Chapter 2

I didn't turn around to leave right away.

Julian assumed I was lingering, and his tone turned instantly impatient.

"Something else? If not, get out. You're blocking the light."

I turned back, staring at the face I used to adore—a face that now felt completely alien.

"One more thing. Personal business."

Julian frowned, picking up his paperwork again.

"Make it quick."

"We're done. I'm breaking up with you."

The air in the room froze.

Julian's pen paused mid-air.

His head snapped up, eyes wide with shock before turning into blazing fury.

"Claire, what the hell is wrong with you?"

He slammed his palms against the desk, leaning forward to loom over me.

"Mixing business with our relationship? Do you think threatening a breakup will get you a raise? Or make me beg you to stay?"

"Don't you get tired of these childish games?"

I looked straight into his dark eyes, my voice steady and unwavering.

"It's not a threat, and it's not a test. I'm dead serious."

"Now that I don't work for you, there's no reason to keep this relationship alive."

Julian laughed as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke of the year.

"Claire, you think way too highly of yourself."

He circled around his desk and stopped right in front of me, glaring down with utter contempt.

"Look in the mirror. What have you been these past five years? A robot."

"All you do is read contracts, check fine print, and recite statutes. Being with you is like dating an appliance. Zero passion, zero romance."

"I was the only man willing to tolerate you and keep you around."

"Now you want to dump me? Fine. Have it your way."

Every single word was designed to shred what was left of my dignity.

"I appreciate your honesty, Julian."

I nodded, even flashing him a polite smile.

"Just don't make promises you can't keep."

Julian's face darkened instantly.

"Who else would ever want you?"

"With your stiff, frigid personality, nobody on earth could put up with you except a saint like me."

"Once you walk out that door, you won't even land a decent job, let alone a man."

"Mark my words: within three days, you'll be on your knees begging me to take you back."

His arrogance was so blind it bordered on comical.

"Since we're such a bad match, I wish you the best with your lively, exciting girls. Just make sure they don't bankrupt you."

I didn't waste my breath arguing. There was no point.

Without giving him another glance, I gripped the door handle and yanked it open.

Julian's furious voice echoed down the hall behind me.

"Claire! Don't you dare come crawling back!"

"Let's see how tough you act when you're broke!"

My heels clicked rhythmically against the marble floor.

I hit the elevator button and watched the red numbers drop.

In that quiet second, a suffocating weight that had pressed down on my chest for five years completely vanished.

As the elevator doors slid open, I could still imagine Julian smirking in his corner office.

He probably thought this was just another minor tantrum.

He was betting that I couldn't survive without him, that my world revolved around him.

Too bad. He just lost that bet.

I stepped inside the elevator and watched the brushed-steel doors slide shut, sealing off that toxic place forever.

Goodbye, Julian.

Five years wasted on a man who didn't deserve a single second.