Chapter 4

After I left, the first thing I did was check into a hotel not far from the company.

That same night I borrowed the hotel printer and ran off two documents.

One was the application form for the company dorm.

The other was the registration packet for the global strategy project's elite candidates.

The higher-ups had been building out overseas operations on and off for five years, and lately the talk about formally launching a foreign subsidiary was getting louder.

I only found out after asking my team lead: the higher-ups really did intend to place the best domestic staff over there.

For anyone with ambition, that was about as good as news got.

Even at a thousand-to-one odds, plenty of people would break their backs for it.

The next day, I moved into the company dorm.

By my first day there, I already regretted not applying sooner.

They called it a group dorm, but it was really a single studio with its own bathroom and kitchen, simply and cleanly finished.

Fifteen minutes' walk to work, cheap rent, safe management.

Most of all, going back to living alone was when I realized life could be this simple.

I came home and bolted the door, and I didn't have to leave it open for anyone.

When I cooked now and then, I didn't have to scramble through menus on my phone worrying about someone else's tastes.

And in the corners, nothing kept turning up that didn't belong in the place.

I was more than satisfied with how things were now.

Francis, on the other hand, didn't seem to be doing so well.

From the day I left, he messaged me every single day.

At first it was the same tired excuses.

"I just took Sylvia home that night. When are you coming back?"

Then it turned to playing the victim.

"That imported vitamins you bought are gone, and I've had no energy at all pulling these overtime shifts."

And finally it became blame.

"Michelle, do you have a heart at all? Chandler's Diner came to me for the bill today in front of the whole office, all but saying I'd been skipping out on the tab. You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

I'd almost forgotten, until he brought it up.

Chandler's Diner was a small private-kitchen place near his office.

That year, I couldn't stand how busy and stressed he was, sometimes too swamped to even eat.

So I found the owner and had him send a full home-cooked spread to his office every day.

Over time Francis got used to it, and now and then he'd even message the owner whatever dish he was craving.

What he didn't know was that the bill was paid a week in advance.

Because he was a regular, the owner had probably held out a whole week before saying anything.

Picturing that scene, I couldn't help feeling a little satisfied.

I sent him the owner's payment QR code, then set the phone down and went back to work at my computer.

To stand out faster, I shuttled between the company and the dorm every day, and before long the coworkers saw me as a workaholic.

Another week later, I used a week's worth of hard work to lock down a project everyone else had their eyes on.

So I could do the design proposal justice, the higher-ups handed me the right to choose who I'd work with.

Right before I left that day, out of nowhere, I got a call from Francis.

After the diner business, our relationship had dropped to freezing.

He hadn't reached out, and I hadn't thought about him.

It wasn't until I saw the little heart trailing after the word "Francis" on my screen that it hit me.

I hadn't ended it yet.

So I picked up.

"Still angry?"

The man's voice came through, a little worn out.

"Be angry all you want, but don't carry it into work."

"I already set up the new project chat for you. On my end, counting Sylvia, that's two. The rest of the roster is yours to decide."

Right on cue, my phone buzzed.

A chat window named "XX Project Winning Team" kept popping with new messages.

Member A: 【Thank you, Francis, for the chance! I won't let you down!】

Sylvia Fisher: 【Will I hold everyone back? First time on a project this important, I'm honestly a little nervous~】

Member A: 【Don't worry, I heard the team lead is a friend of Francis's, so they definitely won't stick us with the hard stuff.】

……

Two lines in, my heart sank all the way.

Right on time, the man's gentle voice came over the phone.

"This chance is rare. I'll give it everything alongside you."

"When the reporting conference comes, I'll go up and present for you."

"If I get transferred to headquarters off this presentation, then you won't have to come out to the branch either."

People really do laugh when they're beyond words.

What made him think I'd skip over an entire headquarters full of talented coworkers to pick him at the branch?

Just because he talked big?

I let out two cold laughs.

"Francis, I turned in the roster a long time ago. Your name isn't on it."

"And I won't be lowering myself to go over there, and I won't be dragging you up here either."

"Because starting today, we're done."