Shock, I stood frozen in place, unable to react. However, before I could process what was happening, a shadow rushed forward and shoved me to the ground.
Jill helped Luke up then turned to glare at me with fury in her eyes.
"Cody! What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?" she shouted.
"Luke came here out of kindness to check on you and clear up the misunderstanding from years ago! What gives you the right to attack him?" she asked angrily.
Her eyes, once filled with love, now held nothing but anger and disappointment.
I curled my lips into a cold smile then said, "That's because he was talking about my father. Jill, don't the two of you owe me an explanation about what had happened back then?"
Jill's brows furrowed and a flicker of panic flashed in her eyes as she said, "What explanation do you want? Your father was critically ill and his surgery failed. You knew that, right?"
"Besides, whatever happened back then, it still doesn’t justify you hitting Luke!" she scolded.
"Cody, apologize to him right now!" she demanded sternly.
Before I could say a word, Luke reached out and gently cupped her face.
"Don’t make things difficult for Cody. Back then, when Gail broke the engagement, we had wronged him. It was an unfair thing to do to him. Let’s just consider today my way of making amends ..."
Then he added, “If he hates me this much, then maybe we should stop seeing each other. I don’t want you to be caught in the middle."
Hearing him, my nails dug deeper into my palms and blood dripped from the wound.
When I watched them left arm in arm, at that very moment I knew our relationship was over.
I picked up the box again and continued to burn everything inside. Five years of love turned to ashes in an instant.
More than an hour later, Jill finally sent me a message. [Luke is the project manager of the Young Corporation. If you hurt him, it’ll affect the company. The reason I asked you to apologize back then was actually a temporary measure. So, don’t think too much about it.]
[I’ll come home and make it up to you tonight, okay? I promised you a gift. Please, don't be upset, alright?]
However, I knew the truth. It was not for Luke's benefit. Instead, it was meant for me.
She had been in love with me for five years and now, the act was finally coming to an end.
I waited at home with the divorce papers until midnight, but she never came home.
Instead, the headlines exploded with the news "Baker Group’s Female CEO Rages in Hospital Over a Minor Injury."
Luke only had a small scratch, yet she gathered an entire team of specialists at the hospital for him. She even spent hundreds of thousands of dollars just to care for him.
In the photos, she was nestled in his embrace. Her eyes filled with tenderness and affection. The kind of emotions she had never shown me.
That night, the hospital stayed brightly lit. All for a man with a minor wound.
Early in the morning, I called her. She did pick up the call, but before I could say anything I could hear her busily instructing her secretary.
"President Baker, are you sure about changing the contract? If we go through with this, our company will lose tens of millions for this project. You'd better consider this more carefully …."
"There's no need to do it. Just revise it. This is my compensation to him. Also, draft another agreement to transfer half of my company’s shares to Luke," said Jill.
The secretary left and only then did Jill remember she was on the phone.
"Cody? I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I’m heading home now. Oh, did you need something?" she asked.
I glanced down at the burns on my hand, then said, "No, it’s nothing. You should focus on work. I won’t bother you."
"Okay, be good and wait for me at home. I’ll be back soon."
I did not wait for her any longer. After I signed the divorce papers, I packed my bags and left the house.
Then I went to the hospital where my father had his surgery and pulled up his organ transplant records.
At the bottom of the document, I saw my signature. Except I was not the one who signed it. Jill had forged my signature.
I made a copy of the agreement and sent it to Jill.
I had calculated that by the time I boarded the plane, she would receive the document.
I had left our house for a day and a night, but since Jill had not returned home too, she did not know.
Just as I stepped onto the plane, her message entered my phone. [Cody, I had my assistant drop off your gift at home. Why didn’t you open the door? Are you still angry at me?]
[Don't lose your temper, okay? Be good, I’ll be home soon.]
She was lying to me again.
Half an hour ago, a small-time influencer had caught her strolling through the shopping district with Luke and they were still being secretly live-streamed at this very moment.
In the video, she was carefully selecting a suit for him to wear at the upcoming shareholder meeting.
So, I didn’t bother replying to her messages. Instead, I waited for the confirmation message that my identification records had been successfully nullified and then I deleted every platform where she could contact me.
Then I saw in the live streaming, her secretary suddenly rushed in. Panic was clearly visible on her face as she clutched a document in her trembling hands.
"I've got bad news, President Baker. Mr. Cody found out about the surgery five years ago and I can’t reach him at all!"
