chapter 5

"Why the sudden talk of breaking up, darling?

"Is it because I've been absent lately? Are you upset with me?"

Colton reached out to tousle my hair, but I stepped back, avoiding his touch.

With a gentle tone, he said, "Don’t be angry, okay? Once I settle into my role as manager, we'll take a trip to Ashus.

"I need the project proposal for tomorrow’s meeting, babe. Hand it over."

With a smirk, I tossed him a bag full of shredded paper. "Here’s your first breakup present. Go on—open it."

"Don’t joke about breaking up, baby, or I’ll get mad," he said, half-scolding but already tearing the bag open.

The second he saw what was inside, he went still.

He grabbed a handful of shredded paper, forcing a tight smile. "Come on, babe, stop playing around.

"I need that proposal for tomorrow’s meeting."

I glanced at the clock. "Then you’d better get started. It’s already one in the morning."

His face hardened. He grabbed my arm, grip tightening. "Cassidy, cut it out.

"Give me the real proposal. Now."

Red marks bloomed on my skin where his hand had been.

I yanked free and slapped him hard across the face. "You’ve got some nerve, Colton.

"I used to love you, sacrificing my time to help you get ahead.

"But now those feelings are gone. You’re on your own. We’re over!"

He looked at me, unable to comprehend. In five years, I'd never raised my voice at him.

"You don’t love me anymore?"

He murmured, stunned.

"You remember my favorite takeout. You stood between me and the people I couldn’t stand to face.

"You got soaked in that hurricane to hand me an umbrella.

"You sat up through the night when I had a fever during the pandemic." Colton counted them off like evidence.

His face went pale. "You are lying. I don’t believe it. You still love me!"

He started listing things—rehearsed good deeds, the little kindnesses—but every line he spat out only confirmed what I already knew: he could remember us perfectly and still betray me. The warmth I once felt drained away.

"I don’t love you anymore," I said, flat and empty.

"No—no, I won’t accept that," he protested, voice climbing. "You can’t—"

"Who gets to decide when we break up?" He demanded, unwilling to relent.

I laughed coldly. "Why? I have plenty of reasons.

"Like bringing another woman to my place during my business trip. She wore my clothes, used my toothbrush, slept in my bed...

"Is that enough, or should I continue?"

He foamed excuses, pleading innocence. "I didn’t—there’s nothing—

"Where did you hear such rumors?

"After all these years, you still don’t trust me?" He appeared hurt, trying to play the victim.

I shoved my phone into his face; the screen lit his features with a damning image: him kissing Amelia beneath the moonlit balcony. He went rigid, then crumpled backward, sliding down the wall until he was on the floor at my feet.

"Cassidy, it’s not what it looks like," he wheezed, scrambling up on his knees. "We were just—camera angles. You know, for fun. It meant nothing."

His hands trembled as he reached for me. "Please, believe me."

I held the phone higher. "You think I’m stupid? That’s one picture, Colton. Your secret album—thousands more. Amelia’s burner account—daily posts. You two were waiting for me to hand over that proposal so you could move up and toss me aside."

Panic and apology flooded his face. "Baby, you have it wrong—"

"You underestimate me," I snapped, the words cold as winter. "I’m not the girl who looks the other way."

I kicked him—hard enough to send him sprawling across the throw rug. He scrambled, eyes wide and pleading. "Cassidy—please—let me explain—"

He lunged to block the door as I moved for it, palm slamming against the frame. "Cassidy, don’t—"

"Get out of my way." My voice was a blade. He planted his hand to stop me; I shouldered the door. We fought for inches. He wouldn’t let go. I slammed the door again. And again.

The last time, his fingers got caught between door and jamb. He yelped, pulling back, clutching his hand. A flash of red stained his palm. For a second, he looked genuinely shocked—hurt and human and small.

He finally let go.