Chapter 2

The party hadn’t even ended yet, and I had already left the hotel.

In the taxi, the driver glanced at me several times through the rearview mirror.

He probably thought it was strange for a woman in a formal dress to take a cab home alone.

When I got home by taxi, I opened the closet and threw the white dress he liked into the trash.

He had said he liked me in white because it looked clean, plain, and understated.

Now I understood that he didn’t like me in white. He liked me low-key. He liked me invisible. He liked being able to call me whenever he wanted and dismiss me whenever he wanted.

My phone buzzed again. It was still Gu Huai’an.

“Where are you?”

“Why did you leave early?”

“Shen Yan, don’t make a scene.”

I looked at the messages he sent and suddenly found them ridiculous.

For two years, I had never made a scene.

When he worked late, I waited.

When he stood me up, I endured it.

When he pretended not to know me at the company, I played along.

Now I had only left early, and he was saying I was making a scene.

I turned off my phone and started packing.

This apartment was rented by Gu Huai’an. He paid the rent, but I handled all the decorating by myself.

I picked the painting on the wall, I chose the sofa, and the set of dishes in the kitchen took me three furniture stores to find.

Back then, he said this counted as our little home.

I looked around and suddenly realized that there had never been a place for me here.

Even the lease was in his name.

I took out my suitcase and started packing my clothes and personal belongings.

My phone rang again. This time it was a call. I didn’t answer.

About twenty minutes later, there was knocking at the door.

“Shen Yan, open up.”

Gu Huai’an’s voice was impatient.

I opened the door. He was standing outside, his shirt collar slightly open, his hair a little messy. He looked like he had rushed straight over from the party.

“What are you doing? Not answering my calls, and now you’re saying you want to resign?” He frowned.

“I said it very clearly. I’m resigning.” I leaned against the doorframe and didn’t let him in.

“Just because of tonight?” He took a step forward, lowering his voice.

“Shen Yan, can you please be more mature?”

“Zhaozhao just got back to the country. She doesn’t know anything. I couldn’t exactly make her look bad in front of the whole company.”

I looked at him and suddenly laughed.

“Gu Huai’an, when you made me look bad, you never hesitated.”

He froze.

I went on, “Two years ago, you told me to be your girlfriend and said we’d go public when the time was right.”

“I waited two years, and what I got was you holding another woman’s hand at a party and telling everyone she was your girlfriend.”

“That’s different.” His voice softened as he reached out to pull me.

“Zhaozhao’s family works with our company. I can’t afford to offend her.”

“Give me a little more time. Once she gets used to life here, I’ll tell her the truth.”

I avoided his hand.

“Tell her the truth? Gu Huai’an, are you planning to break up with her, or are you planning to keep me as your secret mistress?”

He didn’t say anything.

Silence was the answer.

I had known the answer a long time ago. I just hadn’t wanted to admit it before.

“Go back.” I closed the door and kept him outside.

He stood outside for a long time, and in the end, he said, “Don’t act on impulse. Think about the resignation again.”

His footsteps faded away.

I leaned against the door, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

Resigning wasn’t an impulse, at least not in the instant I hit send.

But before resigning, I was taking everything I had accomplished over the past two years with me.