When I Walked Away, Her Perfect Life Collapsed

A hotel caught fire, and among the trapped people I saw my girlfriend, who had claimed she was overseas on a business trip. Her clothes were disheveled, and she was nestled intimately in the arms of her male secretary. After we were rescued, I called her, but she impatiently complained that I was checking up on her. That night, however, I came across an Instagram post uploaded by her male secretary. The two of them were taking an intimate cheek-to-cheek selfie, and the hickeys on my girlfriend’s neck were clearly visible. The caption read: “We survived the fire together. I guess we’ll grow old together in this lifetime.” I sneered and clicked Like. The next second, the Instagram post was deleted, and my girlfriend took the initiative to call me and explain herself—a first. I cut her off. “There’s no room for three people in a relationship. I’m out.” By the time Jenna Carter called me again, a week had already passed since the fire. “I’m back from my business trip. I’m at the airport now. Come pick me up.” Her tone was exactly the same as always, as if she weren’t the same person who had cursed me over Ethan Cole’s Instagram post not long ago. I refused almost without hesitation. “The airport? Am I supposed to go there and play along with your little act?” After saying that, I ignored Jenna’s questioning from the other end of the phone and hung up. She had lied and told me she was going overseas on a business trip, claiming that the time difference made it inconvenient for us to contact each other and asking me not to call her unless necessary. But what was the truth? I had found the passport she’d forgotten to take with her at home. If not for the fire, when I had seen her hiding in Ethan’s arms with my own eyes, I really would have had no idea what kind of business trip she had supposedly gone on. It turned out that “overseas” was the hotel, and her male secretary, Ethan Cole, was the “million-dollar client” she had mentioned. She had used up my trust, and perhaps during all the times I failed to notice, she had done this countless times already. The thought made my entire body feel uncomfortable, and even my heart began to ache sharply. So after all these years, the love between us meant nothing more to her than this. While I was lost in thought, Jenna came home. When she saw me there, she frowned deeply and threw her handbag onto the floor. She complained angrily, “You’re obviously at home, so why couldn’t you come pick me up?” “Ryan Blake, what’s that supposed to mean?” I turned my head and glanced at her indifferently. I knew she was waiting for me to take the initiative and apologize. After all, whenever something displeased Jenna in the past, she would smash or throw whatever was within reach. And every time, I would walk over to comfort her, sometimes even making promises to calm her down. For example, I would buy her a Hermès bag or promise not to keep tabs on her anymore. But now, I was suddenly tired. I didn’t want to keep following behind her like some ridiculous admirer. When she saw that I remained where I was, Jenna pressed her lips together, her expression growing even uglier, but she still walked over to me. “Ethan was only joking. Young people like using trendy phrases nowadays. You don’t understand them, but he didn’t mean anything by it.” I said nothing. I would never believe Jenna’s pale excuses again. When she saw me walk to the entryway to put on my shoes, she froze for a moment before following me patiently. “Didn’t you hear me talking to you? Where are you going now?” I didn’t know where I was going either. I simply didn’t want to stay in the same room as Jenna. “There’s still something going on at the station. I won’t be coming back tonight.” Just as I pushed open the door and walked out, Jenna called after me. She snatched the car keys from my hand and brushed past my shoulder, leaving the apartment first. “Perfect. I need to go out too. I’ll drive you to the station.” The refusal had barely reached my lips when she was already standing by the elevator. She turned her head toward me, her expression calm. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.” I hated how she acted as if nothing had happened. I even found it ridiculous. Wasn’t she tired of putting on this act?But in the end, I didn’t say anything. As soon as I got into the car, a familiar men’s cologne filled the air, and goosebumps immediately spread across my skin. When she saw me roll down the window, Jenna remained calm. “Ethan sprayed it when he was sitting in my car before. I thought it smelled pretty good, so I bought a bottle too.” I said nothing and silently turned to look out the window. I remembered that Jenna had never worn perfume before. She said she disliked the smell of chemicals and didn’t even like perfume made from completely natural plant extracts. So throughout the years we had been dating, I had never bought her perfume. But now, she had easily changed one of her little habits for Ethan. That alone already said a lot. It was just that the old me had been blinded by appearances and had never seen the truth clearly. My foot suddenly kicked something. When I looked down, I saw an exquisite paper bag. I froze slightly when I clearly saw the lace lingerie inside. As far as I knew, Jenna never wore things like that. While I was still stunned, she snatched the paper bag from my hand, then shouted furiously, “Ryan Blake, are you out of your mind? Why are you touching things that don’t belong to you? Don’t you have any manners?” She slammed on the brakes and threw the paper bag onto the back seat. Because of the inertia, my body lurched forward, and I almost hit the windshield. The commotion stirred up a nameless anger in me as well. I took a deep breath, turned to look at Jenna, and questioned her in a slightly sharper voice. “Who gave that to you?” Her expression remained normal. She only frowned and said, “Why do you have so many questions? You’re always trying to control this and that. Are you even a man?” I couldn’t help sneering. I had just seen a note tucked inside the paper bag, and it was signed by Ethan. It couldn’t possibly be something Jenna had bought for Ethan to wear, could it? The answer was obvious, yet even after things had reached this point, Jenna could still act as if nothing had happened and casually change the subject. Did I even exist in her eyes as her husband? I was about to say something else when she impatiently reached over and shoved me. “Get out. I don’t want to see you right now.” “Think about it carefully. You’re always like this. Can’t you give me a little freedom? You’re suspicious of everything all day long.” Her words made me laugh in anger. “When have I ever—” Before I could finish, Jenna’s phone rang. I saw the caller ID flashing with the name “Baby’s Husband,” and my heart instantly turned cold. All at once, every argument and explanation became pale and meaningless. I silently unfastened my seat belt and got out of the car. She didn’t even ask me a single question. She simply stepped on the gas and drove away. I watched the rear of the car gradually disappear from view, a bitter feeling rising in my chest. I didn’t know when it had started, but Jenna and I had long been drifting apart. Then everything I had given up for her seemed to have become nothing but a joke. Just then, my phone rang. It was my father. For some reason, when I heard the concern in his voice, my eyes grew hot. I was a grown man, yet I almost cried from feeling wronged. I sniffed and said, “Dad, I won’t bring Jenna home next week. And as for what you said about having me take over the company, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll pack my things over the next few days and come home.” Back then, I had given up my position as heir for Jenna because I wanted nothing more than to live an ordinary life with her. But now that the ordinary life I had wanted had been destroyed, I might as well devote myself to taking care of my parents.After arriving at the fire station, I thought for a long time before opening the captain’s office door and handing him my resignation. The captain sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. He seemed to have expected from the beginning that I wouldn’t stay there for long, so he didn’t try too hard to keep me, merely telling me that we should stay in touch. I nodded. Just as I was about to leave, I noticed the troubled look on the captain’s face. He seemed to have something else to say. For some reason, I suddenly had a bad feeling. I looked at him. “Please just say what’s on your mind. There’s no need to be formal with me.” Only then did he say in a serious voice, “When the hotel caught fire yesterday, I think I saw your girlfriend inside.” “ There was also a man with her, and the relationship between them didn’t look quite normal. At first, I thought I had seen wrong, but later I found her ID.” As he spoke, the captain took Jenna’s ID out of his desk drawer. I was silent for a long while before reaching out to take it. “I’ll give it to her.” I had thought this would remain a secret, but the captain had seen it too. Everyone knew what she had done, yet she thought I was still being kept in the dark and continued to act recklessly, convinced that my love for her gave her the right. But I was truly tired now. Without me, I wondered how she would continue behaving as she pleased. I quickly packed my things, and when I returned home from the fire station, I saw Jenna’s car parked downstairs. I was about to go upstairs when I noticed the car rocking slightly. A flash of white passed through my mind. I suddenly remembered that bag of lingerie. So Jenna was really having sex with another man in the car in broad daylight? Even if I had truly stopped hoping for anything from her, the people passing through this neighborhood were all our neighbors. If word got out— She might have no shame, but I still had my dignity! So I walked over and knocked on the car window. The rocking car immediately stopped. About half a minute later, the rear window slowly lowered. Sure enough, there were two people inside. Jenna pulled up the collar of her sweater to cover her neck completely, but I couldn’t be bothered to look. Ethan smiled at me. “Ryan, when did you get back? Sorry about that. I just remembered there was something I hadn’t told Jenna, so we stayed in the car for a little while.” “You wouldn’t happen to mind, would you?” He apologized with his lips, but there wasn’t a trace of regret in his eyes. Instead, he raised his brows at me provocatively. After several seconds of silence, I curled my lips into a faint smile. “Why would I mind? You two were only discussing work, right?” “I’m not unreasonable. Go ahead and keep talking. I won’t disturb you. Or would you like me to drive the car somewhere quieter and more private, so no one passing by interrupts your fun?” Jenna’s expression instantly turned cold. “Ryan Blake, what’s that supposed to mean? Who are you making sarcastic remarks about? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking.” “People with dirty hearts see filth everywhere!” Dirty? Could anyone be dirtier than her? I gave a disdainful snort. “You know perfectly well what I mean. We’re all adults here. There’s no need to spell everything out, is there?” With that, I turned around and left. Behind me, I heard a car door open. Jenna had gotten out. She clearly hadn’t expected me to react this way, and she shouted after me, “Ryan Blake, are you saying you suspect there’s something inappropriate between Ethan and me?”I stopped walking, and her words actually made me laugh. How shameless could the two of them be? I had already made myself perfectly clear, yet they were still pretending not to understand. If Jenna had simply admitted it outright, I might even have respected her a little more. I turned around and looked at her calmly. “Isn’t that what it is?” Jenna frowned again and walked toward me. “You’re insane. Is that really the kind of woman you think I am? You’ve disappointed me so much!” “Whatever.” I pulled my hand away from hers when she reached for me, then turned and entered the elevator. Where she and Ethan went afterward and what they planned to do next had nothing to do with me anymore. When I got home, I walked around the small apartment once. I saw that the photo wall still held many pictures of Jenna and me together. In the photos, the two of us were clearly smiling with extraordinary happiness and sweetness, yet I didn’t know what had happened over the years. Our relationship had gradually begun to change. Even now, I felt a little lost. I smiled, reached out, and pulled all the photos down before placing them in a shoebox and putting the entire box into a trash bag. Once sweetness had spoiled and rotted, there was no need to keep it around. I thought that the current Jenna probably didn’t care about these things anymore either. The apartment was filled with countless memories of the two of us, some happy and joyful, others sad and full of arguments. I had thought love would last, but it turned out that love only disappeared. I packed my luggage, called movers to come over, and finally left my keys by the entryway before walking out. I thought that when Jenna returned home and saw that all my belongings were gone, she would definitely call to question me. But she didn’t. For three whole days, there was no word from her. It wasn’t until I had officially taken over my father’s company and saw the documents my assistant brought me for signing that I remembered. When Jenna and I had first gotten together, I had used my identity as the heir to the group to secure a five-year contract for her. Before that, every major company had fought desperately to win the contract. Yet before the competition had even begun, it had been awarded directly to Jenna. I had even specifically instructed my assistant not to reveal my identity. I didn’t want too many outside factors mixed into our relationship. Over those five years, Jenna had flourished in the business world under my protection. She had even become a capable young businesswoman in her own right, with her male secretary, Ethan, always by her side. But she had forgotten that since I had given her everything, I could easily take it back. So when my assistant asked whether we still needed to renew Jenna’s contract, I decisively shook my head. Putting our relationship aside, she was merely my ex-girlfriend now. “No. Let everyone compete openly this time.” As soon as the news came out, Jenna truly panicked and immediately called my assistant to arrange a dinner meeting. My assistant put the call on speaker. I heard the girlfriend who had always been arrogant now speaking humbly, even with a hint of coquettishness in her voice, but my heart remained completely unmoved. Still, when Jenna invited us to meet, I nodded at my assistant. I would see her one last time and consider it a perfect ending to our relationship. Soon, Jenna sent over the restaurant’s address. The name of the restaurant looked familiar, and I realized it was where I had confessed my feelings to her. Back then, she had said, “This restaurant is too expensive. We’re just having a meal together. There’s no need to choose somewhere so fancy. We can just eat some home-style food.” But she didn’t know that she was the treasure in my hands, and I had wanted to place every wonderful thing in the world before her. Now that she had chosen this place, it seemed she had really gone all out. I was curious about what she was planning.