Zhang Wei sat at his desk, staring at the glowing screen in front of him. The faint hum of the office's fluorescent lights above was the only sound that accompanied the repetitive motion of his mouse clicking through endless reports. He was 35 now, and had spent the last twelve years of his life working for this company, his entire adult existence consumed by the ticking clock and the deadlines that never seemed to end.
He had entered this office as a bright-eyed 23-year-old, filled with ambition, eager to climb the corporate ladder. But now, after all these years, there was nothing left but a hollow shell of the man he once was. Every morning felt the same-wake up, go to work, come home, repeat. His dreams long extinguished by the weight of his responsibilities and the crushing monotony of his life.
His phone buzzed, pulling him from his thoughts. It was a message from Li Xue, his girlfriend of over a decade, the one person who had once filled his world with warmth and promise.
"I'm sorry, Wei. Something came up tonight. I won't be able to make it for dinner."
It was a text he had received countless times in recent months. She had been distant lately, canceling plans, canceling their calls, always busy with something. Zhang Wei knew in his heart that something was wrong, but he pushed the nagging feeling aside. After all, they had been together since high school. They were supposed to be forever.
But forever was a lie.
The day had started like any other. Zhang Wei had spent the morning working on his boss's impossible demands, burning the candle at both ends to make sure everything was perfect. He had sacrificed everything for this job-his energy, his time, his happiness. The least his boss could do was appreciate it. But as usual, Mr. Zhao was always too busy to notice the dedication of his subordinates. Zhang Wei had come to expect that.
He glanced at his watch. It was 5:45 PM. The clock was ticking down, and he was almost done with the last report. The office was beginning to empty out, with his coworkers packing up their things, ready to head home for the evening. He had promised Li Xue that they would have dinner tonight, but she had canceled once again. Zhang Wei sighed and shut his laptop.
He needed a break from this routine. Maybe he'd go grab a drink alone to unwind.
But as he gathered his things, he noticed something strange. A soft, muffled noise, coming from the direction of the executive offices. It was faint, but it was enough to catch his attention. At first, he thought it might have been a door closing or a dropped object. But then, a voice-a woman's voice reached his ears.
Faint, but unmistakable.
Zhang Wei hesitated, wondering if he should ignore it. But curiosity gnawed at him, and against his better judgment, he followed the sound.
He rounded the corner and paused when he saw them.
Li Xue-his Li Xue, the woman he had loved since they were in high school-was sitting on the desk of none other than Mr. Zhao, his boss, her clothes askew and her face flushed. The man's suit was disheveled as well, his tie hanging loose around his neck.
Zhang Wei stood frozen in the doorway, his heart pounding in his chest, his breath catching in his throat. Time seemed to stop, the reality of what he was seeing crashing down upon him like a tidal wave.
The woman he had trusted. The woman who had promised to be by his side, through thick and thin. She wasn't just cheating on him-she was doing it with the one person who had always treated him like a tool, a stepping stone. His boss.
For a moment, Zhang Wei couldn't breathe. He could hear the muffled laughter from inside the office, the sound of things shifting as their bodies moved together. He could see them now -too vividly, too painfully entangled in an embrace that had never been meant for him.
A sharp pain exploded in his chest, a feeling of betrayal deeper than anything he had ever imagined. His hands clenched into fists as rage surged through his veins. His mind screamed at him to leave, to walk away before it all became too much, but his body refused to obey.
"Li Xue…" His voice was barely a whisper, barely audible over the pounding of his heart.
At the sound of his name, she froze. Her eyes widened as she saw him standing there, her face instantly paling.
Zhang Wei couldn't take it anymore. His vision blurred, everything around him becoming a blur of color and sound. In a blind fury, he stormed into the room and grabbed his boss by the collar, throwing a punch that landed squarely on Mr. Zhao's face. The man stumbled back, shocked by the sudden assault.
But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.
"You bastard!" Zhang Wei shouted, his voice breaking with the weight of his emotions. "How could you... how could you both do this to me?!"
The punch wasn't enough. Another followed, and another, until his hands were bleeding and his mind was consumed by the chaos of his anger. But then, someone grabbed him from behind. It was a security guard, rushing in at the sound of the commotion.
"Sir, please! Calm down!" the guard shouted, struggling to restrain him.
But Zhang Wei couldn't stop. All he could see was the image of Li Xue, her eyes filled with guilt and shame, her face flushed with the same lust she had shown to his boss.
The next few hours were a blur. He was escorted out of the building. His life was shattered.
He had been fired-terminated without any severance pay. Mr. Zhao would make sure of that. As for Li Xue? She refused to even speak to him after everything that had happened. The woman he had loved, the woman who had once been his everything, was gone.
Zhang Wei spent the next few weeks in a haze. The office he had worked at for over a decade was nothing more than a painful reminder of his failures. His apartment was repossessed for unpaid bills. His bank account drained. He was left with nothing but the clothes on his back, and the cold, harsh reality of his life.
There were no apologies. No explanations. No second chances.
Zhang Wei had lost everything.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. He wandered the streets, his mind numb to everything around him. The world had moved on without him, and he had no place in it anymore. He had nothing left to lose.
One night, after yet another bottle of alcohol, he found himself on a bridge overlooking the river. The moonlight glistened on the water below, and the city lights flickered like distant stars.
Zhang Wei took a deep breath, his eyes closing as he leaned on the railing. The weight of his past, the pain of his losses, consumed him. He had been a fool to think life could have been different. He had trusted too easily, loved too deeply.
It was time to end it all.
But before he could make his final decision, a strange sensation filled the air. A golden light-brilliant and overwhelming enveloped him, blinding his vision. Zhang Wei blinked, trying to understand what was happening, but everything around him seemed to twist and warp.
The light grew brighter, and suddenly, the world around him vanished.
Zhang Wei's last thought was simple: I'm sorry.
Then, darkness.