Chapter 2

Eric gripped Jessica's hand, refusing to let go.

Even though Jessica was sobbing, she hadn't moved an inch.

"Melissa," Eric said.

Eric, unable to stop her, shot me a frown. "Apologize."

I stared at him. "Why?"

Eric snapped, "If you hadn't come up with that engagement deal in the first place, would she be this upset now?

"You were just pretending to clean up, but you wanted her to see it, didn't you?"

I couldn't help but let out a laugh, pissed off as hell.

"Eric, I seriously never realized you could be this dumb."

He was stunned for a moment.

I turned to Jessica.

"Is it that you can't tell I'm living with him, or are you just pretending you don't know we're together?

"If that's true, then why did you show me respect?

"You know exactly what's going on, so why are you putting on this whole innocent, betrayed act? Who are you trying to impress?"

Her eyes brimmed with even more tears.

She turned to leave, but Eric caught her before she could go.

"Melissa. Just shut up for a second," Eric snapped.

I ignored him and kept tidying up.

Jessica sobbed and struggled, trying to break free.

"Let me go. Melissa misunderstood me. You two are engaged. I shouldn't have come between you."

"Melissa," Eric snapped.

Eric grabbed Jessica's wrist, frowned at me.

"Apologize," he demanded.

I clenched my fists. "No."

"You're really not going to apologize?" Eric pressed.

I lifted my chin, stubborn as ever. "Yeah, I'm sure!"

Eric stared at me for a few seconds, then bent down and picked up the engagement contract.

He said, "See? Compared to Jessica, you're nothing. She's way out of your league.

"Honestly, I don't know what you're good for besides always picking fights and getting jealous.

"Of course you've never even left the country. No wonder your horizons are so narrow compared to Jessica."

With that, he ripped the engagement contract right down the middle.

"Since you won't apologize, our engagement is over. Go ahead, treasure this useless scrap if you want," he spat.

Then he shredded it into bits.

He threw the shreds right in my face.

Without so much as a glance back, he grabbed Jessica and stormed out.

I hurled the framed photo of us to the floor, smashing it with all my anger.

Cracks spidered through the glass, drawing a jagged line between me and him. I kicked the picture, sending it skidding toward the trash can.

For three days, Eric and I didn't say a single word to each other.

We used to talk every day, without fail.

But I was always the one to reach out first.

Yet after three days of silence, he still didn't reach out.

I was at the hotel, buried in paperwork for the handover in Betriton, when Eric actually called me for once.

"You're not home?" he asked.

I kept working, not missing a beat. "What do you want?"

He sent me a picture from home.

The trash was still overflowing, and the dishes on the table looked like someone had tried to wash them, but greasy stains had hardened into crusts.

His clothes were piled up in a messy heap on the bed, all wrinkled and not even ironed.

"Done having fun outside? Maybe you should come home and actually take care of things for once," Eric said.

"Isn't Jessica around?" I shot back.

"Jessica wants to help, but honestly, this kind of stuff isn't her thing. She's been living it up overseas. She didn't come back just to clean up after me," Eric replied.

I didn't have time to argue with him.

I said, "With all that money you've got, just hire a maid already. It's not like it's hard for you."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Even the best maid can't take care of things like you do. Jessica's super picky about her lifestyle. None of them can keep up with her," Eric said.

"You're out of your mind," I snapped.

I hung up on him without another word.

When he called back, I blocked him on the spot.

Not long after, I got a message saying my credit card had been frozen.

Of course, it was the one Eric gave me.

When his startup crashed and burned, I never once gave up on him.

I kept cheering him on, helping him get back on his feet. After that, I was always the one holding down the fort, turning down promotion after promotion. Six years went by, he became Mr. Quinn, and I'm still just another employee.

He gave me this card as a way to thank me once he made it big.

But most of the money on it just went to paying for everyday stuff.

He froze it just to force me to come back.

I was honestly so glad I'd accepted Chloe's offer.

My new account already had the bonus from Chloe for my promotion and raise.

I didn't have to rely on him for anything anymore.

The next day, while I was wrapping up some files at the café, I ran into Jessica and Eric.

I was about to head out when Jessica came right over to say hi.

I just didn't get it. I'd made it crystal clear I was fed up with her, but Jessica still had the nerve to latch onto me like that.

As we jostled, my files slipped from my hands and scattered across the floor.

Jessica's eyes widened as she caught sight of the top page.

"A transfer letter?" she blurted out.

"Melissa, are you really heading to the overseas branch?" Jessica gasped.