Chapter 3

30th August,2022. Frisco, Texas

Zhao Ning opened her eyes as the morning sunlight greeted her, she turned to her side and caught sight of an empty bed. So he didn't return last night? She thought to herself, disappointment flashed in her eyes. She can lie to others that she is having a happy married life but how could she lie to herself?

She got out of the bed, putting all the thoughts to the back of her mind as she got ready for work from home.

She made a simple breakfast for herself and soon sat before her laptop. Her phone beeped. It was a notification from a game app - Dear gamer, It's been 1826 days without you~ We hope you can come back and take a look at how we have grown in this time, meanwhile we wish you a very happy birthday

This is yet another recurring incident every year. Ever Since she graduated, she never played games again. It was one thing that she thought games were addicting, the other thing was Wang Haoyu didn’t like her playing games as he thought that would have a bad influence on her and because of that, she hasn't even tried the games developed by her best friend Luo Xiyuan. He never got mad at her for that but she knows he would be disappointed every time she says No to his products.

Before her thoughts drift further away, she focused on the task in hand and started her routine work.

Soon she received an email -

Congratulations Mrs. Zhao Ning, for your continued efforts and contributions to the company’s development, for your consistent hard work and your thirst for knowledge, we would like to cherish you a little more.

After discussions with the Senior executives, we decide to offer you a promotion to the position of Director of Project Management starting October 1, 2022. You have to report to work at the office in Texas starting next week.

Good luck and we are looking forward to more adventures with you.

It was her long expected promotion. Though she was expecting it, when she finally got the confirmation she still felt very happy. Though her current job wasn’t her dream, she was very satisfied with the job nonetheless.

She decided to share the good news with Wang Haoyu but the moment the call connected after trying for five minutes his voice came from the other side “Important meeting. Later”

The call disconnected.

She understood.

She always understood.

It would be petty to hold a grudge over something as simple as this. He was working and in an important meeting, she isn’t a stupid to fight over this.

She tried to console herself when she remembered that day when she visited his office six months back. She wanted to give him a surprise and was at his office door. She looked inside the room and he was leisurely reading a book. Seeing he wasn’t busy she gave him a call but her heart sank when he ignored the call after seeing the caller's name. She kept trying until he answered, “I’m busy”

Her eyes welled up, she turned around and left. Since then, she never tried a surprise visit again. She didn’t know why he did that. She had no idea. They were together for 10 years now. So it wasn’t a big shock that their passion would wear out. But he lied to her. He didn’t respect her. She always knew her place. She knew to take what was given to her. She never demanded anything from him.

She knew they were in love when it all started 10 years ago. He cherished her and she thought he was her type. Because before proposing to her, he talked to her family, convinced them. He took care of her, protected her and always gave her reliable advice. The only time he was disappointed in her was when she chose a Designing course in University. He thought it was a shame. But because of her talent and her hard work, she got selected in an entirely different career path.

He fell in love with a guy who made her feel at ease and made life easy for her. Their love wasn’t crazily passionate but it held respect and admiration.

But whose fault was it that they fell for a facade?

The ever protecting self of him was a facade to hide his possessiveness for her.

The ever pleasing and accepting self of her was a facade to hide her true desires that were full of risks.

When they both realise they weren’t who they thought themselves to be, they both have come to an unspoken understanding to keep the act going. Because breaking up after so many years of being together had so many risk elements.

Thinking upto this point she suddenly felt all of this was ridiculous. They have already lost the love between them, now, they are even losing the respect and trust. He still takes care of her, still treats her the way he always did but the fakeness in their relationship was only increasing. They were visibly growing tired of each other. Their differences become more and more distinct.

She made herself a cup of coffee and decided to focus on working. She already applied for leave in the afternoon.

Sometimes it's better not to think too much. It's a happy news that she got a promotion, she can’t slack off now. What happens will happen but until then she can enjoy a few more days of peace.

But time is a funny thing, the few more days of peace weren’t meant to be for her.

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