Chapter 2

That night, Edward came home early, had dinner with me, and gave me a necklace as an anniversary gift.

"Sorry, honey. This is to make up for missing our anniversary," he said. He picked up the necklace and moved behind me, wanting to put it on for me.

I put my hand on his arm, took the necklace from him, and closed it back in the box.

Edward froze for a moment. "Are you upset?" he asked, but before I could say anything, he started trying to comfort me.

I shook my head and replied calmly, "No, let's eat. I'm really hungry."

Edward flashed a fond smile, reached out and gently brushed my nose. "You little foodie," he teased.

I forced down my disgust and silently shoveled food into my mouth.

Suddenly, Edward said he needed to use the restroom, grabbed his phone, and headed off.

I glanced at him. I couldn't even remember when it started, but lately, Edward never went anywhere without his phone.

Out of nowhere, my phone lit up with a friend request from Sophie.

As soon as I accepted her request, Sophie immediately dropped a screenshot in my inbox.

It was her chat with Edward, and the timestamp matched the moment he'd left for the bathroom.

Sophie had texted him the hotel name and room number, then wrote: [I don't care if you get divorced or not. I want to be with the man I love, no matter what it takes. If you don't come see me today, I'll leave this city tomorrow.]

Edward replied: [Don't go. I'm coming right now.]

As soon as I saved the screenshot, Sophie sent over a bunch more chat logs, plus receipts from their hotel meetups.

He was the boss, and she was his secretary. But even after being together all day at work, that wasn't enough. They texted each other about every little thing.

Edward hadn't shared anything with me in ages, and now it made sense: he'd found someone else to talk to.

When one lost the urge to share their life with someone, that was the first sign a relationship was dying.

After a while, Edward came out with an apologetic look on his face. "Honey, there's an emergency at the office. I have to head out."

I looked up, feeling hurt. "Didn't you promise you'd spend today with me?"

Edward froze with the keys in his hand, then walked over and pulled me into a hug, gently messing up my hair. He fumbled for words, unable to give a real excuse, trying to comfort me with sweet nothings. "I'm sorry, honey, I..."

He still wanted to leave. Faced with Sophie and me, he chose her. I closed my eyes in despair, my voice flat. "Go."

He paused, as if he was about to lean in for a kiss.

I pushed him away. "Go on, get out of here."

Edward pulled out his phone, sent me some money, then turned and left without a second glance.

As soon as I saw his car pull away, I jumped in my own and tailed him.

When I finally got to the hotel, I parked and looked over. Sophie was standing right at the entrance, and Edward rushed over to her.

They fell into each other's arms, kissing like star-crossed lovers finally reunited after ages apart.

Seeing them together, I quickly pulled out my phone and caught everything on camera, filming until they finally walked into the hotel hand in hand.

After a while, I finally managed to calm myself down and called my brother Mark.

"Oh, so you still remember you have a brother, huh?" Mark joked.

Hearing his familiar, lazy drawl, all the emotions I'd managed to hold back came rushing out. Tears started streaming down my face like a faucet that couldn't be turned off.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Did that bastard mess with you? Don't cry. Mark's got your back," he said, his tone softening.

I wiped away my tears, struggling to keep my voice steady. "I'm okay, Mark. I really miss you."

"Hey, that's no big deal. If you really miss home, come stay for a few days."

"Yeah, maybe I will. Let me sort out a few things first."

After hesitating for a moment, I asked, "Mark, how's the family animation studio doing these days?"

"Honestly? It's not doing so hot. Might have to shut it down in a couple of months."

"Let me have it. I'll see if I can make it work."

"Alright, if you want it, it's all yours."

We lost our parents early, so Mark, my brother who was six years older, took care of me growing up. When I married Edward, Mark never approved of him, and we barely spoke to each other for years. After getting married, I hardly ever visited him.

My hometown was in another city, and Mark's business was pretty well-known there. He only got into the animation business a couple of years ago, but it had never really made any money. Coincidentally, I majored in design.

Ever since I heard the studio was struggling, I'd been wanting to take over the studio and see if I can make it work.

The only reason I stayed in this city was for Edward.

After getting married, besides working on my design skills, I taught myself finance and management. Both Edward and Mark were super supportive and even brought in a tutor for me.

Now, I could finally do what I want with no baggage holding me back, and I could help my family shoulder the load with their business, too.

I gave Edward my time and my heart.

No matter how things turned out, I could look myself in the mirror, and I'd never blame my younger self for bravely chasing what I believed in.

All I want now was to do what I felt like, and finally go after those dreams I put on hold.