Chapter 2The Seventh Year: The Bird Has Flown

Holden and I were childhood sweethearts, but we were also a business merger.

Our parents arranged the match when we were three. We got our marriage license before we even graduated college.

Life after marriage was harmonious, happy even.

Maybe it was his upbringing, but Holden was never one to be surprised by anything. He didn't know how to yield, how to love, or how to say sweet things.

But he would prepare small surprises for me. On my birthday, he would bake a cake himself.

Then, like a magic trick, he’d produce the necklace I’d been eyeing and hug me tight.

"Gen, it’s not that I don't have a heart. Give me time. I’ll figure out how to love you properly."

"Don't give up on me, okay?"

Every time he said that, I would nod vigorously, whispering that we had a lifetime to figure it out.

In the heat of the night, he would lean close to my ear, whispering intimate things that made me blush.

When did it change?

Maybe the day Holden met Mia.

I had pushed myself too hard the day before and couldn't wake up. He went to a scheduled event alone.

Mia was someone else’s assistant. Fresh out of college, nervous and stiff.

She smiled shyly—harmless and cute.

She didn't know how to play golf, so she boldly asked Holden to teach her.

They exchanged numbers. From meeting to starting an affair took less than two weeks.

Mia quit her job and jumped ship to his company.

Holden kept her by his side, teaching her everything, cultivating her like a rose waiting to bloom.

The funny thing is, I never even got a chance to confront her.

Holden hid her too well. I tried to investigate, but found nothing.

Instead, I’d face his rage the next day.

Once, I paid a fortune to get Mia’s personal info.

Before I could do anything, a dossier on my father’s mistress landed on my desk.

And not just my dad. The privacy of everyone in my family was laid bare.

Holden’s warning was clear: If I targeted Mia, my family’s dirty laundry would be aired to the public.

That night, I smashed everything in the villa in front of him.

Holden just sat on the sofa, watching me break things with indifference.

He looked at me like I was the crazy one.

Funny...

Now he’s the one who’s gone crazy.