Selena agreed at once. She pulled her hand back from the phone and directly hung up the call. A soft, obedient smile appeared on her face as she looked at Alex.“Alright. I’ll listen to you,” she said gently. “No more phone calls, it's just us tonight, hubby!”She placed the phone face-down on the table and reached for her wine glass again, trying to rewind time and bring back the coziness from a moment ago. Harry gave a tight smile, lifting his own glass as the candlelight flickered between them. For a few seconds, everything felt calm once again.However, the phone rang once more.The sharp sound cut through the quiet rooftop air. Selena’s eyes flicked toward the glowing screen. The same nickname appeared, annoying Alex to no end. She hesitated only a second before hanging up once more.Almost immediately, it rang a third time.Selena hung up twice more in succession, her fingers moving quickly each time. The repeated interruptions made the soft smile on her face tighten. She glan

After leaving the rooftop restaurant, Selena sat in the back seat of the car with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. The night air outside the window felt colder than before. She stared at the passing buildings without really seeing them. A heavy weight sat in her stomach. The look on Alex’s face when she walked away kept replaying in her mind. His voice when he warned her still echoed clearly. Yet she comforted herself by believing Alex would understand sooner or later. He had always been patient in the past. He would calm down once he saw that nothing serious had happened. She told herself this again and again, trying to quiet the guilt rising in her chest.She immediately contacted Dennis Doom. Her hands were slightly unsteady as she unlocked the phone and dialed his number. The moment the call connected, her voice came out tight with worry.“Dennis, I’m on my way right now. Tell me exactly where you are. How bad is the pain? Did you call an ambulance like I told you?”His re

It was as if he already knew, and had long since grown used to the fact, that she would never return the way she had promised. The rooftop dinner, the candles, the soft promises she had spoken earlier that day… all of it felt distant now. Like something she had done just to get through the motions, even when her heart was elsewhere. Alex walked through the quiet streets with steady steps, his expression unchanged. The night air was cool against his face, but he barely noticed it. Inside his chest, something had settled into a hard, quiet place. He no longer expected her to walk back through the door with an apology or an explanation. He had seen this pattern too many times.When Alex returned home, his expression remained calm and emotionless as he began packing away all of his belongings one by one. The house felt larger and emptier than usual. He moved through the rooms without hurry. First he opened the closet in the bedroom and took out his clothes, folding each shirt and pair o

Seeing that Alex was being too stubborn for his own good, Sarah questioned his financial capabilities directly. She was hoping that through some harsh questions, she might get him to see the truth, and he might change his mind while Selena was still outside and the gift box was still on the table behind her. The light from the flames cast long shadows across her face as she looked at Alex with open disbelief.“Alex, be honest with yourself,” she said. “You have neither money nor ability. What are you going to do out there? You will struggle to even find a respectable job. For three years you have lived under Selena’s roof, using her resources, her company, her name. If you walk away now, who is going to hire a man with no real background and no proven skills? Have you thought about that at all?”Her words were blunt and carried the weight of someone who believed she was speaking pure practical truth. She watched him carefully, waiting for some sign of hesitation.Alex calmly replied

His attitude was harsh and filled with disgust. The words still hung between them, sharp and final. Selena froze where she stood. The icy look in his eyes made her stomach drop. She had seen Alex upset before. She had seen him quiet, withdrawn, even cold. But this was different. There was no heat in his gaze, no lingering attachment, only a flat rejection that made her feel like a stranger in her own living room.Her mind flashed back to the car ride earlier. While leaving Dennis’s place, a heavy regret had already begun to settle in her chest. She had stared out the window, thinking she should have returned sooner, or at the very least sent him a message to explain. That regret now crashed over her fully. Anxious energy flooded her body. Her hands trembled at her sides.Ignoring the suitcases, the open bags, and the smell of burning paper, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him again. She pressed her face into his chest, holding on as if the physical contact alone could