Years and you close together

Four years earlier, at her design school’s graduation show, the model Joyce had booked fell suddenly ill and couldn’t make it.

She was pacing frantically, at her wit’s end, when Caleb appeared. The computer science department’s heartthrob offered to help.

Tall and strikingly handsome, he was the perfect model in her eyes.

Thanks to him, Joyce graduated successfully. To show her gratitude, she took him out for a meal.

On their walk back to campus, a drunk driver swerved straight toward them.

At the last second, Caleb shoved her out of the way—and was hit by the car himself. He landed in the hospital.

When he woke up, he confessed he’d had a crush on her for a long time.

That confession shattered her walls completely. Caleb walked right through them, and never left.

Remembering all their sweet moments over the years, then replaying the words she’d heard today… the whiplash was excruciating. It felt like a pain that might tear her in two.

Outside, rain lashed the window. A flash of lightning cracked, jolting her scalp.

She stared at her own reflection in the glass, her breathing gradually steadying.

Crying was pointless. She couldn’t afford to be this weak any longer.

Caleb wasn’t after her. He was after Lin Holdings.

She couldn’t let him win.

Just then, her phone rang. She answered.

“Joyce, about that designer competition we talked about—the one with the intensive training program. Have you decided? Are you in?”

Joyce swiped the tears from her face and nodded firmly into the phone. “Sign me up, Dylan. I’ll be in the States next month.”

“Whoa, last week you couldn’t bear to be apart from your darling husband. What changed your mind?”

Suppressing the tremor in her voice, Joyce said with finality, “Dylan, I’m divorcing Caleb.”

Silence stretched on the other end before Dylan’s voice dropped, low and dangerous. “What happened, Joyce? Did Caleb do something to you? How dare he? The absolute audacity. I brought him into the company, gave him the CEO position, and this is how he repays us? By hurting my sister? Just wait, I’m coming back right now.”

Dylan was in the U.S., managing Lin Holdings’ most crucial international market. Joyce didn’t want him distracted by this mess. “No, don’t. I can handle things here. Trust me.”

Hearing the steel in her voice, Dylan, though worried, reluctantly agreed.

After hanging up, Joyce stepped out alone into the downpour and walked home in a daze.

At home, Caleb was still at his desk, working.

The moment she walked in, he rushed over and wrapped her in a tight hug, his voice thick with concern. “Where have you been? You’re soaked. Why didn’t you call the driver?”

Seeing the worry in his eyes sent a chill straight through her.

For over three years of marriage, he’d looked at her like that every single day, making her believe he loved her to his very core.

He, who was terrified of heights, had once jumped from a thousand feet in a paraglider just to kneel before her and propose.

He’d given up the tech company he’d poured his heart into for years, just to take over the Lin Group’s fashion business so she wouldn’t have to worry.

He’d made wishes under shooting stars for them to be together forever.

But today, she finally knew. Every word, every gesture, had been an act.

What he truly wanted, deep down, was to see her family ruined.