Chapter 4

From that moment on, suspicion took root in my heart.

Today, Damien merely confirmed what I had already suspected.

Seeing my lack of reaction, Damien's face fell with disappointment. "Take the money. It's been five years. We can't let you sit in the slammer for nothing."

"I told you, I don't need it," I replied.

With that, I turned to leave.

As soon as I stepped out of the office, I ran into Serenity.

She looked at me in surprise. "Why are you leaving empty-handed?"

Apparently, she knew about Damien's plan to pay me off.

"Well..." I mumbled.

I couldn't be bothered to waste words on her and made to leave.

She grabbed my arm. "You know our predicament. Try to understand our position. There's a dinner tonight. Why don't you join us? It'll be a chance to introduce you to some new friends."

"No thanks. I'm not hungry."

"That's not an option. You have to come."

Serenity was stubborn, insisting I go with her.

It was just dinner, so I didn't think much of it.

I spent two or three hours at the company. During that time, I felt like a monkey in a zoo, with employees gawking at me.

Though they were busy, their eyes kept darting in my direction.

I was used to it by now and waited quietly.As the dinner party began, a group of people gathered together, exchanging pleasantries.

These were all big-shot CEOs, and getting to know them certainly wouldn't hurt my prospects.

So I started to engage in lively conversation with them.

During our chat, they suddenly asked, "Zoran, are you married?"

Serenity and I answered in unison, "No."

Seeing that I didn't hesitate even for a second, Serenity's gaze turned towards me.

That look in her eyes seemed somewhat hurt.

It was as if my reaction had disappointed her once again.

"You're not married? Well, that makes things easier. I know several suitable matches for you. I'll introduce you sometime."

I nodded, "Thank you, I'd appreciate that."

The dinner proceeded quite harmoniously.

During a brief moment away from the table, Serenity followed me out.

"How could you agree to let Mr. Lincoln set you up with women? Are you really considering it?"

"It's nothing, just being polite."

Serenity glared at me, pouting coquettishly, "Even politeness has its limits. Remember, you're spoken for. You can't actually go looking for women. Damien and I are just putting on an act. You and I are the real married couple."I awoke to the sound of my alarm, ready to start another day at Melody Corporation. As I prepared for work, my mind drifted to the events of the previous evening.

Just as I was about to remind Serenity that we were divorced, Damien arrived.

"Darling, come here," he called out.

"Okay," Serenity replied, turning to flash me a smile. "I'm heading home tomorrow. Wait for me."

Tomorrow also happened to be my first day at Melody Corp.

I washed my hands and returned to the private room.

Upon entering, I found the room in a state of commotion.

Damien was frantically searching everywhere, his face etched with worry. "My watch is missing. It may only be worth thirty grand, but it's the token of love my darling gave me. I can't lose it!"

"Oh dear, we better look for it thoroughly," someone said.

With that, everyone began searching high and low.

"I was wearing it while eating earlier. I just took it off because it was bothering me and left it on the table. How could it have vanished so suddenly?" Damien muttered.

How could a watch just disappear into thin air like that?

I was puzzled too.

But figuring it wasn't my problem, I decided it was best to find an excuse to leave.

As I picked up my briefcase, I felt something unfamiliar inside. To my shock, there was a watch in there.

"The watch is here..." I said hesitantly.

Everyone turned to look, their eyes fixating on the watch in my bag.I took out the watch, "I don't know why it's here either. I'm giving it back to you."

Damien took the watch, his face looking somewhat suspicious as he glanced at me, yet he forced a kind smile.

"Bro, if you'd told me earlier that you liked this watch, I would've given it to you right away."

The way he said it made it sound like I had stolen it from him.

Serenity furrowed her brow, "Zoran, I never thought you'd pick up such a nasty habit after being in jail."

"We brought you out today with good intentions, not for you to steal things. How could you do this?"

With just a few words, Serenity had condemned me.

The way they all looked at me changed.

As if this incident was truly something I had done.

I couldn't be bothered to explain anymore. I picked up my phone and dialed 911.

"Since you're all so certain I stole it, let's call the police then."

At this moment, Damien suddenly laughed, trying to smooth things over: "Oh geez, look at my memory. I just took off my watch and asked my bro to hold onto it for a bit, and I completely forgot. Bro, I'm sorry, we didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did you mean? Don't throw mud at me just because I've been to jail. You all know perfectly well why I was there.Damien hadn't even spoken yet when Serenity, like a mother bear protecting her cub, sharply reprimanded:

"Zoran, Damien's already said his piece. What more do you want? Stop being unreasonable. Can't you see he's saying this for your own good?"

In Serenity's eyes, Damien was just making sacrifices.

And me? I was the real thief.

Fine, let it be this way.

I gathered my things and left.

Without looking back.

The next day.

Serenity sent me a message:

[I can't believe how ungrateful you are. But it's just as well. I wouldn't even trust someone like you to be a janitor in our company.]

I let out a bitter laugh and replied:

[No need to worry about me. I wasn't planning on going to your company anyway. I've got a new job.]

Almost immediately, she started bombarding me with messages.

[Where are you going? How could you not discuss this with me? What's happened to you?!]

[I'm still your darling. How could you switch jobs without saying a word? Do you know how much effort I put into getting you a position at our company?]

Melody snatched my phone and sent a voice message to her:

"You're the ex-wife. An ex-wife has no right to be involved in her ex-husband's life."Serenity blew up my phone, calling like a madwoman after I sent the voice message.

I hung up on every single call.

After I kept hanging up, Serenity quickly started bombarding me with text messages.

[Zoran, what's the meaning of this? Why are you with Melody?! You know I can't stand Melody, how could you betray me like this?!]

[I know you're feeling uneasy, but didn't I tell you it was just a fake divorce? Damien and I are innocent, how could you think of us like that?]

[If you're going to keep making a fuss about this, I might as well be guilty of the crime you're accusing me of!]

[I'm giving you one last chance now. Come back immediately and cut things off with Melody for good!]

Looking at these messages one after another, I felt nothing but a headache coming on.

I casually replied with: [Whatever.]

Then I blocked Serenity.