Chapter 5

Last month, I had stomach pain for over two weeks straight, and medication wasn't helping.

The doctor recommended I undergo minimally invasive stomach surgery immediately to remove a suspicious polyp.

I was terrified. I told Liam a week in advance, hoping he could accompany me to the hospital that day.

He was staring at his phone screen, not even looking up when he said, "I have a big project at work next week; I really can't get away. It's just minor surgery. Go by yourself, don't be so delicate."

Suppressing my heartache, I signed the surgical consent form myself and lay alone on the cold operating table.

After the anesthesia wore off, I was in so much pain I was covered in cold sweat, unable even to pour myself a glass of water.

Weakly, I pulled out my phone, wanting to call Liam and hear his voice.

The call connected; the background was a bit noisy.

"Hello, Liam, are you done with work? I'm in so much pain..." My voice was trembling.

"I'm with a client right now. It's really loud here, so I can't talk. Just drink some water and take it easy." He spoke quickly, hanging up the phone in less than ten seconds.

I stared at the black screen, tears silently streaming down my face.

Just then, I wanted to get some hot water from the dispenser at the end of the hallway.

I leaned against the wall, painstakingly moving one step at a time.

As I reached the corner, I suddenly froze.

Right outside the orthopedic clinic diagonally opposite, my boyfriend, who was supposedly "with a client," was kneeling on the ground, his face full of concern, massaging Ashley's ankle.

Ashley, wearing killer heels, leaned delicately against a chair. "It's all your fault, insisting on taking me to that walking street. My feet are all blistered."

Liam carefully applied a bandage, his tone unusually gentle: "My fault, my fault. I'll carry you downstairs later, okay?"

In that moment, the cold draft in the hospital hallway chilled me to the bone, cutting through my thin patient gown.

I didn't rush up and slap them, nor did I cause a scene like a furious banshee.

I just stood there quietly, watching them laughing and chatting as they entered the elevator.

Suddenly, I felt so tired.

So incredibly tired.

For a man who didn't love me, for a sister who never respected my dignity, I had tormented myself, making myself out to be a pathetic fool.

A "knight in shining armor" doesn't just turn into a villain; the signs were always there.

He wasn't clueless about boundaries; he just didn't care about my feelings.

Whether he was trying to curry favor with my family under the guise of "taking care of my sister" or using the "sister" excuse to flirt with Ashley, I no longer cared to investigate.

I, Chloe, never want anything that's tainted.

I leaned against the wall, slowly walking back to my room, pulling the covers over my head, and sleeping a surprisingly peaceful sleep.

From that day on, I stopped arguing with him, stopped checking his phone, and stopped getting angry over Ashley's provocations.

Liam still thought I had finally "grown up" and learned to be "generous."

He didn't know that when a woman stops arguing with you, it means she has completely given up on you.

I started furiously preparing for the final stage of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam, while secretly submitting my resume to several top investment banks in New York.

I was never inferior to Ashley growing up. My college entrance exam scores were dozens of points higher than hers, and I won national scholarships every year in university.

But my parents were biased, pouring all the family's resources into the manipulative Ashley, forcefully cutting off my chance to study abroad and pushing me to start working early to support the family.

But now, I refused to accept my fate.

When my gaze was no longer fixed on Liam and Ashley, that despicable pair, I found my world to be incredibly vast.

With my stellar resume and an almost perfect interview performance, I smoothly landed a Senior Associate position at a top-tier investment bank in New York, with an annual salary plus bonuses reaching close to three million.

Everything was ready; all that was left was a dignified breakup.

Initially, I had intended to calmly explain things to him on the day of the wedding dress fitting.

But he just *had* to go take care of Ashley's cat.

So be it.

Go live your life with that cat.