I stood there, frozen for a long while before it finally hit me. I was getting fired.
“Did I do something wrong? Please tell me what it is, and I promise I’ll improve in the future,” I begged. I really needed this job.
The manager frowned at me, sighing regretfully. “Vonnie, there are some things that are simply out of my control. This was a direct order from Mr. Whitrow. Even if I wanted to keep you, I can’t. I’m really sorry; three months of pay is the most I can offer you right now.”
Is it because of Yvette? I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to recompose myself. She was the young lady of the Tanner family. It made sense that there wasn’t a single boss or CEO who would dare go against her words, and she had already publicly criticized my morals in front of my boss.
“Thank you for taking such care of me all this time. I won’t trouble you any longer.”
I left my workplace, my bag heavier with the ten thousand more that I’d come into work with. I could never figure out why my manager was always so kind to me, but I knew it would be fruitless to expect him to fix my problems for me.
Mave, not knowing that I would never come back here, waved at me as we parted ways at the building entrance and even reminded me to disregard what everyone else was saying. I merely brushed her off with a smile.
“According to our latest reports, Mr. Christopher Lane of Avenport and Ms. Martin will be getting engaged soon! The wealth of the powerful Lane family can be traced back to three generations, while Ms. Martin, a famous pianist, is from the scholarly Martin family! Yesterday at Ms. Martin’s piano concert, Mr. Lane went up to give her a bouquet of roses as the audience erupted into cheers…”
A loud voice from somewhere startled me awake from my depressed daze. I raised my head and looked towards a large LED screen in the middle of the plaza. It was playing a video where Monica wore a gorgeous gown, standing in front of her piano as Christopher handed her a bouquet of roses, a warm smile on his face.
The two of them looked like a picture-perfect couple together.
So Christopher went to watch Monica’s concert yesterday? I wonder if he thought of me at all.
I stared dumbfounded at the dazzling man on the screen.
He was getting engaged with Monica. He was distancing himself from me because of this, possibly because he was worried that I would cling to him, even though he knew very well that I never would.
So we’ve finally reached this point, huh. It wasn’t like there was anything concrete between Christopher and I in the first place. I was always just a hobby to him.
Standing in the middle of a bustling city, I felt more lost than ever. Last time, when I found myself with nowhere to turn to, Christopher had been the one who gifted me with a house. Now that he was engaged, I couldn’t possibly go back there.
I didn’t want to become what I hated most — a shameless homewrecker.
But why does my heart hurt so much? My body moved forward as if on autopilot. I’d yet again lost the best thing I had in my life.
If you hadn’t intended on staying, why did you bother creating such a beautiful illusion for me to lose myself in?
“Mommy, why is that lady crying? Is she lost?”
“Shush, sweetie. Let’s not bother her.”
It was only when I reached up and touched my wet cheeks that I realized I was crying.
God, I was so useless. All I did whenever I ran into hardship was cry. But what was I supposed to do other than cry? Go and look for Christopher? I didn’t think I would be able to even step foot within the Lane residence without their security guards stopping me at the front door.
Even if I do get to see him, what am I supposed to say? Why did you propose to Monica? Why did you abandon me?
He’d never said a single word about marrying me. His “I love you”s had no meaning or weight to them; they were merely sweet phrases spoken in the heat of the moment whenever we were entangled between the sheets.
“Yvonne? Is that you?” Crystal’s voice rang out from beside me. “Why are you crying? Did a guy hurt you?”
