Chapter 3

Me?

Selfish?

Tom's words actually made me laugh.

"Who's the selfish one here? Who's the one working so hard? Tom, you have the nerve to say that to me?"

The moment he called me selfish, I knew. The person I'd been with since college had changed a long time ago.

Five years isn't that long. But it isn't short, either.

"Enough. Stop throwing a fit! This is all over a cup of coffee and a dress, isn't it?"

"When this is over I'll just buy you new ones, all right? Do you have to make a scene and ruin everyone's day?"

He said it harshly, self-righteously, as if the one in the wrong were me and not him.

His shamelessness left me stunned.

Adeline had been watching us argue, and now she quietly walked over to Tom's side.

"That's enough. This is the office, not your home."

"Hazel, you assisted Tom in finishing the proposal. I won't overlook that. And Tom is capable, he's a good person. Don't hold it against him too much."

"Go back to work for now."

Adeline was presiding over it like she was being fair, and I found it laughable.

"So Supervisor Mason understands him better than I do, and I'm his girlfriend. No wonder you're the supervisor. So considerate toward your subordinates."

The sarcasm was heavy in my voice. Tom started to argue back, but Adeline cut him off.

"Hazel, this isn't school. You've been working for a year now. Grow up. Out in the real world, nobody's obligated to indulge you."

"If you don't want the job, you can hand in your resignation any time."

She was the supervisor, after all, and that lecturing, reprimanding tone left no room to argue.

I looked at the two of them and felt sick. Part of me wanted to quit and be done with all of it, but the thought of everything I refused to swallow pushed the impulse back down.

They wanted to use their own proposal, didn't they? Then let them.

"Ha. Well said, Supervisor Mason. When it's time to hand it in, I'll hand it in."

I turned and walked out of the office. To my coworkers I looked the same as always, calmly returning to my desk and going on with my work.

From the moment Tom said those words, I was already done hoping for anything from him.

I kept myself busy the whole day. He came by a few times; I ignored him every time, and he assumed I was still sulking.

【I'll be working late these next few days, sleeping at the office. Go home on your own.】

He sent the message right before the end of the day. I glanced at it, didn't reply, and simply left the office.

That night, just as I lay down to rest, scrolling my feed the way I always did before sleep, one of Adeline's posts caught my eye.

【Reunited after so long, and neither of us has changed.】

The photo under the caption was a shot of a bed. No faces, just four bare feet, which only made it easier to picture the rest.

I looked at who the other pair of feet belonged to.

It was Tom.

There was a birthmark on his ankle. He'd mentioned it before.

I stared at the post, lost in it, grievance and fury tangled together, and by the time the tears came I couldn't even tell whether I was heartbroken or enraged.

The betrayal was right there in front of me, naked and plain. I called Tom straight away. He didn't pick up.

Video call. He didn't pick up that either.

Even a message asking him got no reply.

I didn't sleep well that night.

But I'd already made up my mind.

The next day I went to the office with dark circles under my eyes. I'd meant to confront him to his face, and I didn't care if the whole company heard.

But he didn't come. Neither did Adeline.

Another manager said they'd taken time off.

I knew, though, that it wasn't as simple as time off.

I'd thought about resigning, running, never having to face those two disgusting people again.

But the moment I thought of everything I'd swallowed all this time, I held back again.

Still, I'd already prepared my resignation letter in advance.

I was working, my mind elsewhere, when my coworker Vera Delgado came over.

"Hazel, you and Tom are a couple, right? You two aren't married yet?"