After Our 7th Anniversary Betrayal, I Divorced Him

Chapter 4

Due to my job, Jayden and I had never told the public we were married. Most people had no idea we were husband and wife.

Now that I looked back, that decision made things much easier.

No one knew about us, so no one needed to know we were ending things now.

Whenever our fights became ugly, and we threw painful words at each other, I always remembered how everything began.

Jayden and I met in college. We dated for four years and got married as soon as we graduated.

The engagement ring he gave me was bought with every paycheck he had saved during his internship.

I still remembered him secretly hiding the ring inside my graduation bouquet.

He gave me the flowers. Half a day passed, and I failed to notice it.

He finally laughed and asked, "Grace, look carefully. Isn't there something hidden inside?"

The two of us searched everywhere. We could not find it. Only then did we realize the ring had fallen out.

Our graduation day turned into a search from morning until night. We still came home empty-handed.

I could not sleep that night.

The next day, one of our professors found the ring and returned it.

The two of us cried with happiness and hugged each other tightly.

"Grace, I'll always love you and stay faithful to you. Will you..."

Before he could finish, I nodded with tears.

"I will."

Maybe I interrupted him too soon.

Maybe that was why his promise never came true.

Later, we built our company together.

As we made more money, we bought prettier rings.

Still, I always wore the first one. It carried every bit of his love and hard work.

Sadly, promises only lasted while love did. Later on, Jayden took my love for granted. He believed I would never leave.

Little by little, he used up everything we had built together.

Life never stopped because one person walked away. The world kept turning.

I touched the ring on my finger.

Maybe it should have stayed lost all those years ago. Some things were never meant to last.

I took it off and placed it in Jayden's hand. The ring and I were never meant to stay together.

Neither were Jayden and I.

*****

The day we decided to separate, he stayed quiet for a long time.

Then, he finally asked, "Do you like that young man?"

I looked back at him.

"What do you like about Elaine? We've been married for so many years. Just tell me the truth."

He quietly looked at my face.

Slowly, he reached out, wanting to touch me like he always had. However, I turned away.

His hand stopped in the air before falling back down. He paused.

"Your eyes used to be big and round. Your amber eyes always sparkled. I loved them."

He looked down.

"She looks like the way you used to."

I reached up and gently touched the corner of my eye. Everything suddenly made sense.

I was thirty now.

No matter how well I looked after myself, time still left wrinkles around my eyes.

Elaine was the girl I used to be, young, pretty, and full of energy.

At that moment, I finally let everything go.

The twenty-year-old man I fell in love with had stayed in the past.

At thirty years old, Jayden no longer knew how to treasure love.

For once, he had told the truth.

I smiled, picked up my suitcase, and said, "I'm moving out today.

It'll take about a month to divide the property. Once that's done, we can proceed with the divorce."

Panic flashed across his face. He grabbed my wrist without thinking.

I lowered my eyes, silently asking him to let go. His grip only became tighter.

With red eyes, he wanted to ask me to stay.

But after struggling for a long time, all he managed to say was, "Fine. The house, the cars, and the savings are yours. I only want the company."

That was who he was.

His pride always mattered more than anything. He would rather lose everything than admit he was wrong.

Deep down, he knew exactly what he had done wrong. He just refused to say it out loud.

He left almost everything to me except the company and his shares. Maybe he knew he owed me.

He was never completely good, nor was he completely bad.

That was why I could neither keep loving him nor truly hate him.

I simply answered, "Okay."

The early days of building up the company were the hardest. Jayden focused on technology, while I found the money.

I met investors, smiled when I did not want to, treated people to meals, and did everything I could to win their support.

Jayden was too proud to handle those things, so I always stepped in.

Once, I drank so much to close a huge deal that my stomach started bleeding. I ended up in the hospital.

Even then, I smiled, touched his face, and told him it did not hurt.

After the company became successful, I stepped away. I finally started doing work I truly loved. That was how I became a model manager. Everything he gave me was something I had earned.

I packed my luggage and walked outside.

To my surprise, Zack was already waiting for me. He always seemed to know everything before anyone else.

I walked over and asked, "Why are you here? I already hired movers."

Raising an eyebrow, he glanced past me with a challenging look before smiling at me.

"The movers can be in charge of your belongings. I came for you."

I turned around.

Jayden was standing behind me.

His face changed the moment he heard those words.