Chapter 3

Jason's brow shot up. "She has the earrings?"

I looked at him, and suddenly, it all felt ridiculous.

He didn't even know that.

So what did he actually know?

Did he know how much of those late-night voice messages from Summer were real, and how much was just for show?

Did he know who she was really looking at every time she said, "You're all I have left," with those teary eyes?

Or did he know everything, but just chose to play dumb?

I didn't waste another word on him. I just grabbed my suitcase and walked out.

Right before the elevator doors closed, Jason just stood there, not even trying to stop me.

He probably still thinks I'm just being dramatic.

After all, in the past three years, I'd never actually left.

When he was busy, I'd step aside.

When he forgot things, I'd remind him.

Whenever he defended Summer, I'd get angry, but in the end, I'd always let him off the hook.

But a heart isn't made of steel.

You can only take so much before it finally breaks.

I moved in with Chloe.

She cooked me a bowl of noodles, grumbling the whole time. "Jason's got issues. The second Summer starts crying, he just loses it. Why doesn't he just go ahead and marry his precious childhood sweetheart?"

I sat at the table, staring at the steaming noodles, and suddenly realized I was actually hungry.

Guess no matter how heartbroken you are, you still have to eat.

Chloe slammed the chopsticks down in front of me. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

"Divorce him," I said.

"And if he won't?" she asked.

"Then I'll fight him."

I looked up at her. "I'm not just some housewife waiting around, cooking for him."

Chloe paused for a second, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"Now that's more like it," she said.

She kept laughing as she put a piece of beef in my bowl. "Hannah, you have no idea how much you've been shortchanged. You were the one who designed Greenfield Studio's very first hit model room, you even came up with the brand name.

"But for all these years, when people talk about the company, all anyone talks about is Jason; no one even mentions you."

I kept my head down, eating my noodles in silence.

It was not that people outside didn't know.

It was that I'd almost forgotten myself.

I'd forgotten how Greenfield Studio started, just me and Jason, grinding it out in a tiny apartment.

Back then, he had nothing. Clients treated him like an errand boy, and I was right there with him, slogging through every project, pulling all-nighters to fix designs, even drinking with clients until I ended up in the hospital, just to land that first deal.

"Greenfield" was a name we thought together.

As the company got bigger, Jason was out there making a name for himself, while I faded into the background.

Sure, I was technically the design director, handling all the big projects and VIP clients, but in reality, I was just being the good little wife behind the scenes.

Eventually, even I started to believe that was all I was.

Started thinking he was the main character, and I was just his supporting act.

So naturally, he figured that after I cooled off, I'd just come back like always.

What a joke.

The next morning, I headed to the office.

The receptionist spotted me with my laptop bag, looking all kinds of awkward, like she wanted to say hi but lost her nerve at the last second.

As I walked in, every employee I passed was sneaking peeks at me.

News really did spread like wildfire around here.

I pushed open the door to the design director's office and found Summer sitting inside.

She was dressed in a cream-colored suit, those pearl earrings hanging from her ears, drinking coffee from my mug.

As soon as she saw me, she froze for a moment and then quickly stood up, her eyes going red like she was about to cry.

"Hannah, please don't misunderstand. I was just here to drop off some files for Jason. He said you haven't been around lately, so they had me fill in for you for a bit" she said.

I set my bag down on the desk, my eyes fixed on her ears.

"Take the earrings off," I said.

She instinctively reached up and touched her earlobe, her face going pale.

"Jason said they'd look good with my outfit today, so he lent them to me" Summer explained.

"I said, take them off," I repeated.

My voice wasn't loud, but the whole office fell silent.

No one dared to step inside; everyone was just peeking in through the glass.

Summer bit her lip, her tears spilling over without warning.

"Hannah, I really didn't mean anything by it," Summer said, her voice trembling. "Jason was worried about me last night. He looked after me the whole night, but nothing happened between us, I promise."

I let out a laugh.

"Why are you even explaining this to me?" I said. "If something had actually happened, then maybe you'd have something to explain."

Her face flushed, her fingers trembling. "How could you think that of me?"

"What I think of you doesn't matter," I said.

I stepped closer, stopping just a foot away. "What matters is, don't wear my things, don't sit in my seat, and don't use my cup. And stop calling him Jason in front of me. It's disgusting."

Summer clearly hadn't expected me to be so blunt.

For a second, she couldn't keep up that pitiful, innocent act.

Just then, the door swung open.

Jason walked in, and when he saw what was happening, his face immediately darkened.

"Hannah," he said.

I turned to him. "Perfect timing. Tell her to take off the earrings."

Jason's gaze landed on Summer's ears, his brow furrowing. "Are those yours?"

"If they're not mine, what, did she get them in the divorce or something?" I shot back.

Summer's tears spilled over, and she reached up to take them off.

Jason caught her hand, then turned to me. "It's just a pair of earrings. Do you really have to be so aggressive?"

I stared at him, and suddenly, it felt like getting angry wasn't even worth it.

"Just a pair of earrings?" I said. "Jason, did you forget? On my birthday, you told me you only bought one pair so no one else would be wearing the same as me."

Jason's face fell a little.

The memory must have hit him.

He remembered how happy I was that day, how he held me and told me I deserved something truly one-of-a-kind.

And now, he was the one who put that unique pair on another woman's ears.

I reached out and snatched the earrings right off Summer's ears.

She let out a yelp of pain, her tears streaming down even harder.

Jason's face darkened. "Hannah!"

"What, feeling sorry for her now?" I shot back.

I clenched the earrings in my hand, glaring at him. "She sheds a few tears and you act like you care so much. But I endured three years of this; did you ever even notice?"

Everyone outside the office was holding their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Summer pressed her hand to her ear, tears streaming down her face. "Jason, please don't blame Hannah. It's all my fault. I'll go now."

With that, she turned and ran out.

Jason instinctively took a couple of steps after her, but then forced himself to stop.

He turned back to me, his voice icy and blunt. "Happy now?"

"It's fine," I said coolly.

I threw the earrings back into the jewelry box. "But that's not enough."

"Jason, I'm not here to argue about the office," I said.

I took out a document from my bag and placed it on his desk.

The draft divorce agreement.