Chapter 6

I quickly caught him by his arms, stopping him. I smiled. "You're right. We shouldn't do things on impulse."

The grand proposal I had planned at Haidilao had been leaked to Tiffany by our mutual friends. She had posted an update on her Instagram Story later that night:

"I feel so bad for some people. Always doing desperate, brainless things."

She hadn't blocked me from seeing it. And I saw that Julian had liked her post.

Julian stood back up, his eyebrows furrowing deeply, his face turning pale. "Chloe, isn't this what you've always wanted?"

"If there's something I'm doing wrong, just tell me..." His phone buzzed, cutting him off.

I saw the caller ID clearly: "Tiffany."

He instinctively took two steps back.

His voice murmured softly. Unlike the cold, dismissive tone he used with me, he was incredibly gentle and patient with her. "Yeah, okay. Don't panic. I'm on my way."

Hanging up, he walked back to me. "Chloe, something came up at the office."

I smiled. "It's fine. Go ahead."

"Tiffany is overwhelmed. I... need to go help her." Julian looked confused. "You're not mad?"

In the past, I would have lost my mind.

Julian had hired Tiffany at his company, bypassing standard procedures. When Tiffany and I had applied for the same position, Julian rejected me and hired her.

He had told me, "Tiffany has a weak resume. It's hard for her to find a job out there."

"You have a great degree. Can't you just let her have this one?"

We had countless fights over this. Since then, almost every holiday, Tiffany would find some "work emergency" to call Julian away.

After all the screaming and crying, I was just exhausted.

I boxed up the matcha cake on the table and handed it to him. "You always say she's like a sister to you. I understand, and I don't mind."

"This happens to be her favorite flavor, and only a small piece was touched. You can bring it to her if you don't mind."

Julian’s gaze turned increasingly strange. He stood in silence for a moment before taking the box.

Before leaving, he pulled me into his arms, trying to comfort me.

"Good girl. I know I've let you down."

"When I get back, I promise I'll give you a real, proper proposal."

With that, he forced the jewelry box into my hand.

After he left, I opened it. Inside was a brilliant, sparkling diamond ring.

It was beautiful.

But even after all this time, he hadn't noticed that I was already wearing a ring on my finger.

He had spent so much time making excuses, yet he hadn't asked me a single question about how I had spent that miserable night alone.

I left the box on the table.

I packed my things and walked out.