I stood at Michael’s office for a very long time, not having the guts to open the door. Although it was just a few days of not seeing each other, we have already become strangers.
Whenever I thought of him, I felt nothing but agony.
In the end, I knocked on the door and waited for Michael to answer before going in.
He was sitting on his desk with his head down, signing on papers. He was calm, with no expression on his face.
I looked at his face, confused, at the same time, uncomfortable. Our breakup didn’t seem to affect him one bit.
Perhaps, I was completely dispensable.
I looked at him while standing still. In just a few days of not seeing each other, we seem to have grown more distant.
After moments of silence, and he raised his head. He looked surprised when he saw me but immediately regained his composure.
“Why did you come?”
He furrowed his eyebrows and spoke nonchalantly.
I endured the pain in my heart and walked towards him. I placed the check for two million in front of him, sparing no effort to look calm.
“This is the check given to me by your secretary yesterday, and I’m returning it to you now.”
I tried my best to sound calm too. However, I could feel my voice trembling. I wasn’t sure if he noticed it.
He furrowed his beautiful eyebrows and looked at the check. His eyes were filled with emotions that I couldn’t grasp. After all, I had never grasped his emotions since the beginning.
After a moment of silence, he raised his head and spoke nonchalantly, “The house at Birchwood, and this two million, is my compensation to you.”
The word “compensation” pierced my heart as there was never what I wanted. Giving me compensation would only make me even more upset.
“I don’t need your compensation. We’re just taking what we need. You have helped me a lot, so you don’t have to compensate me now.”
I took a deep breath to calm my emotions. His indifference was pulling my heartstrings. I really wanted to ask him if he had any longing for me after we broke up. I would be happy to know even if it was just a little.
He looked at me with mixed emotions. He wanted to say something, and I was waiting for him to say it.
But he didn’t say a word. He remained silent, quietly looking at me.
“Mr. Shaw, I’ll take my leave if there’s nothing else.”
I couldn’t repress my longings any longer. I wanted to leave as if I was running away.
Michael’s attitude made me see everything clearly. He had no feelings for me, not even one bit. Even though I was well aware of the fact that we would be separated regardless of whether he liked me or not, I was still hoping to see some response from him.
Unfortunately, the person I loved did not love me at all, and that broke my heart.
If it were before, Michael would stop me from leaving. However, he did not stop me today. In fact, he didn’t even utter a word.
Maybe I had overvalued myself. He wouldn’t have any feelings for me knowing his personality, and I was just being wishful.
I went back to my workstation absent-minded. It was difficult for me to accept his attitude towards me.
As a result, I ended up spending the whole morning in a muddle. At noon, Emma came to the office.
She must have come to look for Michael. I was constantly looking at her feeling agonized. Michael must be treating her wholeheartedly now.
Emma strutted proudly. She suddenly stopped when she passed by me, and glanced at me with a smug look on her face as she smirked.
I knew nothing good could come from her, so I buried my face and pretended to work. I didn’t want to pay her any attention. Now that I had ended my relationship with Michael, she should have no reason to trouble me anymore.
“Anna, it feels bad to be dumped by Michael, right?” Emma sneered quietly. Only the both of us could hear it.
As soon as I heard Michael’s name, my body went stiff. The pain in my heart returned. Emma’s words really pierced my heart.
I took in a deep breath, then calmly raised my head to look at her. “Ms. Jones, you’ve got what you wanted. I hope you will not trouble me again from now on.”
I was already feeling devastated. I didn’t have the mood to deal with Emma.
“What happened to your arrogant attitude? I have told you that Michael will only be mine. You’re nothing to him!”
Although Michael and I were over, Emma didn’t seem to let me off the hook. Maybe it was because I had gone against her so many times before. Hence, she still resented me even after I had ended my relationship with Michael.
“Indeed. I am insignificant. But Ms. Jones, why bother with someone like me then? Aren’t you afraid that you might embarrass yourself? You’re currently Mr. Shaw’s girlfriend. Would you really want others to see yourself oppressing an employee in his office?”
Initially, I didn’t want to ignore Emma. But the woman was such a bully. She had already achieved her objective, but she continued to bug me. I had no place to vent my emotions; I could only suppress them within me. If she continues to provoke me, I will no longer be nice.
“Anna, what do you think you are? How dare you speak to me like that!”
Emma’s facial expression changed. She stared at me with anger in her eyes. It was evident that she was angry.
“I’m not anything as I’m a human being! Ms. Jones, I know you’re a lady with power, but I’ll advise you to not push your luck. I have nothing to lose. I would do literally anything if I had to.”
Emma thought I was over with Michael, and she wanted to rub some salt into my wound. I knew that very well. But, no matter how frustrated I was, or how humble I had always behaved in front of Michael, I did it all for him only. I would never back down in front of Emma since I am not afraid of her.
“How dare you threaten me even without Michael protecting you now?”
Emma must’ve thought that the reason I dared to go against her the whole time was because I had Michael protecting me.
