Beneath the Perfect Disguise, I Quietly Slipped Away Chapter 2

I finally made my flight.

After settling into my seat, the lack of breakfast hit me. My blood sugar dropped, and I felt dizzy.

I habitually reached into my pocket and found three chocolates.

Ever since I fainted from hypoglycemia a long time ago, Connor would stuff a few chocolates into my pocket every day.

The sweetness melted on my tongue, relieving the dizziness.

But immediately after, bitterness surged up.

Seven years together.

How did Connor and I end up here?

At first, I truly believed Madison was just "the daughter of Dad's business partner" that he "had to look out for."

That’s why Connor kept things strictly professional with me at work but gave her special care.

My former supervisor, Marcus, made my life hell, and Connor did nothing.

But if Marcus slightly slighted Madison? He was fired immediately.

People whispered behind my back. In front of me—Connor’s secret girlfriend—they called Madison "his favorite."

I forced myself to understand his predicament.

But this special treatment bled into our private life.

Connor abandoned me time and time again for her phone calls.

The damn explosion happened late one night.

I saw a photo in a colleague group chat.

Connor, who told me he was "working overtime," was accompanying Madison to a midnight movie premiere.

It was Forever Yours, the movie I had begged him to see with me, only to be ruthlessly rejected.

I had tugged on his sleeve, pleading, "Baby, everyone goes with the person they love! Can we please go?"

Connor hadn't even lifted his eyelids. "Watching that kind of brainless romantic trash is a waste of time."

But in the photo, he was smiling so gently.

Not a hint of impatience.

Messages scrolled frantically in the group chat, blurring before my eyes.

When Connor came home, I asked him with a stone-cold face:

"So, was Forever Yours good?"

A flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

Or maybe I imagined it.

Because a second later, his face turned cold as ice. "Are you stalking me now?"

It felt like someone squeezed my heart. I couldn't breathe.

"Do I need to stalk you?"

"Sweet photos of you two are flooding the company group chat!"

My chest heaved violently.

"Connor, if you want to break up, just say it! Don't play me like this!"

Connor's expression didn't shift an inch. He was calm, like an outsider watching a show.

"If you don't trust me, then we have nothing to talk about."

"Aurora, I've been tired all day. I don't have the energy to deal with this bullshit."

No guilt. No explanation.

Compared to my wretched state, his composure was terrifying.

He even steadily placed the paper bag in his hand on the table.

The large letters "Forever Yours" on the bag stabbed into my heart like a knife.

All the emotions, wrapped in massive grievances, came crashing down.

They snapped my last string of reason.

I grabbed the paper bag and smashed it onto the floor.

It wasn't sealed.

The contents spilled everywhere.

Clatter. Clatter.

I didn't even look. I just stared at Connor with red eyes.

We stared at each other.

A standoff.

After a long while, he slammed the door and left.

I stood there, frozen like a statue.

Until something rolled to my feet.

I looked down.

It was chocolate.

Handmade chocolates, rolling all over the floor.