My Gorgeous Director

Chapter 6

After the outburst finally burned itself out, Wren's rationality slowly returned. "President's Day is less than a month away," she said quietly. "I'll finish handing over everything before then. Just put up with me a little longer. After that, you won't have to see me again."

Adrian frowned. The moment he softly called out, "Honey…" Wren cut him off.

"Just call me Wren." Her voice was calm and distant. "After all, Yara is the love of your life. I'm just the woman you kept hidden in the shadows. There's no need for us to sound so intimate anymore."

Adrian parted his lips, then let out a weary sigh. "It's not that I don't want to see you," he said quietly. "You don't have to speak to me like that."

Wren ignored him. Even though their relationship had already fallen apart, they had once been deeply compatible. They worked well together, shared the same hobbies, enjoyed the same food, and were both passionate about sports. They had run marathons together, climbed mountains, gone rock climbing, and spent countless hours cycling side by side. The study was still filled with trophies from those years.

Photos lined the entryway walls and covered the TV console, capturing the oceans and mountains they had seen together during their travels. Those memories had once felt warm to her. Now they only made her nauseous.

Was that why he had chosen her? Because she suited him best? Because she had willingly given herself to him?

Wren slowly looked around the apartment. "Yara's been here now," she said quietly. "This place feels filthy to me. And since I lived here too, she probably thinks the same thing. Sell it as soon as possible and transfer me my share."

Adrian answered immediately, "You can keep the apartment. I'll move out. If you decide to sell it later, you can have all the money."

A faint bitter smile touched Wren's lips. "No need. I'm not that pathetic. I'll only take what belongs to me."

"That's not what I meant." Guilt weighed heavily in his voice. After a long silence, he spoke again. "These past three years, my feelings for you were not completely fake. If Yara hadn't come back, I would have married you."

Wren let out a cold laugh. "How generous of you." Her reddened eyes locked onto his face. "So I've been promoted now? From an emotional substitute to your backup option?"

Wine still streaked his face. Adrian stared at her in silence for a long moment before his voice softened again. "Wren… stop crying."

She looked into those gentle eyes, the same eyes that could make anyone fall hopelessly in love, and realized for the first time that tenderness could wound more cruelly than violence. A knife delivered one clean cut. But gentleness wore a person down slowly until there was nothing left.

Irritation suddenly exploded inside her. "Who the hell is crying?"

As if to prove it, she raised a hand to wipe her face, only to realize her cheeks were already soaked with tears. She froze for a moment. When had she even started crying? How pathetic.

The thought made her want to laugh at herself, but somehow that only hurt more. Bitter self-mockery surged through Wren.

Now that the truth was finally out in the open, Wren realized she had been the only one falling apart this entire time. She was the one breaking down, drowning in despair, crying uncontrollably as she tried to understand where everything had gone wrong.

As for Adrian, aside from a few quiet apologies, he had stayed calm from beginning to end. And when she thought about it carefully, the reason was obvious. He did not love her, so he could remain completely composed.

Wren picked up the wine bottle and refilled both glasses. "Do you remember our first anniversary?" she asked softly. "We traveled north to see the aurora. You promised you would never let me down. You said that if you ever did, you deserved to spend the rest of your life alone."

She raised her glass and gently clinked it against his. "One last drink," she murmured. "To the promise you made."

She drained the wine in one swallow, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door. But after only a few steps, she suddenly stopped and slowly turned back to look at him. "You were already awake before I came home tonight, weren't you?"

Earlier, her mind had been in complete chaos. She had been too devastated to think clearly. But now that the storm inside her had finally settled, the details began falling into place one by one.

When they looked at each other earlier, his eyes had been completely clear. There had been no confusion and no trace of drunkenness. He had simply stayed silent. There was only one possible explanation. He had been awake the entire time. He had heard every word Yara said, yet he never stopped her. Instead, he stayed quiet and waited for her to finish speaking.

Wren looked at him and spoke in a flat voice. "You wanted to break up a long time ago, didn't you? You just didn't know how to say it. You didn't want to be the bad guy, so you planned to wait until I resigned and let the relationship fade out on its own." Her voice grew colder. "You just didn't expect Yara to expose everything first. Isn't that right?"

Adrian's throat tightened. He turned his face away, unable to meet the emptiness in her eyes. After a long silence, he finally lowered his head and spoke. "Wren... you don't have to take everything Yara said so seriously."

His voice was low and weary. "I admit it. I only got together with you back then because she got married. At the time, I never thought she would get divorced. But during these past three years, I truly was serious about you. You don't have to see yourself as anyone's replacement."

Wren almost laughed. Not because anything was funny, but because his words were so cruel.

Adrian continued softly, "I do care about you. It's just..." He paused for a moment before finishing quietly, "She matters more to me than you do. Now that she's divorced, she needs me. So in the end, I'm the one letting you down."

Wren understood immediately. The woman he had loved first had gotten married, so he forced himself to let go and chose the one who loved him enough to stay by his side.

For three years, he tried to convince himself to be sincere. Maybe, in some ways, he truly had tried. But the moment his first love returned, those three years no longer seemed to matter.

After a brief struggle, he still chose the person he had wanted from the very beginning. He claimed the relationship had been real, but only a fool would believe that.

The bottle was still a third full when Wren snatched it up and threw it at the TV console with all her strength. The crash shattered the silence. The wine bottle exploded on impact, and the nearby glass photo frame fell from the cabinet and smashed against the floor.

Adrian looked over and froze.

The shattered frame held a photo from their first real date after they started dating. He had taken Wren to Mt.Capitola to watch the snow. Thick white flakes had fallen from the sky all day long. Wren had worn a white knit maxi dress beneath a crimson cloak, her beauty so striking it hardly seemed real. Adrian had spent the entire afternoon holding a camera, taking photo after photo of her.

Later, Wren had asked a passing tourist to take a picture of them together. Adrian handed over the camera and wrapped an arm around her waist while she rested her head against his shoulder. Both of them were smiling brightly.

They had taken dozens of photos that day, but this one had always been Wren's favorite. She even had it printed and framed. On the back, she had written a single line in neat handwriting:

Today, beneath the snow beside the man I love, may neither the years nor our hearts betray us.

She had loved him with everything she had. Now the photograph she treasured most lay ruined at her feet. The frame had shattered, and the picture itself had fallen into the spreading pool of red wine.

The apartment door slammed so hard the walls shook. Then came her final words. "Adrian, you make me sick."

Adrian stood frozen, staring at the ruined photograph. For a moment, time seemed to stop around him. Then his phone rang. It was Yara.

"Adrian, how did it go?" she asked immediately. "Did you break up?"

Her voice was tense with anticipation, and the excitement in it was impossible to miss. Adrian kept staring at the wine-soaked photograph on the floor. After a long silence, he finally answered in a hollow voice. "It's over."

The delight and elation in her voice were now utterly plain to hear. "Then where's Wren? Did she leave? Did you..."

"Yara," Adrian interrupted softly. "It's late. You should get some sleep instead of staying up all night."

His gaze swept across the wrecked living room, which looked like the aftermath of a disaster scene. "I'll call you tomorrow. Good night."