The stars that once lit up his eyes for me… had all fallen into the redness of Caroline’s eyes now.
“Does your foot still hurt?” he asked gently, carrying her on his back with movements so familiar it made my heart clench.
Caroline giggled softly, her arms wrapped around his neck, the ends of her hair brushing against his Adam’s apple like a silent provocation.
Before she could answer, a few employees from their company appeared near the elevator.
The moment Geoffrey saw them, he quickly set her down, took a half step back, and adjusted his tie—deliberately putting distance between them.
“Carol, I heard you were in a car accident!” one of them said with a laugh. “And Mr. Sharp came with you? Such special treatment!”
I turned to quietly slip past the gathering crowd, but the pain in my lower abdomen suddenly surged. I staggered and couldn’t control my movement—my elbow brushed Caroline’s arm.
“Ah!” she cried out, falling to the ground on an exaggerated display, tears springing to her eyes. “Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
Then she turned and saw me. Her expression twisted into one of feigned surprises.
Her colleagues immediately reacted with outrage.
“Apologize!”
“Yeah! Are you blind or what? Say sorry!”
They didn’t know who I was. I had never attended any company events. To them, I was just some rude stranger.
Leaning against the wall for support, I tried to catch my breath. The pain from my surgical wound made my vision go black around the edges.
I couldn’t even look at them, much less argue.
I took two shaky steps away, desperate to leave.
Then a hand clamped around my wrist.
Geoffrey’s fingers tightened over my bones.
“Apologize to her,” he said, voice like ice—void of warmth, empty of the love that once lived in his eyes.
That boy, in my memory—the one who tilted his umbrella toward me in a storm, soaking half his body just to keep me dry—was gone.
All that remained was this cold man who stood in front of me, forcing me to bow to another woman.
Something in me cracked.
My stomach churned violently. I jerked my wrist from his grasp, blood rising to my throat, bitter and metallic. I swallowed it back.
My voice trembled, barely audible. “What if I don’t?”
His eyes turned colder. “Then try it.”
It wasn’t a dare—it was a threat.
For a moment, I wanted to laugh. The urge was sudden and hollow. So this is what I’ve become.
“Forget it,” I said hoarsely. “I won’t try.”
He frowned. “What did you say?”
My voice sounded distant, like it belonged to someone else.
“I said…”
I looked straight into his eyes.
“Geoffrey, let’s get a divorce.”
The hallway went silent.
Every pair of eyes turned to us in shock.
