By the time Christopher arrived at the Gardner Group building, it was already 4:00 PM. The office was gradually emptying as people began leaving for the day.
He had spent hours at the hospital, dealing with the overwhelming situation. In addition to the long hours at the medical facility, he had sold his house, borrowed money from relatives, cashed in credit cards, and even reached out to college classmates and tried various online lending platforms.
After much effort, he had finally gathered enough funds for his mother’s surgery. The appointment had been scheduled, and he had originally planned to settle things with Skylar after her surgery. But everything had changed when he found out who Skylar’s lover was. To his shock, it wasn’t Paul, as he had assumed, but Joe—the one person he feared even thinking about.
Christopher couldn’t understand it. Skylar had always seemed uninterested in wealth and status. She never cared about the power or influence of the men in her life. So why had she chosen to be with Joe? Had she changed? Had she become just another woman who cared more about material things?
He thought back to their seven years together. In all that time, Skylar had refused to let him touch her. But now, she was with Joe. He couldn’t accept it. If she had allowed him to be with her, he would never have slept with Maisy.
He looked up at the towering Gardner Group building. To many, it was a symbol of success—a place people dreamed of entering but couldn’t. When Skylar had been his girlfriend, she had been so different. She loved visiting museums, wandering through antique streets, and reading history books in the library. She never cared about the materialistic world around her.
Skylar’s job at Gardner Group could only have come through Joe. For the average person, getting into Alexander’s team would have been a fair process based on talent and ability. But for families like Joe’s, those rules didn’t really apply.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Skylar had broken up with him without hesitation, all for the sake of material benefits.
After another half hour of waiting, Skylar finally emerged from the building. She looked a bit tired, her energy spent from a long day of restoration work. She hadn’t even had lunch because she had been so absorbed in her task.
Although she appeared calm, almost indifferent to money and material wealth, Skylar cared deeply. She was already planning to visit some properties this weekend. She wanted to buy a house for herself, a home where her adoptive mother and siblings could live. The thought of it made her smile.
As Skylar walked toward the parking lot, someone suddenly rushed up to her and grabbed her arm, dragging her to the side. She was startled. At first, she didn’t recognize him. Christopher had changed so much—he had lost a considerable amount of weight, and his unshaven face made him look even more disheveled than before.
“Let go of me!” Skylar snapped, jerking her arm away. She didn’t hesitate for a second before delivering two sharp slaps to Christopher’s face—one on each cheek. She hadn’t held back at all. She had wanted to do this for a long time, and now that he was here, she wasn’t going to deny him the punishment he deserved. After everything he had done to her in her past life, he had more than earned it.
Christopher stumbled back, caught off guard by her forceful attack. He hadn’t kept up with any physical activity recently, and Skylar’s blows knocked him off balance. He looked up at her in disbelief.
“You’ve changed, Skylar! You’re different from before! You would never have acted like this in the past,” he spat. “I’ve heard everything. You’re Joe’s lover, aren’t you? Don’t you know he’s just playing with you? He’ll never marry you or take responsibility for you.”
Skylar raised an eyebrow, her expression unreadable.
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