Chapter 9
A flicker of confusion crossed Zach’s face before he quickly offered, “I’ll make you something else.”
“There’s no point in any of this, “I said, my voice flat. “A clean break is best for everyone.”
At the annual dinner, he could remember clearly that Hannah didn’t like lamb, ginger, or garlic, but he couldn’t recall that I once had a severe allergic reaction to cheese and ended up in the hospital.
Love and care–it was clear who he prioritized. But apparently, Zach didn’t see it that way.
He furrowed his brow in irritation. “Husbands and wives don’t hold grudges overnight, Serena. I’ve already bent over backward for these things–why are you still so picky?”
“And I’m busy with the company every day. Isn’t it normal to forget something occasionally?”
I nodded calmly. “Exactly. And for breakup is just as normal.”
Zach finally snapped. With a loud crash, he slammed his plate onto the table. He glared at me, his face a mask of frustration, threw his hands up in exasperation, then turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
That was the beginning of our cold war. I sighed, resigned, and called the cleaning service to tidy up, while packing Zach’s things and sending them to his Pinecrest Manor address.
Normally, I helped him pack for business trips, so it didn’t take much time. The house handover went smoothly on the scheduled day. Zach seemed to realize, at last, that my breakup wasn’t a threat. He sent me a mocking text message. Seeing I didn’t react, he started posting frequent photos of himself with Hannah on his social media.
During this time, I was busy handling onboarding at the company, and by the time I noticed, my phone was flooded with notifications. That day, he posted about a trip to a wildlife reserve with Hannah. The next day, they went on a hot air balloon ride. The day after, he flaunted the company’s good performance and a reward trip to Bali with Hannah.
In some posts, he even deliberately showed the couple rings on his middle finger, with captions like [The ones who are loved always feel invincible, but no one knows, only the kids who never cry deserve the candy more.]
I knew it was all deliberate he wanted to make me jealous, to provoke me, to get me begging him to come back.
Then, as if bestowing mercy, he’d propose a series of demands. But I didn’t care anymore.
I was about to exit the app when, by accident, I liked one of his posts. Worried it would stir unnecessary trouble, I immediately unliked it, then calmly removed him from my “Favorites” list.
I focused back on my work. Thanks to my involvement, some of Diana’s company projects improved significantly. We were even negotiating a deal with profits exceeding tens of millions.
That day, just as Diana and I were heading to a contract meeting, Zach did something unprecedented. He sent me a message. It was a picture.
Curious, I opened it. What appeared on the screen was a prenatal report with Hannah’s name on it.
