Chapter Five: A Painful Decision

She sat alone in the restroom stall, crying quietly. The tears wouldn’t stop—not because of what Tina had done, but because of the look she had seen in Dreston’s eyes. A look filled with cold hatred and anger, directed entirely at her.

He had been distant for years, yes—cold and unreachable. But he had never looked at her like that before. Never had he shown such open disgust, as if her very presence offended him.

And the way he had shouted at her in front of his secretary and bodyguards—

“Get out.”

Just remembering those two words made her chest tighten painfully.

More tears slipped down her cheeks as she hugged her knees tighter. Then she heard the restroom door open, footsteps getting closer. The sharp clicking of heels on the tile filled the space.

“What happened in your department?” That was Sandra’s voice—her colleague.

“I think Mrs. Tremont attacked Miss Ackley. And the boss sent her away,” Janet replied with confidence.

Her stomach twisted. Of course Janet would say that.

“Everyone knows the boss and Miss Ackley love each other,” Kate added. “I heard Mrs. Tremont knew this and still got married to him.”

Her heart shattered again, for what felt like the hundredth time. This was what she had been reduced to—office gossip, whispered judgment, pitiful stories exchanged behind her back.

“I even heard that Mrs. Tremont and Miss Ackley are best friends.”

“Oh my God.”

“And she still married her friend’s boyfriend?”

“This is serious. No wonder they never seemed like husband and wife. I always wondered why, but now I know. He only loved one woman—and that’s Miss Ackley.”

“You should have seen how he carried her away.”

Enough of all of these.

Cassienne had heard enough.

She wiped her tears quickly with the back of her hand and stood up. She opened the stall door. The moment they saw her, their eyes widened in shock. Shame was written all over their faces. None of them could say a word.

But she ignored them.

She turned on the faucet, splashed cold water on her face to hide the redness, and walked out without speaking.

When she returned to her station, she felt the stares—too many of them. News of what had happened had clearly spread far beyond her department.

And at that moment, she made a decision.

A drastic, painful, necessary decision.

She opened a new email. Her fingers trembled only once. Then she typed her resignation letter, printed it, and placed it in an envelope.

When she was done, she sat down and focused on her work—her last work for Auralink.

Hours passed. The office slowly emptied. By seven in the evening, everyone had left. She completed everything on her desk and submitted her final work to Peter.

He looked up from his documents, his voice uncomfortably cold. She ignored the tone.

“You have violated company rules, Mrs. Tremont,” he said.

She almost laughed. Violated rules? If he knew the humiliation she had endured today, he would understand that rules were the least of her concerns.

She ignored the comment, placed the envelope on his table, and turned to leave.

“And what the hell is this?” he snapped.

Without looking back, she replied, “My resignation letter.”

She didn’t wait for his reaction. She simply walked away.

When she returned to her workstation, the cleaning crew was already wiping surfaces and arranging chairs. She gathered her things slowly and quietly. Then her eyes fell on a framed portrait—the photo of her and Dreston taken a year after their wedding.

She picked it up, studied the frozen smiles and pretence of happiness… then dropped it straight into the trash bin.

It meant nothing now.

She walked out of the building and stepped into the noisy street. People rushed home. Cars honked. The city was alive. But inside her… everything felt silent, like she had just walked out of the ruins of her own life.

She drove home without thinking. Her body moved on autopilot, guided only by exhaustion.

When she reached the mansion, she went straight to her room. She pulled out two large suitcases from the closet, unzipped them, and opened the doors to her wardrobe. One by one, she began packing everything that belonged to her.

She didn’t eat dinner. She didn’t drink water. And not surprisingly, Dreston didn’t come home either.

When she opened the drawer where she kept important documents, she found something she had hidden long ago—the divorce papers she had once asked her lawyer to prepare.

She had never signed them before. Not because she wanted to stay, but because she had always held onto hope. She always believed something might change, that maybe one day he would look at her differently.

But tonight—tonight killed every last drop of hope.

She stared at the papers, breathing slowly. What was the point? Why cling to a man who never saw her? Who never loved her? Who probably never would?

If her mother weren’t sick, she would have begged her to leave long ago.

She picked up the pen. Her hand shook once. Then she signed the document.

Now she could finally breathe.

She slipped the papers back into the envelope and set them aside.

The next morning, she placed the envelope inside her bag and left her wedding ring on the nightstand. The empty space on her finger felt strange, but also strangely freeing.

She was done pretending. Done crying. Done loving someone who didn’t love her back. She was done sacrificing herself for a marriage that had been dead from the very beginning.

As she walked out of her room, she remembered how happy she used to be in high school. How bright and cheerful she used to be, how full of dreams.

Then Tina had come… and taken everything from her—even the boy who once looked at her like she mattered.

Her friends had complained that she had changed. They missed the old her.

And maybe… she missed that version of herself too.

She had abandoned her own dreams, her personal projects, all for Auralink—and for a man who never cared. But not anymore.

From this day forward, she would return to herself. She would rebuild her dreams, work on her own project, and work for herself.

She was done being the good wife, done being invisible, done begging for love.

Now she was free. A free bird with broken wings—but she knew she would spread them again.

And when she did… she would soar higher than anyone ever expected.