After the Love Has Gone (Helena and Mark) novel Chapter 1

I prepared plenty of dishes on Christmas day, waiting for Helena Hawthorne to come home for dinner.

However, she never noticed any of them as she continued packing her things into a suitcase. She then said coldly, "I won't be spending Christmas with you this year."

I didn't say a thing as I started eating in silence.

Right at the stroke of midnight, Helena's first love posted a photo on his Instagram feed. Helena was leaning against his shoulder in an intimate manner in the photo as fireworks lit up the sky behind them.

The caption read, "She said that as long as I wanted it, she'd leave everything behind to be with me."

I didn't get hysterical or question her anymore this time. Instead, I just double-tapped on the post to like it.

A second later, Helena called me, sounding like she was anxious and panicking. "Don't get mad. I'll definitely spend the next Christmas with you…"

I laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "It's a pity that we won't have till next year anymore."

…

By the time Helena came home, it was already the next day. 

Last time, I'd have been waiting anxiously for her at the main gate of the building, but this time, I didn't.

I then got a text message from her. "Where are you?"

I was in the middle of having my lunch. I just replied to her simply, "Come back yourself. I'm having lunch."

A while later, I was washing the dishes in the kitchen when Helena came in with her suitcase. She sounded tired as she huffed and puffed. Then, she stared at my back and said, "I haven't had lunch yet. Can you cook something for me?"

Had this been in the past, I would have immediately made her some food, but this time, I just said, "I don't have the time. You can eat at one of the shops downstairs."

Helena glared at me. Still, she suppressed her anger as she said, "I know that you're still mad at me for last night, but can you please quit throwing a tantrum like this? I'm really hungry now."

I finished washing the dishes and dried my hands next. "I'm not mad."

Helena didn't believe me. "Jaxon is all alone in this city, so I need to be with him, whether as a friend or not."