Chapter 2

After that, he left with Tiffany.

After he left, the spacious apartment felt empty.

When we got married, I once thought this would be the home where Alex and I would spend the rest of our lives.

But I never expected that after only three years, this home would be broken.

Every corner of this apartment held memories of Alex and me. I couldn't bear to live here anymore.

Ultimately, I put the house up for sale on a resale platform.

Just after I finished listing it, Alex's partner, Marcus, called.

As soon as I answered, Marcus asked,

“Jade, are you and Alex really getting divorced?”

I simply hummed in agreement.

Marcus sighed.

“You worked so hard to help him build his career, and things were just starting to get better.”

“Alex is just infatuated right now. He’ll come back to you once he’s over it. It’s not worth throwing everything away for a junior assistant he’s only known for half a year.”

His words were all about persuading me to reconsider, not to make a decision I’d regret.

But the one who was determined to divorce was Alex.

If he didn’t want me to be with him anymore, how could I stay by his side?

Silently, I took out Alex’s diagnosis from my bag.

ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Yesterday, when I received this diagnosis, I was heartbroken and distraught over him suffering from such a terrible illness.

But now, I felt a strange sense of relief. When people do bad things, they always get their comeuppance.

I pulled out a lighter, ignited it, and watched the diagnosis burn to ashes.

Staring at the flickering flame, I told Marcus,

“Don’t worry, I won’t regret it.”

After all, Alex had no future left.

I thought explaining it to Marcus would be enough.

But I hadn’t expected him to be so persistent in trying to mend my marriage with Alex.

He called again, asking me to come to their law firm to drop off some case files Alex had left at my place.

After some thought, I agreed.

Firstly, to put an end to his tiresome attempts, and secondly, to use this opportunity to definitively close this chapter.

When I arrived at the firm, I stared at the "Summit Law" sign, lost in thought.

When Alex first founded this firm, he’d pointed to that very sign and told me,

“Jade, this is the starting point of my career. I’ll give you a better life someday!”

Back then, no one could have imagined that the beginning of his career would mark the end of our marriage.

I shook my head, clearing the images from my mind, and stepped inside.

As soon as we met, Marcus said he'd take me to Alex.

But as we approached Alex’s office, through the clear glass door, we saw Tiffany leaning against his desk, handing him a coffee.

Their eyes were locked, and they didn’t notice Marcus and me standing outside.

Just as Alex took the coffee, his hand trembled uncontrollably, spilling the brown liquid onto some documents.

I watched him frown, seemingly surprised by his hand’s sudden unsteadiness.

But Tiffany quickly wiped it clean with a tissue, not forgetting to playfully scold him,

“Do you like me that much? You were staring so hard your hand got unsteady!”

Alex didn’t think much of it, affectionately taking Tiffany’s hand to flirt.

“Who can blame me when you’re so beautiful?”

They were about to kiss right in front of us.

My heart clenched.

I couldn’t bear to watch another second. I turned, handed the case files to Marcus, and walked away.

Marcus awkwardly followed.

“Jade, Alex has been under a lot of stress lately. He was just momentarily tempted…”