Chapter 3

3、

The moment we stepped out of the elevator into the parking garage, Garrett grabbed my hand and led me toward his car.

I pulled my wrist free and stopped in my tracks. "I don't have much of an appetite tonight. You guys go ahead without me."

Garrett frowned, clearly annoyed.

"When I didn't bring you to dinners before, you threw a tantrum. Now that I invite you, you still throw a fit. You are impossible to please, Callie. What on earth do you want from me?"

I could no longer hold back my anger. "I am impossible to please? You come home late from dinners every single night, and who handles every chore in that house―"

Director Thornton's car pulled up beside us, and he rolled down his window. "Why haven't you two gotten in yet? Let's get going, everyone is starving!"

Garrett's expression shifted instantly into a polite smile as he apologized to Director Thornton, then yanked me toward our car.

"I just closed a crucial deal with Director Thornton today. You better not ruin this!"

Refusing to cause a scene in public, I reached for the front passenger door, only to find Leila already sitting inside with her seatbelt fastened.

She looked up at me with an apologetic pout. "I am so sorry, Callie. I got so used to sitting in the front passenger seat during our business trip that I completely forgot you were here today."

Her mouth uttered apologies, but she made no effort to move an inch.

Garrett slipped into the driver's seat and sighed impatiently. "There is plenty of room in the back, just―"

Before he could finish, I slammed the front door shut and climbed into the back seat on my own.

Leila turned around to face me. "Callie, you aren't mad, are you? I can get out…"

"Save your breath," I cut her off coldly. "If you don't start driving, you'll lose the rest of the convoy."

With that, I closed my eyes and leaned back. Leila whispered something to Garrett.

I only heard Garrett mutter back dismissively, "Just ignore her."

Things like this had been happening since we first started dating.

I was there when Garrett bought this car, and the passenger seat had always been mine.

I never had a habit of doing my makeup in the car, but one day I pulled down the vanity mirror and found the protective film peeled off.

I confronted him right then and there, asking who had been sitting in my seat. At first, he claimed he peeled it off himself.

When I kept pressing him, he lost his temper and shouted at me.

"Why do you have to make a drama out of everything? So what if someone else sat in the front seat? So what if they used the mirror? It's just a car!"

Looking back now, having another woman in the front seat truly meant nothing to him.

Tonight, however, his behavior was unusually strange.

Leila kept trying to engage him in project discussions, but Garrett barely responded to her. Instead, he repeatedly tried to start conversations with me.

He asked how I had been holding up over the past two weeks, but I only gave him short, detached replies.

He glanced at me through the rearview mirror several times, so I simply closed my eyes to shut him out entirely.

After my father passed away, I finally realized that Garrett and I walked on completely different paths.

He had the talent to run the company, but our marriage was dead. A divorce was inevitable.

I needed to step into the executive board and gradually take over my father's legacy myself.

Soon, we arrived at the private banquet hall. Everyone was already seated, leaving only two adjacent empty chairs at the main table.

An intern from the partner firm rushed over and guided Garrett and Leila to take those two seats together.

Once everyone settled in, I was left standing by the entrance, completely out of place.

"Oh, are you a new employee? Let me grab an extra chair so you can sit next to me!"

The intern pulled a chair from the side table and had me sit beside her.

Director Thornton chuckled and teased Garrett. "Garrett, you are a lucky man. Your wife looks so young and radiant that people mistake her for a fresh recruit!"

Murmurs of surprise rippled across the room.

Nearby, someone whispered quietly, though the silence allowed the words to carry clearly.

"Wait, Mr. Cole is married? I thought his secretary was his girlfriend. They were going into the same hotel room together last week!"

Realizing she had spoken out of turn, the woman slapped a hand over her mouth and went dead silent.

Leila, seated snugly beside Garrett, flashed me a smug look, offering no explanation whatsoever.

I showed no emotion, keeping my eyes cast down on the porcelain dinnerware in front of me.

My icy indifference seemed to rattle Garrett. He stood up abruptly and swapped seats with the intern next to me.

He reached out and took my hand. "Callie, listen to me. That day, Leila was only resting in my room for a minute. She left right after…"

I pulled my hand back, refusing his touch. "Okay. I get it."

Humiliated by my cold rejection, Garrett's irritation flared up again.

He leaned in close and hissed under his breath, "Do you really have to start a fight in front of all these people? Can't you show some maturity for once?"

Noticing the tension between us, Director Thornton stepped in with a mock stern voice.

"Garrett, I have to scold you on this one. When your father-in-law passed away, how could you leave Callie all alone to handle the funeral arrangements? Arthur treated you like his own son."

"What did you say?"

Garrett shot up from his seat as if struck by lightning. His sudden movement knocked over his plate and silverware, sending them crashing to the floor.

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared down at me, his voice trembling with shock. "Callie! Dad passed away? Why didn't you tell me!"

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