A Heart That Wandered Too Far

Chapter 1 The Assistant When a relationship between two people changed, it was something that could be felt clearly.

Zachary Pallonski was a somewhat renowned lawyer, so he was quite busy. However, there was no way he would be so busy that he couldn’t even come home.

For the past two weeks, we had hardly even spoken more than a few sentences to each other.

Not wanting things to continue being so cold between us, I purposefully made lunch for him and decided to deliver it to him.

After knocking on the door, I opened it without waiting for a response.

Zachary wasn’t alone in the office. There was also a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties.

One was sitting while the other was standing. Though they were in somewhat closer proximity than was normal, there was nothing out of line in their actions.

However, they had the same type of smile on their faces.

It had been ages since I last saw such a relaxed and joyful smile on Zachary’s face.

Zachary, who was sitting by his desk, was visibly stunned when he saw me. “Why are you here?”

Noting the stiffness in his tone, I felt a wave of bitterness surge through me.

“I came to bring you lun–” I didn’t finish my sentence when I noticed an open lunchbox on his desk. Clearly, the young woman standing beside Zachary had prepared it.

“This is?” I asked.

Zachary frowned slightly, but he still introduced me to her, “This is my new intern assistant. I’m just having the staff meal for lunch, so she handled it.”

What sort of staff meal was personally prepared by an assistant?

“Aren’t you busy with your shop? Go on back.” Before I could probe further, Zachary was already chasing me away.

My heart felt like it had been stabbed by a needle as it throbbed painfully. Did I no longer hold a place in Zachary’s heart?

I turned to look at the intern beside him. She was wringing her hands, an anxious expression on her face. There was a pitiful air around her, making it seem like she desperately needed to be protected. Was it because of her?

“Tatiana.” The moment Zachary noticed me staring at the young woman, he called my name sternly. He also moved so he was standing protectively in front of her.

The way he was acting was as though he were facing down an enemy. This shocked me deeply, and sorrow welled in my eyes.

I asked, “Do you think I want to hurt her?”

Zachary’s expression was grim as he replied, “It hasn’t been long since she joined the company. She comes from a poor family background, so she had to earn her tuition fees herself. I thought she was quite pitiful, and that’s why I gave her this internship.”

“Is it really because you pity her, or is it because you think she’s cute?” I pressed.

“Tatiana Sallow!” Zachary bellowed, his embarrassment turning to fury. “Stop being unreasonable! You didn’t used to be such a heartless person!”

He didn’t even bother hiding the impatience in his eyes.

The leg I injured two years ago in my effort to save Zachary started throbbing with pain again. My body swayed, and only by grabbing the edge of the desk was I able to steady myself.

When Zachary caught sight of my trembling leg, the coldness in his eyes faded, being replaced by a complex look.

A hint of patience had returned to his tone as he said, “She’s just an intern assistant, so you don’t have to worry at all. Anyway, I need to get to work now. You should head back first. I’ll pick you up from work later.”

I left despondently, bringing the unopened lunchbox with me.

Throughout the entire exchange, Zachary hadn’t even glanced at the lunch I spent the entire morning lovingly making for him.

Chapter 2 Take Responsibility When I got off work in the evening, Zachary didn’t come to pick me up as he promised. He called to say he was busy with a case and told me to go home by myself.

I stood in front of the cafe, staring up at the night sky. Before I could help it, my eyes reddened.

Back then, when Zachary confessed his feelings to me, he had said that he couldn’t accept living without me. He had vowed that he loved me and that his feelings wouldn’t change for all of eternity. It had only been five years since then.

Just as I was about to hail a taxi, I spotted that intern assistant of his getting out of the taxi. She headed straight toward me.

Gone was the pitiful air around her when she was in the office. Instead, her face was filled with arrogance.

I turned my head to wipe away the tear stains on my face before gazing calmly at her.

“Tatiana, when it comes to love, there’s no such thing as who came first,” the young woman declared, her chin tilted up challengingly.

I hadn’t even sought her out to seek trouble, yet here she was already, acting all cocky.

When I remained silent, she became even more audacious. “With how busy Mr. Pallonski is, he needs someone who’s thoughtful and considerate. Someone who can take good care of him and make him happy.

“You? The best idea you could come up with was suddenly ambushing him at work. You thought he would be surprised and delighted at you abruptly bringing him lunch this once, don’t you?

“Tatiana, Mr. Pallonski doesn’t love you anymore. Why insist on humiliating yourself by clinging to him relentlessly?”

She sure was daring to challenge my limits like this. Did she really think I was a pushover? My hand flew forward to land a slap on her cheek.

“Since you think of yourself as a despicable toy that only knows how to please others, this slap is all I can give you and the only thing you deserve,” I said.

The young woman cradled her cheek, where a bright red handprint was forming. She glared at me in disbelief. “You dare hit me?”

Taking out a wet tissue, I slowly cleaned the hand I had slapped her with. “Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘having a sense of shame’?”

How dare such a filthy thing seek me out to trouble me?

“You’re nothing but a cripple! You don’t deserve Mr. Pallonski!” the young woman shrieked.

My fingers tightened briefly on the wet tissue before I tossed it into a trash bin. Then, I shot her a cold glance. “I dare you to say that to Zachary’s face.”

I was sure she wouldn’t have the guts to do that, as Zachary had never allowed anyone to make fun of my leg before.

That night, Zachary returned late. By then, I was already asleep, but he roughly shook me awake.

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw Zachary’s furious expression. “Why did you hit Kristina?”

So, her name was Kristina. I thought the name matched her perfectly.

I sat up and looked at him calmly. “What did she tell you?”

Zachary self-righteously said, “What else? The whole truth, of course! I was worried about you going home alone late, so I specifically sent her to keep you company. Not only are you not grateful, but you even hit her! Tatiana, I’m truly disappointed in you!”

Just what was Zachary thinking? Had he forgotten the unhappy incident in his office earlier that day? How could he have sent Kristina to keep me company?

My eyes dimmed as I asked him softly, “Then, did she tell you about what she said to me? That you don’t love me anymore and that I shouldn’t humiliate myself by clinging to you persistently? That I, as a cripple, don’t deserve you?

“Since she told you the whole truth, does that mean you agree with her words?”

Zachary’s eyes widened, a look of disbelief flashed through them. “Krissie wouldn’t say that. Tatiana, you don’t need to debase yourself to gain my sympathy. I’ve already told you: your leg got hurt because of me, so I’ll definitely take responsibility for you.”

So, it seemed like all that remained between Zachary and me was responsibility.

Sorrow and grief welled in me. Through his eyes, I saw a reflection of my own heartbroken expression.

We were childhood friends and only confirmed our relationship after we graduated from university. After that, we dated for five years.

We had a long history between us, having known each other for many, many years; he had only just met that assistant. Yet, the person he believed wasn’t me.

Lowering my gaze, I allowed the tears to drip silently onto the back of my hands.

“Zachary,” I called out in a choked voice. “You don’t need to take responsibility for me anymore. I’m setting you free.”

Chapter 3 He Is Dating Two years ago, Zachary won a lawsuit but made an enemy who wanted to take revenge on him. As his enemy sped his car toward us, I shoved him away but was sent flying by the impact.

I didn’t die from the incident, but my leg was severely injured, and I developed a limp.

After many rounds of physiotherapy, I was mostly recovered. However, traumatized by the event, I couldn’t continue working as a lawyer. Instead, I opened up a cafe.

I had saved him of my own volition, so I had never blamed him or even expected him to take responsibility for me. After all, back then, we got together because of our mutual feelings for each other.

Back in the present, Zachary grabbed my hand.

When I sensed the faint trembling coming from him, I raised my reddened eyes to look at him.

A mix of complicated emotions was swirling in Zachary’s eyes. “Don’t say that just because you’re angry. You shouldn’t joke about such matters.”

Did that mean he still cared for me?

My eyes burned with newly formed tears, and I turned my head away, not wanting to look at him.

A moment of silence later, Zachary said, “We’ll be okay in the future.”

“Do you still love me?” I asked him seriously.

He fell silent, and just as my heart sank, he spoke. “We’re too familiar with each other, and we’ve been dating for five years. To be honest, life has become rather boring.”

That meant he had grown tired of me.

But we were just fine a while ago, weren’t we? We were even planning out our future and everything. Why did he suddenly find life with me boring?

“Tia, there’s no way we’re breaking up. I just think it’s time for us to change things up a bit,” Zachary said.

“How?” I asked hoarsely.

To my surprise, he replied with, “Let’s get married.”

Since we had been together for so many years, I couldn’t deny that I had hoped we would marry one day. I just wasn’t sure if Zachary truly wanted to get married.

However, he genuinely seemed serious about it. The next day, he bought a ring and officially proposed to me. He even told me he had fired Kristina. It was as though he had temporarily lost his way and was now finding his way back.

He threw himself into preparations for the wedding, which we had set for a month later.

Zachary had me pick out a wedding dress for our photoshoot while he also planned our honeymoon. As for the wedding invitation cards, we designed them together. He even personally wrote down our names on the invitation cards.

Happiness returned to Zachary’s face, and he started being incredibly mindful of me again. Whenever he had the time, he would definitely pick me up from work.

He looked genuinely hopeful about the idea of getting married, which reminded me of when we first started dating.

Perhaps, this was exactly the kind of change we needed.

Nonetheless, right as I focused on our wedding preparations, reality decided to deal me a harsh blow. I accidentally caught a glimpse of a message Zachary had received.

“Darling, I miss you. Come over earlier tonight, okay?” the message wrote.

I was utterly dumbfounded, my entire body stiff as I sat there.

A few seconds later, I reached out to grab Zachary’s phone, my hand shaking so much that I nearly lost my grip on it. The message was from someone saved as “Kris”.

I instantly thought of that intern assistant, Kristina.

Following that, I tried to unlock the phone using my birthdate, only to fail. It seemed that at some point in time, Zachary had changed his phone lockscreen number.

I placed the phone back in its original spot, just as Zachary happened to come out of the bathroom.

Seeing me sitting beside his phone, he briefly paused in the middle of drying his hair. Then, he approached me and attempted to sound casual as he asked, “Did anyone message or call me?”

I clenched my fingers, my nails digging deep into my palms as I tried to suppress the raging emotions within me. Feigning calm, I shook my head and replied, “I didn’t hear any notifications.”

Upon hearing that, Zachary visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

I got up to pour a glass of water and asked in a seemingly casual tone, “Are you waiting for someone to contact you?”

Zachary had been checking his phone, his lips curling up slightly. However, when he heard my question, the smile instantly disappeared. “Yeah. I have a client who wants to talk tonight.”

Recently, he had been going out every night, claiming he needed to meet his clients.

And here I had been wondering why it seemed like none of his recent clients were ever free during the day. As it turned out, he had been busy going out on dates.

It wasn’t that Zachary had gone back to being how he was when we first started dating. Instead, it was because he was dating someone else.

How ironic. He was my fiancé, yet he was currently in love with someone else.