Chapter 3

Since I was young, because my family was wealthy, everyone who got close to me had a hidden purpose. I hated that kind of insincerity, so I left home to study in another city. That was where I met Simon, and he got together with me without knowing about my background. I was always scared that if he found out the truth, it would ruin our peaceful relationship, so I never told him. When the company we started together finally made progress, I was ready to tell him the truth and propose to him. However, he came to me first. He told me he was a headstrong man and that he couldn't accept a partner who earned more money than he did. At that moment, I was faced with two choices—the first was to break up but stay friends, and the second was to relinquish all my shares and power, step down as co-founder, and accept a lower position as a director. For the sake of love, I chose the second choice. After that, Simon's attitude toward me became nicer, and I became more hesitant to reveal my true identity to him. Back then, I was so in love that I didn't think much of it. But now, looking back, I realized that maybe he wasn't all that headstrong. He just knew I was easily persuaded, and so he found an excuse to cheat me of my assets. After I realized he didn't love me, all his strange behaviors started to make sense to me. … When I got back home, I started packing, but then I remembered that this belonged to me. If someone had to leave, it should be him. Thus, I stopped what I was doing. I picked up my phone, ready to have a proper talk to Simon, when I saw that he had messaged me. "Sorry, Sienna. I have to go to a last-minute event for drinks, so I can't have dinner with you tonight." I scrolled up—he had sent me the same kind of message so many times previously. Before, Simon would often eat dinner with me after work. But ever since Tiffany showed up, he had more and more things to do outside. He would constantly leave early and come home late, making the house feel empty. Still, that wasn't the issue that bothered me. Since I knew he wouldn't be back soon, I didn't wait up for him and just got ready for bed. Just as I finished up my shower and got ready for bed, my phone kept chiming. I clicked on my phone and saw a video that Tiffany sent in the work group chat. In the video, Simon was at a dinner table, enthusiastically helping her take on drinks. Tiffany happily texted in the chat, all while the loud background noise continued on in the video. "Mr. Cook, you helped me take on drinks again tonight. You're such a great boss!" Everyone in the group chat was starry-eyed with envy. Only I knew that Simon had serious stomach problems and wasn't supposed to drink at all. To help alleviate his stomach problems, I made an effort to research recipes and brew herbal medicine, but nothing worked. I thought it was because the remedies weren't enough, and I was even looking everywhere for other options. I never imagined the real reason was that he was helping Tiffany with drinks behind my back. Simon didn't care at all about his health and even happily replied in the group, "No need to thank me. It's what a boss should do. Besides, it's natural for men to protect women." I didn't continue reading their back-and-forth replies. I simply left the group and went to bed.