Chapter 2

Irritated, I rubbed the center of my brows. Kiara stood at the door with teary eyes and softly said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones…”

Seeing how pitiful she looked, I could not help but grumble in my heart that Miranda’s temper was worsening. “She’s just acting spoiled. Don’t take it to heart. Go back to work,” I comforted her.

When it was time to clock off, I stayed behind in the office until Miranda called me. I picked up and sounded troubled. “I’m sorry, Miranda. A new task suddenly popped up, and I have to work overtime again.”

Miranda started whining and grumbling about my work. It got to the point where I lost my patience. “If you have nothing else to say, I’m hanging up. I’ll finish up as soon as possible and go home to keep you company.”

Miranda sighed and grunted in disappointment.

After that, I went to my friend’s bar just as I had promised. I also ran into Kiara, who went there with her friend after work.

Kiara was really shocked to see me, but she was smart enough to not say much about it. She only smiled and gave me a nod. After that, she maintained the perfect distance colleagues should have after work.

I was satisfied with this and paid her bill for the night.

I was worried about smelling like alcohol and making Miranda suspicious after I went back. So, I stayed in a hotel that night.

The next day, Kiara sent a clean suit to the hotel for me. She gave me a mischievous wink, and we decided to keep the whole thing a secret.

I thought that Miranda would not know. After all, she never read much into such things.

However, I finally understood why Miranda’s temper got increasingly strange ever since that day.

She would start dropping by my office regardless of the time. I would even have to make sure that my story tallied with my friends if I wanted to go out for a drink.

When we first got to know each other, I loved Miranda’s optimism. It was as if nothing could trouble her. My family drained me, but she healed me with her wonderful personality.

She had always been a free soul, like a bird who would take flight at any moment.

I tried winning her over for a long time, and it felt like I was chasing after the sun. During this time, I noticed she also had her own mental scars that never healed. After her parents got divorced, she lived her entire childhood shuffled around between relatives. She never got to settle down with a family.

Since we both longed for a family, it was only par for the course that we ended up together.

Later on, we bought a top-floor apartment in the central business district. After that, we moved out of a basement that cost us a few hundred dollars a month in rent. She was my sun and home, so I felt the most at ease with her around.

However, after years, that warmth and consideration turned into nagging. Her optimistic personality sometimes felt like a burden.

Even so, I still loved Miranda.

I always thought that our relationship remained the same. This thing between us was just the seven-year itch, and it was bound to happen in a relationship. Miranda had been spoiled over the years, hence she kept kicking up a fuss over nothing.

I believed that the scoring sheet was evidence of this.

With that in mind, I continued looking through the scoring sheet. Right then, I saw a new demerit that Miranda had jotted down.

[Henry stood me up during our anniversary: -30]

However, she wrote something else in the next line. [Henry said that he’d free up his holiday and go on a trip with me: +20!]

When I saw this, I suddenly felt a tinge of regret. Not only did I stand her up during our anniversary, but I also did not go on that trip as promised.

I had been incredibly busy during our anniversary. My employees and I had worked overnight for a major project. When I got home, Miranda naturally saw how tired I was, but her concern only increased my fatigue. I could not be bothered to explain just how complicated my work was, so I just said everything was alright to comfort her.

I wanted to tell Miranda to postpone our date as well. But when I saw how excited she was, I could not find it within my heart to do it. In the end, I went out with her to relive our first date.

Honestly, I had almost forgotten how we met seven years ago.

While we were on our way to the date, I was called back to the company. The project was at its most crucial state. By the time I remembered that I had stood Miranda up, it was dark outside. I also had numerous missed calls and messages.

At that time, I just found myself feeling irritated. After our lives got better, Miranda resigned from her job and worked as an illustrator instead. So, all she could think about were romantic fantasies.