Chapter 3
Andrew's smile disappeared in a flash. "All this over a bracelet? Charlotte, when did you start getting so hung up on little things?"
"That's right. Just because of a bracelet," I said, my voice calm and steady.
Emily hurriedly tried to take off the bracelet.
"Charlotte, please don't be mad. I'll take it off right now. You guys have been together for nine years, I can't be the reason it ends," she said, her voice trembling.
She was so flustered that her wrist was turning red as she struggled with the bracelet, and her eyes were rimmed with tears.
Andrew grabbed her hand to stop her. "Why are you taking it off? It's not your fault."
"Emily's still not feeling well. Are you really going to make her go through this in front of everyone?" Andrew said to me.
I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and walked out.
Behind me, I could hear the room buzzing with whispers.
"She's way too dramatic."
"Come on, men have their flings, she should just turn a blind eye."
Emily looked worried. "Andrew, you should go after her. Charlotte's upset and alone, what if something happens to her?"
Andrew snorted. "I've been with her for nine years. She's already thirty, practically over the hill. Who else would even want her but me?"
He raised his voice. "If she keeps playing hard to get, then the wedding's just going to have to wait even longer."
The bridal shop owner sent me a photo of the wedding dress, asking for my final confirmation. [Ms. Reed, the deposit's non-refundable. You've come by so many times, are you really not going to take it?]
I stared at the screen for a long time.
I tried on seventeen different wedding dresses in that shop, all alone.
Every time I sent Andrew a photo, he just replied with a curt, [Busy. You decide.]
Turned out, no matter how much I hoped, it was never enough to hold us together.
I replied: [Forget it. Cancel the order.]
*****
The next day, I went to the office and found a transfer notice sitting on my desk.
[Due to Charlotte Reed's recent poor performance, she's being moved to a back office position.]
Right after that, the work group chat blew up with the news that Emily had just been promoted to supervisor.
And the proposal I'd poured seven sleepless nights into, revising it fifteen times, now bore Emily's name instead of mine.
At the very end of the document, the reviewer was Andrew.
I called Andrew.
"Did you see the notice? I was just about to call you," he said.
"Andrew, why did you put Emily's name on the proposal instead of mine?" I asked.
He let out a soft laugh. "Yesterday at Grandma's birthday party, you gave Emily the cold shoulder. She went home and cried all night.
"I handed her the proposal to make her feel better, and honestly, consider it a bit of payback for you."
Emily's voice came through the phone, still a little stuffy. "Charlotte, if you're upset, I can step down and let you have the supervisor position back."
Andrew cut her off. "No need for that, she got exactly what she deserved."
"Charlotte, as long as you do what you're told and apologize to Emily, the wedding's still on," he said.
"Next time there's a promotion, it's yours."
I suddenly found it all so ridiculous.
He was using everything I'd poured my heart into, just to make another woman happy.
"Fine," I said.
After hanging up, I submitted my resignation and hit confirm on that job offer abroad.
After booking my flight, my phone buzzed.
A text popped up, three hundred thousand dollars just got withdrawn from my account.
My heart stopped, my breath caught in my throat.