When Fate Ends and Love Disperses, the Past Drifts Away Like Mist

My parents died in a car accident and the family company went bankrupt. I cried and begged for help from relatives and friends around me, but they all coldly rejected me.

In my despair, my fiancée handled my parents' funeral despite others' opinions and insisted on marrying me.

But in the fifth year of our marriage, on the 99th time I failed at starting a business, I used my last bit of money to buy her a bouquet of roses and went to meet her, only to accidentally overhear her conversation with her best friend.

Janice asked, "Salma, which failed startup is this for Jason? I've lost count. He really is a fool. Every failure was because you handed the core data to Adam and he has no idea?"

I heard Salma's cold voice, "The 99th. Why? You feel sorry for him?"

Janice said, "No, it's just that you've been married for five years. Adam is coming back tonight. Aren't you worried about being found out?"

Salma said again, "Adam is no longer that poor kid. He's now a rising star in tech. It's normal for our companies to work together. I chose Jason back then only because I couldn't be with Adam. Now that he's successful, everything I did is worth it."

I gripped the roses tightly, tears fell from my eyes uncontrollably.

So what I thought was salvation was actually just a bargaining chip for Salma to support her first love. She married someone she didn't love, just for him.

If that's the case, Salma, I won't start businesses anymore. And you, I didn't want you either.

——

I sat at the door until all my emotions had settled. As soon as I walked in, a mocking voice rang out from Janice, "Yo, another bouquet of roses? Don't tell me you failed again?"

"Jason, I'm telling you, if you're going to live off a woman, at least act like it. Don't treat Salma's investments like they're nothing." After saying that, Janice snatched the flowers from my hands and threw them to the floor with contempt.

I ignored her mockery, I immediately bent down to pick them up.

But my outstretched hand was harshly stomped on by her high heel. The sudden pain made me groan involuntarily.

"Janice, that's enough." It wasn't until Salma's scolding that I was released.

She carefully picked up the roses from the ground and, ignored my injured hand, she softly kissed the back of it.

Salma said, "Sorry, Jason. Janice didn't mean it. It's just that people have been talking too much lately and she's angry for me. I really like your flowers. You know that, anything from you, I love it."

I felt the warmth of her kiss on my hand, but I didn't feel comfort, only a deep chill. How could she discard me like garbage one moment and act all loving the next?

I forced down my disgust and managed a guilty look and said, "Salma, I've let you down. If I hadn't failed again and again, you wouldn't have to endure others' criticism. Maybe … maybe I should just leave. That way you won't have to ..."

Before I could finish, she covered my mouth with her hand and coaxed me, "What nonsense are you talking about? What do you take me for? I said we'd be together forever and that won't change!"

Her face was full of fake anger. If it were before, I'd have hugged her tightly in gratitude.

But now, I merely moved her hand away gently and nodded, "I know. I believe you." Then I said goodbye just like I always did.

Because every time I failed, Salma would use comforting me as an excuse to gather friends and force me out of the lab to relax.

But she didn't know that her friends never welcomed me. I would always drop off the flowers and left under some excuse.

But before I walked far, I heard mocking laughter from inside again.

"Salma, look at him. You were right, he's nothing compared to Adam. Not a trace of manliness," said Janice. "Adam is coming back tonight. Let him see what a real success looks like. Just because he married you doesn't mean he can become the young star of the Lance Family again!" she said again.

Salma replied, "He's indeed not as good as Adam. But next time, be more careful. Don't hurt his hand, Adam's company still needs him. And yes, I wronged him, but I don't regret it. For Adam, everything is worth it."

I stared blankly at the lipstick mark on the back of my hand, I scrubbed it until the skin turned red before I finally calmed down. I pulled out my phone and made a call.

Someone's voice rang out, "Mr. Lance, have you agreed?"

I answered, "Yes. I agree to sell you all the data. But the time of release must be decided by me!"

For the next three days, Salma didn't come home. Her assistant told me there was a sudden business trip.

That night, it wasn't until midnight that I finally got her call, "Jason, I've arrived safely. Don't worry. And while I'm not home, don't spend all your time in the lab. You must eat properly!"

Through the video call, I clearly saw the bed beside her sunken in. I suppressed the questions in my heart and I replied lightly, "Okay."

After hung up, I turned and entered the room that meant everything to her. The moment the door opened, I was met with a handdrawn portrait.

The lines were already faded, clearly worn down by frequent touch.

The walls were also filled with photos of Adam, arranged in chronological order, the first one taken on the day of our wedding.

So for five years, every time she said she was handling important business, she was really reminisced about Adam.

There was also a safe in the room. I entered Adam's birthday and successfully opened it. Inside, there were no valuable items, only the love letters Adam had written to her.

Started from my first failed startup, every time he received my data, he would write her a love letter. Each one filled with their shared longing and affection.

Even though I already knew I was just a pawn in Salma's game, my heart still felt like it had been torn in two.

Every time I failed, Salma would offer to review the data and give me strategic advice. I once wholeheartedly believed in her love, willingly sank deeper.

But it turned out, everything she did was just to make it easier to pass the data to Adam.

In the safe, there was also a letter Salma never sent. My hands trembled as I opened it. After I read it, tears spilled uncontrollably.

Salma had planned to propose to Adam once she obtained my final set of data. Even if she couldn't give him a proper title, she still wanted to give him a wedding.

But me? Because my parents had just died, Salma said it was inappropriate to celebrate.

All I got was a marriage certificate, nothing else. I obsessively reread every word in that letter until dawn, then used my phone to photograph them all.

They weren't just symbols of her betrayal. They were also evidence of Adam's theft of my work.

But as I stepped out of the room, I saw the housemaids huddled together whispering. When they noticed me, their faces briefly showed panic, then quickly turned to pity.

One of them said, "Sir, you're still home. We'll go make breakfast right away." With that, they scattered like birds, but in their haste, one dropped a phone on the floor.

I bent down to pick it up, only to be stunned by the news on the screen. It reported that a mysterious female tycoon had successfully proposed.

Even though the photo was pixelated, after sharing a bed for five years, I recognized her instantly.

She was that eager, proposing the moment she saw him. No wonder the maids pitied me.

"Sir, the internet always writes sensational stuff like that. We all know Madam loves you the most. She even knelt down to beg the old master for you. How could she be with someone else?" The phone's owner awkwardly tried to comfort me as I forced a bitter smile.

Yes, back when the Haynes Family found out about our marriage, they pressured Salma to divorce me.

It was her who knelt before Mr. Haynes herself to beg for a chance for me. She believed I could restore the Lance Family's name. Because of that trust, no matter how many times I failed, I always had the courage to rise again.

But who would've known, it was all a setup, a wellplanned trap to make me build a throne for someone else.

Luckily, everything was about to end. I took an advantage of Salma's absence and stayed in the lab to handle the data transfer. When the payment notification finally came through, my tense heart relaxed at last.

With the divorce agreement drafted by a lawyer in hand, I booked a flight to go abroad the next day.

Because the Haynes Family was too powerful in the capital, I had to wait for the perfect moment to strike back at Adam. And tomorrow, at his new product launch, was the best timing.

Back at the Haynes residence, I packed my belongings, searched at all the gifts Salma had given me over the years.

If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I'd never believe someone could go to such lengths for another person. She abandoned her own marriage, forsaked her own dignity, just to become a thief.

Suddenly, a cat's meow outside the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

I opened the door, about to call a maid to chase the cat away, but it darted into Salma's room. Through the gap in the door, what I saw froze me in place.

At some point, Salma had returned, but she didn't come back alone. There she was, lay softly against Adam's shoulder.

Her lips were swollen, her eyes full of desire, anyone could tell what had just happened.

Then she saw me standing at the door. Her face turned pale and panic filled her eyes.

She quickly pushed Adam away, ran her fingers through her messy hair and asked, "Jason, why are you home? Did the new experiment yield results?"

She continued, "Don't get the wrong idea. This is Adam, you even sponsored him back in the day. He had nowhere to stay after returning and since our companies are working together, I invited him to stay here. I twisted my ankle just now and luckily he caught me."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but scoff inwardly. Even now, in this situation, she still cared about my experiment. And who looked like that just from twisting an ankle?

But since I'd already decided to leave, I had no intention of exposing her lie. I simply said calmly, "Adam, thank you."

He said, "No need to thank me. It's what I should do. Without Salma's help over the years, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Adam's gaze was open, but when he said the word help, he deliberately emphasized it, a secret meaning only they understood, exchanged subconsciously between them. As if I was the one intruded on their world.

I clenched my palm tightly to stop myself from demanding answers.

Suddenly, Adam pulled out a postcard from behind him and handed it to me. He said, "Jason, I picked this carefully before returning. No matter what, that misunderstanding five years ago was my fault. Besides the press conference, I also want to formally apologize to you."

I sneered, how could it have been a misunderstanding? After my first failure, I secretly investigated.

I discovered that the products under his company were strikingly similar to mine.

I reported him under my real name through official channels, demanded proof of data sources, but instead, the police arrested me for spreads false rumors. Everyone said I couldn't handle my failure and slandered others out of spite.

Only Salma stepped up to speak on my behalf, unconditionally believed in me as always. But in truth, she was handing everything of mine over to him.

Seeing that I wouldn't take it, Salma quickly snatched it from Adam and shoved it into my hand and said, "Just take it. Luckily Adam didn't hold a grudge over your false report back then, or you'd have ended up in jail."

As she spoke, she picked up a document from her desk, signed it and handed it to Adam, "This is the cooperation proposal we just discussed. I've agreed to it, think of it as a return gift on Jason's behalf."

I stared hard at that document. The few words that flashed by were all too familiar to me.

She had just blatantly handed over my latest research to Adam as a socalled return gift for a postcard. Absolutely laughable.

After that, she picked up the little black cat that had slipped into the room and gently stroked it and said, "Jason, this cat belongs to Adam. It used to be a stray. It'll be living with us for the next few days. Isn't it adorable?"

Salma held the cat toward me, motioned for me to pet it.

I instinctively took a step back, looked her in the eye and asked, "Are you sure you want me to touch it?" She nodded in response.

I forced myself to stroke it twice, then quickly made an excuse to leave.

Because I had been allergic to cat fur since childhood. Yet it seemed Salma, who grew up with me and used to remember it so well, had completely forgotten.

To avoid the cat, I stayed in my room the entire day. Even with medication applied, I had scratched my skin raw.

That night, Salma unexpectedly came to my room. She said, "Jason, let's have a baby. Tomorrow is Adam's product launch. Let's go together. He promised to share some of his experience with you. Didn't you always say you wanted to be a successful father? This is the perfect opportunity."

I was stunned for a moment. Five years ago, when my parents died in an accident, I who only good at doing experiments, was utterly lost.

Salma pulled me back from the rooftop and we quickly got married. As the daughterinlaw of the Lance Family, she handled everything. Since then, I had yearned deeply to have a child of my own blood.

But repeated business failures made me felt unworthy of asking her for a child. Because I could endure being looked down on, but my child must not.

So for the past five years of marriage, we always took precautions.

"Honey, can we?" Her question snapped me out of my thoughts. Afraid she would notice, I pulled her into my arms, but my eyes turned colder.

She mistook it for excitement and ran off to prepare, casted a flirty glance back at me.

I stared at her retreating figure and whispered, "Salma, I no longer want a child with you."

That night, I never saw her again. By the next morning, neither she nor Adam were anywhere to be seen.

Left with no choice, I went alone to the product launch. Just as I was about to enter the hall, I was stopped by the security guard at the entrance.

The guard asked, "Sir, may I see your invitation?"

When I didn't respond, the guard added, "Today's venue has been fully reserved by the Haynes Group. Only prominent figures in the capital are invited. If you don't have an invitation, please leave."

People waiting to enter all turned to look at me.

They chatted, "Isn't that Salma's husband? Still acting like he's the young star of the Lance Family? He's been living off the Haynes Family for five years, if Salma hadn't kept her word and married him, he'd probably still be working off debts somewhere!"

"The Lance Family used to be something, but look at the son now. I heard Salma invested in his startups 99 times and he still failed, totally hopeless, what a waste of a good wife!" another person chimed in.

Just as they finished talking, Adam arrived with his entourage.

The crowd quickly parted and the security guard rushed over to greet him, "Mr. Stone, welcome! The venue is fully prepared. Let us know if anything's lacking, we'll adjust it right away."

"We also hope you'll put in a good word for us with Miss Haynes, so our hotel can host future Haynes Group events," he continued.

"Don't block Mr. Stone's path. Didn't we tell you to leave? We don't welcome freeloaders here, don't bring down our class!" The guard shoved me aside, now acted submissive, completely different from his earlier pompous attitude.

Adam looked at me smugly and said, "Stop right there! Is this how your hotel treats guests? I welcome anyone who wants to attend my banquet."

"Especially since Jason is my benefactor, without him, I wouldn't have met Salma. He's failed so many times, he's already having a hard time. I won't allow you to treat him like this!"

He continued, "But Jason, if you wanted to see my new product, you could've just asked. I can send you an invitation. Just please don't sneak a peek again and try to copy it like last time."

The moment plagiarism was mentioned, the recently quieted crowd broke into noise again. Countless disdainful eyes turned toward me.

The crowd chimed in, "We almost forgot, do you know why he's useless even with the Haynes Family behind him? Because all his stuff is copied! Even when he helped Mr. Stone back in the day, it was just to freeload ideas!"

"Tsk! Shameful. I actually felt bad for him when I heard his parents died!" another voice said.

If this were before, I definitely would have fought back, to avoid dragging down Salma's reputation. But now, I just wanted to be free of it all as soon as possible.

A crowd of people echoed their accusations while they praised Adam. They said he's grateful and talented at a young age.

I was completely shut out and I couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Adam, let's see if you're still can smile later.

A long time passed before Salma came out. She walked through the crowd and naturally linked her arm with mine. She asked, "Why aren't you going in? What are you doing out here?"

Seeing Salma appear, Adam immediately stepped forward, "Jason, let's go in together. My bad, I forgot to send you an invitation."

Salma pulled me into the banquet hall, she turned back to introduce me as someone here to learn from Adam.

People in the circle already looked down on me. Now, even fewer wanted to talk to me.

Meanwhile, Salma stayed with Adam, she introduced him to various business connections. Their laughter kept drifting over and a few times Adam even leaned entirely onto her.

The outofplace atmosphere made it hard for me to breathe.

After coming out of the restroom, Adam suddenly appeared in front of me.

Seeing how uncomfortable I looked, he smiled even more smugly, "Jason, you're feeling bad, aren't you? Tables have turned. Never thought you'd end up like this, huh?"

"Actually, I should thank you. If you hadn't taken me under your wing back then, I never would've met Salma," he sneered.

Expressionless, I looked at him and mocked, "What do you mean by that? Don't forget how you begged me for help back then. This is how you treat your benefactor?"

Hearing this, he stopped pretending altogether and mocked, "Benefactor? Huh! You think that counts as a favor, throwing me stuff you didn't want like I'm some beggar? You never treated me like a human being, so I made sure you'd know what it feels like to be looked down on. Can't handle it now, can you?"

"You should've known long ago that all my projects came from Salma. How does it feel to be betrayed by the one closest to you?"

"Oh right, your socalled 'neverdying' parents too, always saying I had shifty eyes, telling you to stay away from me. One phone call from me and they had a car crash. They were still calling me before they died, begging me not to hurt you!" he laughed.

Hearing that, what else did I not understand? Adam didn't just steal my work, he was even connected to my parents' deaths.

I couldn't hold it back anymore. I clenched my fist and slammed it into his face. In an instant, his face was swollen and red.

But instead of fighting back, he deliberately fell backward with the momentum of my punch.

I tried to hit him again, but Salma's security guards held me down.

And she, still fuming, slapped me hard across the face and said, "Jason, are you crazy? Adam came out just to keep you company and this is how you treat him?"

Onlookers rushed in, eager to kick me while I was down.

Adam leaned weakly against Salma's shoulder, he covered his wound pitifully and whined, "Salma, I'm sorry. I just pointed out some of Jason's problems. I didn't expect him to take it so badly and hit me. Don't blame him. If it weren't for his early support, I wouldn't be where I am now. Let's just call it even today."

The fury in my chest only burned hotter. I struggled desperately and yelled, "Even? Why should it be even? Salma, how exactly did his company rise to success? Don't you owe me an explanation?"

Panic flashed through Salma's eyes, but she quickly calmed down. She said, "Explain what? I looked into it all back then. Adam was abroad the whole time. How could he have copied you? Besides, I always helped analyze your failures. You just did badly and now you want to blame others. Jason, I really misjudged you!"

With her statement, the crowd buzzed with judgment, "He's crazy. Even Salma said so and he's still trying to slander Adam? He doesn't even trust his own wife."

A woman said, "Look at the state he's in. Thank goodness the Lance Family went bankrupt early. Otherwise, he'd have ruined them anyway!"

Another man also said, "Salma, the product launch is about to begin. We can't let him mess it up."

Salma gave me a cold glance and dragged Adam away. She ordered, "Throw him out. Don't let him back in until the launch is over!"

I stared blankly at her departing figure and muttered, "Salma, we're done."

The guards dragged me out like a dog and threw me to the ground. I gave a bitter laugh, tidied up my messy clothes, looked at the building's entrance and made a call, "It's time. You can come in now."

After that, I packed my things and left the divorce papers on the living room table. Right before boarding my flight, I uploaded all the evidence online and pulled out my SIM card.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Adam was confidently giving a speech on stage about his rise to success, "Next, I will announce the latest research achievement from the Stone Group. It is ..."

Suddenly, the main doors burst open and a group of sternfaced people walked in.

Adam scowled and spoke harshly, "Who are you? Don't you know what kind of place this is? Get out now, or don't blame me for being rude!"

The person opposite showed no fear and signaled with his eyes.

Someone beside him immediately stepped forward and said, "This is a court summons. Our firm is suing you for stealing Mr. Lance's patented work. Please appear in court as scheduled."