Chapter 3

03

Just then, Madeline walked in, holding the gift she brought for me.

She offered a tender smile and suggested softly:

“Babe, the white suit I ordered for your last birthday matches this tie perfectly. Why don’t you wear that tomorrow?”

I let out a sigh and said emotionlessly:

“You remembered wrong. You gave me a watch for my last birthday. You never ordered a suit for me.”

Madeline’s face paled for an instant before quickly recovering.

“I forgot to tell you, the white suit was actually an anniversary gift I prepared.”

“My memory slipped…”

“It does not matter. I am tired. Let us get some sleep.”

With that, I turned off my phone, lay down, and closed my eyes.

Madeline stood by the bed for a moment before slamming the gift onto the floor in frustration.

She slammed the bedroom door shut and went to sleep in the guest room.

Listening to her fading footsteps, a sarcastic smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.

After days of passionate romance with her soulmate, it was quite an effort for her to remember to come home at all.

The next morning when I woke up, Madeline surprisingly made breakfast.

Seeing me come out, she immediately smiled and greeted me.

“Good morning, honey. Come eat breakfast.”

I looked at the toast and milk on the table and let out a cold scoff.

“No, thanks. I am heading to work.”

Madeline angrily blocked my path, her voice dripping with irritation.

“Wesley, are you done yet! It was just one birthday. I already apologized, so why are you still giving me attitude?”

“Let me tell you, don’t push your luck. Take the olive branch while you can. I don’t want to fight.”

Looking at her self-righteous face, I sneered mockingly:

“I am allergic to dairy. Did you forget?”

Hearing my words, Madeline froze on the spot, utterly speechless.

I walked out calmly to go to work, never glancing back at her once.

During work hours, Madeline did something unprecedented―she shared snippets of her day with me.

This time, I did not jump for joy to reply immediately. Instead, I muted her notifications.

Once upon a time, I desperately wished we could love each other like a normal married couple, but reality dealt me a crushing blow.

Except for her confession, I had always been the one chasing Madeline, while her attitude remained lukewarm.

Even when taking our wedding photos, her smile was faint and forced.

I originally thought she was just naturally quiet and slow to warm up, but around Landon, she was completely different.

In front of Landon, she was lively, playful, and had an endless stream of things to say.

Yet when I racked my brain to find topics and share my daily life, she never even bothered to look.

Seeing that I did not reply, Madeline finally could not resist calling me.

“Babe, I took the car today. I will pick you up after work, and we can have dinner at Starlight Bistro.”

“I already reserved a table. Consider it a makeup celebration for your birthday.”

The moment the call connected, Madeline rattled off her plans and hung up immediately.

She did not give me a single chance to respond.

Holding my phone, my heart was a tangled mess of conflicting emotions.

If she loved Landon so deeply, why did she ever come into my life?

To give me hope over and over only to crush it―did she find playing with me that fun?

Thinking of this, I let out a bitter laugh, filled with regret.

A coworker calling my name snapped me back to reality. The daily grind of adult life left no room for lingering sorrow.

I forced myself to focus and threw myself back into my work.

When my shift ended, Madeline was nowhere to be seen outside the office building.