Yvonne seemed to shine as she stood under the light, but that wasn’t something Jared wanted to see. As he looked at her now, she felt both familiar and foreign at
the same time.
As a kid, when he’d seen her for the first time, he thought she was far too beautiful. She’d grown up in a warm, loving family. Despite carrying herself with the air and grace of a wealthy heiress, she didn’t have an ounce of arrogance or willfulness.
He liked her, and he knew that many others did too. So, he had to drive away all the other guys who appeared before her. He had to make sure she only had eyes for him. He wanted to be the only one she chose to be with.
Jared had to admit that he reveled in the looks of envy he received from others when Yvonne became his girlfriend.
But now, she was no longer standing beside him.
Everyone could see how breathtaking she was. He felt as if she’d broken free from him and betrayed him.
At that very moment, Jared felt a strong sense of insecurity, one that he hadn’t felt in ages. Tightening his fists, he continued staring at Yvonne. The feeling of having lost control only served to fuel his possessiveness over her.
He wondered, “How could you resign and leave me, Yvvy? I want you back!”
Meanwhile, following the presentation, the press interviewed Yvonne and Jean.
Howard Wellington, Samuel’s assistant, was seated among the crowd. He took a photo of Yvonne beside her sculpture, “The Wishful Girl“, and sent it to Samuel.
“The exhibition went off without a hitch, Mr. Hover.”
No one would ever find out about the smile that bloomed across Samuel’s face when he received that message.
Once the exhibition ended, Yvonne personally saw Jean off before returning to the exhibition to oversee the team as they secured the exhibition pieces.
“Mr. Ford.”
When Yvonne heard someone greeting Jared, she was startled and turned her head to look.
“Why did you resign, and why did you keep it a secret? Is this your way of getting back at me?” Jared asked, his tone dripping with dissatisfaction.
It sounded all too familiar to Yvonne, who didn’t feel ruffled in the slightest. “I submitted my resignation in accordance with the company policy.”
“I didn’t agree to it.”
At last, Jared had made his way through the crowd and now stood in front of Yvonne. His eyes were swirling with the emotions he couldn’t suppress.
“That’s enough. I hereby declare the end of our silent treatment phase. If you don’t want to return to the secretarial department, you can just tell me what you want. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Having declared his willingness to compromise, Jared reached out to grab Yvonne’s hand, but she backed away to avoid him.
When he failed to grasp her hand, Jared felt his heart clench with fear.
He could no longer keep his emotions in check. Staring at her in disbelief, he questioned, “What on earth do you want, Yvvy? You used your resignation as a form of protest, didn’t you? Well, you’ve gotten what you wanted now, so why are you still stubbornly choosing to be difficult?”
“What I want is to resign. That’s my decision to make, and I don’t have to explain myself to anyone,” Yvonne answered as she met his gaze calmly.
In her youth, he’d been the manifestation of all that she’d wanted, but now, he felt like a stranger to her.
“I’m not just anyone! I’m your boyfriend!”
Frowning in displeasure, Jared took a deep breath before keeping his tone even as he said, “You’ve won this time, Yvvy. You resigned so that you could focus fully on the wedding preparations, right? Well, you can’t have a wedding without me, the groom.
“Come back to work and help me settle the resort project first. Then, I’ll have time to prepare for the wedding with you. Come home with me now and-”
“Jared,” Yvonne interrupted, stating the decision she’d made from the start, “we won’t be having a wedding.“.
