Chapter 2: Withered Roses

In my rage, I finally snapped.

Whatever composure I had managed to maintain completely shattered. I watched Victoria's expression shift—a brief flicker of guilt quickly replaced by defensive anger.

"I didn't even know you were back from your business trip!" she snapped. "Was I supposed to blow off a critical meeting with Chairman Sato? Sending Silas to grab it was my only option. Why do you always have to turn everything into a catastrophe?"

Her tone sharpened into an accusation. "Julian, since when did you become so petty and jealous? You're picking fights over every little thing. No woman wants a man who acts like this."

I genuinely thought I was numb to it all. From signing that paperwork at the station to sitting in absolute silence during the car ride, I had clung to some last remaining shred of pride. I had mentally reviewed our entire history together, concluding that I just wanted a clean, dignified exit. But the tears came anyway. They spilled over uncontrollably at her harsh words, messy and unstoppable, like scattered beads I couldn't gather back up.

"Yeah," I choked out, my voice thick. "No one would want this. But I don't need your approval anymore, either."

I wiped my face and turned to walk away, but Silas reached out and grabbed my arm.

He burst into tears—crying even harder than I was, unleashing a dramatic flood of apologies and claiming it was all his fault.

"Julian," he sobbed, leaning fully into the performance. "I swear it was an accident! Please, don't be mad at Victoria. I'll quit tomorrow! I'll disappear completely. She loves you so much, so please don't make her sad."

I was disgusted by the act. Watching him fake his distress actually dried my own tears, and I shoved him away with sudden force.

"Get away from me."

Silas stumbled backward and fell to the pavement, staring up at me with manufactured shock.

"Julian!" Victoria rushed over to help him up. Seeing the minor scrapes on his palms, she immediately turned her fury on me. "Have you completely lost your mind? Apologize to him right now!"

"In your dreams," I spat, catching a fleeting glint of triumph in Silas's teary eyes. "If you won't agree to the divorce, we'll settle it in court."

I didn't look back. I ignored the sound of Silas's renewed sobbing and Victoria alternating between comforting him and calling me insane. I hailed a cab and went straight to the apartment of my childhood friend, Felix.

Felix didn't ask any questions. He simply let me in, pulled a dozen beers from his fridge, set them on the table, and asked, "Is this enough?"

Looking at him, my eyes welled up all over again.

Felix stayed quiet and just opened his arms. "Need a hug?" he offered gently.

I completely broke down. I collapsed against him and cried until my voice gave out, my entire body shaking with the force of it. I cried until I felt physically sick, eventually throwing up violently in his bathroom.

Finally, gasping for air, I looked at Felix. "I want a divorce. I'm done. I want Victoria to rot in hell."

What does the end of love really look like?

It is two people who once stood together against the rest of the world, now holding knives to each other's throats. It is the cold realization that the roses you planted on the grave of your marriage were always destined to wither.