The Architect of My Hate

I turned and met Liam's gaze.

He took in my rain-soaked, miserable state, and his brow furrowed in a tight frown.

"What are you doing here? I told you not to come to the firm during work hours. This isn't a place for you to just drop by."

His stern expression was a world away from the gentle look he’d just given Chloe.

I should have been sad, just like all the other times he'd dismissed me.

But at this moment, all I felt was an icy numbness.

"You said on the phone you had an urgent meeting. I was worried, so I came to bring you something to eat."

I had waited at City Hall for half the day. It was almost closing time before I finally got ahold of him.

I had rushed over, frantic.

I was glad I came.

Otherwise, I don’t know how much longer I would have been made a fool of.

He paused, his eyes flickering away from mine guiltily.

"You misheard. It wasn't a meeting, Chloe was…"

"No, you're right. It's my fault," I cut him off.

It was me. I was the one who was wrong.

Wrong from the very beginning.

"Well, I'll get out of your hair then."

I turned to leave.

Liam didn't follow. Chloe was crying.

"Is Ava mad at me? It's all my fault… I'm so sorry for putting you in a difficult position…"

Liam comforted her in a low voice, "It's not your fault. She's just being inconsiderate."

I quickened my pace.

On the car ride home, a call came from Liam. I didn't want to answer, but he kept calling, again and again.

"Hello?"

"You're not busy for the next few days, are you?"

Liam's voice had softened.

I remained silent.

He continued, "Chloe has to pull some all-nighters to meet a project deadline."

"Since you're free, could you make some dinner and bring it over for her?"

"She's a young girl, new to the firm, with no one to look after her. As the future boss's wife, you should take care of her."

Liam’s voice was filled with a genuine concern I’d never heard him use for me.

But I had cut off my family for him. I often cried myself to sleep at night, homesick.

He was all I had in this city.

He had never shown me that kind of concern.

That kind of tenderness is reserved for someone you truly love.

It took me five years to understand that simple truth.

Sensing my silence, Liam was about to say more.

But I simply replied, "Okay."

The other end of the line went quiet.

Liam probably hadn't expected me to agree so readily.

After all, I would be cooking for the other woman, the one he was so intimate with.

But he didn't know. I had already decided to leave him.