Chapter 4

It would be a lie to say I felt no attachment to the home I had lived in for three years.

But what I felt even more strongly was the sensation of being reborn.

I didn’t rent another place. I wouldn’t be staying for long anyway. The system would take me away soon.

The next day, I went to the company to complete my resignation and handover procedures.

Everyone at the company knew about my relationship with Claire. They also knew that we were supposed to have gotten married the day before, but the wedding had never taken place.

Many people looked at me with curiosity. Some felt sorry for me, some pitied me, and some mocked me.

Everyone knew that I was the fool who had given Claire everything I had.

Now that this fool had gotten nothing in return, wasn’t it laughable?

I went to Claire’s office and submitted my resignation letter.

For the first time, anger appeared on Claire’s face. She hurled my resignation letter into the trash. “Who gave you permission to quit? You canceled the wedding just because you felt like it, and now you don’t even want your job? I won’t let you leave!”

I looked at Claire, who had never been this emotional before, and suddenly found myself unable to understand what her attitude meant.

“I’m only here to tell you that I won’t be coming to work starting tomorrow. If I remember correctly, being absent for three days counts as voluntarily terminating my employment.”

Claire stared at me in surprise.

An eerie silence filled the office. After remaining silent for a long time, Claire lowered her head to me for the first time.

“All right, Alex. You win. The chief designer position is yours. Is that enough?”

I could only give a helpless, bitter smile.

Even now, Claire still thought I was throwing a tantrum.

When I first joined the company, it was a small team of fewer than ten people working out of a cramped basement office, unable to secure investors.

I was the one who led the team step by step into the market and the public eye, built its reputation in the industry, and helped the company achieve what it had today.

But Claire wanted Ethan to take over my position as chief designer.

Her reason was that a newcomer’s designs were more innovative.

Everyone at the company felt that I had been treated unfairly, and for the first time, I stood my ground in front of Claire and firmly opposed the decision.

In the end, Claire had no choice but to make me compromise, so she offered to marry me.

The condition was that I give up my position as chief designer.

To convince me, she even painted a vivid picture of a beautiful future together.

She said she wanted to have two children someday. Her work kept her busy, so if I stepped down from my position as chief designer, I would have more time to take care of our family and our babies. Then the four of us could live happily together.

I was foolish enough to believe the future she described and agree to her demand.

Now she thought I was doing all this just to get my position as chief designer back.

She didn’t know that I had never cared about a meaningless title.

I had opposed Ethan taking the position only because he didn’t have the ability to handle it. I was simply thinking about what was best for the company.

But now, I didn’t want to explain anything anymore.

I merely said calmly, “Claire, I’m not throwing another tantrum. We’re really over.”

Claire stared at me in disbelief.

In the end, she practically screamed, “I don’t agree!”

“Alex, who gave you the right to cancel the wedding just because you said so? Who gave you the right to break up with me? I don’t agree!”

“If you dare leave this company, don’t even think about taking a single resource with you. I can make sure you never find another job in this industry!”

I had never seen Claire like this before.

I couldn’t even tell whether her anger came from being afraid of losing me or from being furious that the man who had always obeyed her had suddenly rebelled.

Either way, it no longer mattered. I calmly left her with one final sentence: “I hope you’ll be happy.”

Then I walked out of the office without the slightest hesitation.