Chapter 1

"Congratulations on passing the online interview, Mr. Bolton. We've already emailed you the offer letter, and we'll need you to report to Linkton within half a month. Would you have any issues with that?" The man on the phone spoke fluent Invian from the other side of the world. "No, I won't. I'll be there in two weeks," Neal Bolton said without hesitation. Almost as soon as he hung up, the door swung open, and Joyce Slater entered the room. When she saw Neal, she held out a gift bag. "I couldn't ring in the New Year with you yesterday because of an emergency at the law firm. Don't be mad." She sounded sincere, and Neal didn't question her. He took the bag and glanced inside to see a lone sandalwood bracelet. It meant so little to her that she hadn't even bothered wrapping it in something else. The bracelet was expensive, but it wasn't because of it itself. The expensive one was the matching agarwood bracelet that came with it—the sandalwood bracelet was only a gift. The fact that the sandalwood bracelet was here meant that Joyce had bought the agarwood bracelet. Yet, she'd chosen to give him the free item. If not for the photos Corey Swank had sent to him yesterday showcasing the agarwood bracelet, Neal never would've thought Joyce, his girlfriend of five years, would've given the more expensive item to someone else while giving him the bonus item. It was just like how Joyce had used an emergency at the law firm to explain away not ringing in the New Year with him. In truth, she'd spent it with Corey. Neal didn't expose Joyce's lie, though. He thanked her and put the gift away. She frowned when she saw him accept the gift without doing anything else. She stopped him before he could return to his room. "Where's mine?" He was a little confused and didn't understand what she wanted from him. "What are you talking about?" "Have you forgotten? Didn't you want us to exchange gifts every New Year to show we cared about each other?" Joyce looked upset. She didn't expect him to be the one to go back on their agreement when he'd suggested it. The realization dawned on Neal. Then, he said flippantly, "We've been together for so long; we're like an old married couple now. There's no need to be so hung up on these formalities." Joyce wanted to refute him but suddenly found his words familiar. Then, she remembered where she'd heard them. Last year, Neal had excitedly prepared a gift for her for New Year's, but she'd forgotten about their agreement. So, she'd been empty-handed when he'd come to her with a gift. He'd looked disappointed when asking her why she'd forgotten about their promise to each other. How had she answered him then? She'd said, "We've been together for so long that we're an old married couple now. So what if I've forgotten a formality or two?" Now that the same excuse was being used to brush her off, Joyce finally understood how Neal would've felt when hearing her say those words. For a moment, she was rendered speechless. Ultimately, she could only awkwardly try to change the subject. She looked around the room. When she couldn't find anything to talk about, she brought the topic of conversation back to herself. "I'm hungry." She fixed her gaze on Neal. To her surprise, all he did was say, "Oh." "Is that all?" She gaped at him, not expecting him to react so indifferently. In fact, he looked like he didn't care. He gave her a confused look. "What else do you want me to say? Should I transfer some money to you so you can get something to eat?" "That's not what I mean. I—" Joyce abruptly broke off. Neal watched her with amusement. He knew what she wanted to say. She'd always been a picky eater, and lawyers were always busy with one thing or another, so she never ate regularly. Whenever she said she was hungry, Neal would prepare a meal for her, even if it was 3:00 am. Now, however, he no longer cared whether her gastric would act up. "You can head downstairs to get something to eat if money's not the problem, then. I have a gathering later, so I need to leave soon," Neal said. He turned to head to the room to change, but Joyce grabbed his hand after he'd only taken a few steps. He turned to see the steely look on her face. "Where are you going so late at night? What are you up to?" she snapped. He didn't know what she was suddenly so angry about. He tried and failed to shake her off; all it did was make her tighten her grip. The pain in his wrist made him frown slightly, and he hissed. "Let me go. It's just a normal gathering." That was the extent of his explanation. Joyce couldn't accept this change. "You've never acted like this in the past…" She was right. He never would've abandoned her for anything else. The old Neal would've immediately headed to the kitchen to cook something upon hearing she was hungry. How could he possibly leave her alone to meet some friends? However, the current Neal couldn't care less about that. He'd already decided to leave her, after all.