an event with a senior, but I still remembered to text him.

But today, I didn't think about him at all, not even enough to notice the message he had sent me.

I checked my phone and saw a text three hours ago. He was asking when I'd be home.

I stared at it for a few seconds and turned off my screen.

As I walked out of the office, I spotted that familiar Maybach right away.

Ryan was leaning against the car door, head down, scrolling on his phone with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He had that unmistakable bad boy vibe.

I couldn't tolerate his smoking, especially since his father had passed away from liver cancer.

I tried all sorts of ways to get him to quit. At times, I was direct. At other times, I tried dropping hints, but he ignored them every single time.

In a relationship, the one who loved harder was always the one left feeling small.

I walked up to Ryan, but he kept his head down and didn't seem to notice me at all.

When I got close, I called out softly, "Ryan."

He looked startled for a moment and turned to me. He quickly pulled the cigarette from his lips, tossed it to the ground, and crushed it under his foot.

I was about to tell him to cut back on smoking, but the words wouldn't come out.

Before, I was always worried about his health, afraid that smoking would hurt his lungs.

But now, I didn't want to bother anymore.

He could mess around however he wanted. It was none of my business. Ryan looked at me, a little stunned, and then cleared his throat before he asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Why didn't you reply to my message?"

I faked a glance at my phone and replied, "I was swamped at work and didn't notice."

He didn't say anything else, turned around, and opened the car door.

He was being thoughtful for once, and it caught me off guard.

To him, I was always someone he could summon or dismiss whenever he pleased.

He was convinced I'd never walk away, so he never bothered to treat me any better.

But I could feel that something between us had changed.

I leaned against the window, zoning out as the city lights blurred past.

He used to be so cold. I'd rack my brain for ways to get him talking, trying to lighten the mood, but he'd only occasionally glance at me and give a half-hearted reply.

Back then, I kept telling myself he wasn't good at showing his feelings.

But now, I didn't want to bother talking to him anymore.

After a while, he broke the silence.

He asked, "Did you have dinner?"

"Yeah," I muttered, turning my head away and pretending to sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, we were already home.

Ryan frowned at me and asked, "You've been tired lately, huh?"

He ruffled my hair and added, "Why don't you quit that job? From now on, I'll support you."

Back when we first got together, I used to ask him whether he would support me.

He'd ruffle my hair and tell me to keep working hard.

After that, I never brought it up again.

Now, he was the one saying it, but I looked up at him, smiled, and stayed silent.