purple // lee minho ✔️

chapter six

how it should have stayed

an email. an email is how you found out that your husband is leaving you. you woke up like normal, in your shared house. minho wasn't sleeping next to you, but he hadn't been for a while. not since he found out what you did. he used the guest room, so you were used to it at this point. you didn't see him in the morning before work, something you were also used to as he started to leave before you did. you would only see him around work, and occasionally he would join you for dinner.

but you didn't expect this.

hello all,

this is the official notice of CEO lee minho's departure from our company. for the time being, his assistant lee jungho will be filling in as interim CEO until further notice.

mr. lee would like thank all of you for three great years here, and wishes each of you the best.

please now direct all operations questions to lee jungho.

best, HR.

you felt your blood run cold, and of course, your first instinct was to call him. without a second thought, you pulled out your phone, heading straight for his contact. only, it doesn't ring.

we're sorry, the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected—

"no..." you whisper, the panic really starting to settle in. you quickly gather up all of your things, practically running out of the office.

"hey, did you ever finish that—"

"sorry! i'm not working right now!" you call out to your coworker, practically running out of the building. you run to the car that minho bought you when the two of you got married, and drove way too fast all the way home, to the house minho bought so the two of you could grow your family. your heart raced faster when you didn't see his car anywhere.

you ran into the house, frantic.

"minho?" you call out. but of course, you would get no response. minho was already half way back to seoul, only thing he brought with him was his car, wallet, a couple of his favorite shirts, and his wedding ring.

his expression stoic as his hand gripped the steering wheel. part of him was wondering if this was the right idea. and he tried, he really did, because he loved you. he tried to look past what you did to him. but he just couldn't. especially when your original due date passed, and there was still no baby. he was heartbroken that you didn't talk to him. heartbroken that you lied, and that you had no intentions of telling him the truth. he couldn't get over it. but he would never forgive himself if he left you without all of the things he gave you.

so he left you your car, the house, all you had to do was sign the deed and it would be in your name. he paid all of the maids and cooks for years in advance so that you wouldn't have to worry about it for a while, and though he cut you off from his bank account, he left you with a rather large sum of money. it was his own way of saying he loves you, but he can no longer be with you.

he sighs, looking down at his wedding ring, gently sliding it off of his finger. he rolls his window down, the cool air flowing into the car, and without another thought, he tosses it out the window. forever to be lost in the grassy fields of the road he was driving on.

it was truly over.

"he left me..." you whisper to yourself, looking over the stack of papers that wasn't there earlier, and you couldn't help but wonder how much time you missed him by. if you had come home even a minute earlier, would you have seen him?

but your question would remain unanswered. and you would never see minho again.

years passed without him, and it never stopped hurting. you learned to move on, finding a new guy, selling every possession minho ever gave you, donating all of his money to charity. even starting a family with another man.

and while you would consider yourself happy, it was always impossible to not think back to minho. to the life you could have had,

with the one that got away.