Chapter 3

At last, she released a long breath.

She approached me, rose to her toes, and encircled my neck with her arms, her exhalation warm on my neck.

"To be honest, I have my own reasons. I want you to take some time off and consider our marriage plans."

"When do you plan to ask for my hand?" she inquired with a playful grin.

But I had already made several proposals before, each one turned down by her.

Whenever we quarreled, she would use the prospect of marriage to pacify me.

At times, I felt less like her partner and more like a pet she was amusing herself with.

I remained silent.

Rosalie then tickled beneath my chin as if I were a dog.

"Don't be cross anymore, can you give me a smile?" she coaxed.

As she spoke, she deliberately planted a kiss on my Adam's apple, seemingly trying to appease me.

She rarely initiated physical affection with me.

Previously, I might have been overjoyed by this.

After her advances, I would have taken charge, only to be pushed away by her, giggling as she accused me of having a dirty mind.

Reflecting on it now, I found it rather tedious.

I removed her arms and cleaned my throat with a moist towelette.

Rosalie stood there, stunned as if struck by a bolt.

"Do I repulse you?" she questioned.

"I need to go out later, I'm going to change my clothes now," I stated impassively.

I turned, intending to return to the bedroom.

Rosalie attempted to follow, but I shut the door promptly and secured the lock.

"Fine! You'll regret this!" Rosalie seemed genuinely angry this time. After hurling these harsh words, she kicked the door and stormed off.

When I emerged from the bedroom, the living area was deserted.

Rosalie had posted a message in the company group chat offering to treat everyone to dinner and asking who wanted to join.

Everyone remained quiet.

Only Tyler responded with three consecutive "excited" emojis.

I knew Rosalie was deliberately trying to provoke my jealousy.

This had occurred numerous times before. It always played out the same way–other colleagues were reluctant to participate, and only Tyler would respond enthusiastically.

In the past, I would have already been envious and followed them, only to be ridiculed by them.

Now, I couldn't be bothered.

I went straight to my friend's place to sign the agreement.

My friend was delighted and specially arranged a celebratory meal for me.

After three rounds of drinks, I went to the restroom. As I was walking, I heard familiar voices from a nearby private room.

I instinctively paused.

Through the slightly ajar door, I saw Rosalie nestled in Tyler's embrace. I couldn't make out what they said, but Rosalie was laughing uncontrollably.

Seizing this moment, Tyler swiftly lowered his head and kissed her lips.

Rosalie was momentarily startled but didn't push him away.

"Rosalie, when are you going to end things with Felix?" Tyler asked.

"I can't wait to be with you. Do you know how distressed I am every day seeing you with him?"

Tyler said with a pained expression.

Rosalie moved her lips, appearing to want to say something.

Eventually, she returned Tyler's embrace, gently patting his back as if comforting a child.

"Just a little longer," she said. "It won't be much more time."

The two of them cuddling intimately looked exactly like a couple.

I sneered and didn't watch any further.

Back in the private room, after a few more drinks, we called it a night. As we were entering the underground parking garage together, my friend suddenly pulled me in front of a high-end Porsche and asked if I liked it.

I nodded, not quite understanding.

Thinking it was his new car, I was about to compliment him when my friend suddenly shoved a set of car keys into my hand.

"It's for you," he said.

"I've been wanting to replace that old car of yours for a long time. It's in such poor condition. Now that you've joined us, it's time for an upgrade."

I was about to refuse, but he seemed to already know what I was going to say and went straight to the point: "I heard Rosalie gave one to that new guy in your company. With his terrible skills, he can drive a luxury car, so of course you can't be worse off than him."

"You know, I've seen the stuff that new guy of yours produces. The style is different every time, obviously copied from somewhere. I don't know how he's managed to stay in the company..."

Perhaps it was because of the alcohol, but my friend spoke without any filter, complaining non-stop about Tyler.

I remained silent.

What he said was right. All those things were actually done by me and other colleagues in the team.

Almost every time, just as we were about to finish, Rosalie would demand that we hand it over to Tyler.

That's why Tyler's style was always different.

Even my friend, who wasn't in the company, could see through this.

Yet Rosalie somehow couldn't understand.

I thanked my friend and chatted with him for a bit more before heading home.

As I opened the door, I saw Rosalie already sitting on the living room couch.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

She seemed to be in a good mood, her tone much lighter.

The scene of her and Tyler embracing in the hotel flashed before my eyes again.

I felt a wave of nausea.

"Had dinner with a friend," I said flatly, walking straight towards the bedroom.

After just a couple of steps, Rosalie suddenly blocked my way, frowning. "You've been drinking?"

"Didn't we agree that you wouldn't drink when I'm not around?"

The implication was that I could only drink when I was helping her entertain clients.

I didn't say anything.

Rosalie, however, seemed to think of something and suddenly smiled, looking somewhat smug.

"You're still upset about me going out with Tyler, aren't you? If you didn't want me to go out alone with him, you could have just said so. Was it necessary to drink so much?"

"You're overthinking it. My drinking has nothing to do with you," I said.

I felt tired and sat down on a chair.

"But I do have something I want to tell you!"

"What is it?"

Probably thinking I was going to apologize, Rosalie's tone became even more smug.

"Let me tell you in advance, it's too late to apologize to me now. I'm very angry about what happened this afternoon. Don't think a simple apology will make me forgive you."

As she spoke, she rolled her eyes at me.

I pretended not to see it and said, "..."

Before I could finish, her phone rang.

Rosalie looked down at it.

I noticed the caller ID was Tyler.

"Wait a moment, I need to take this call," she said.

With that, Rosalie had no intention of paying any more attention to me and was about to answer the phone.

I looked at her cold and resolute back, and calmly spoke up.

"Let's break up, Rosalie."

As soon as I said this, Rosalie's body seemed to freeze for a moment.