Chloe.
After I was disqualified, Chloe from my year got the position? Quiet, unassuming Chloe, whose grades were completely average?
An unsettling thought took root in my mind. Cora had once mentioned, in passing, that Chloe was the niece of one of her senior managers.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out where that anonymous email came from.
Cora had gone to great lengths to get me out of New York, away from Gabriel. What she didn’t understand was that she didn’t have to. Gabriel’s heart had never belonged to me in the first place. All she ever had to do was crook her finger, and he would have come running back like a lost
puppy.
She didn’t have to ruin my future.
I let out a long sigh, a sudden chill cutting through the warm spring afternoon.
My phone rang. It was my roommate, calling after I didn’t reply.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to console me,” I said as soon as I picked up. “I already knew I wasn’t getting the position.”
There was a stunned silence on the other end, and then a man’s voice, strained and urgent. “Vivi? Where did you go? Vivi, what happened with the
campus job?”
“Gabriel?”
6
“Vivi, please, will you unblock my number? It was a misunderstanding that day. I can explain everything.”
He sounded awful, his voice thick as if he had a bad cold.
# ul ull wall t
– W W W W W all ill
www
www.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? Yell at me, hit me, I don’t care. Just don’t disappear on me like
this.”
I clutched the phone and walked toward the office exit, not wanting to disturb my colleagues. “Why were you looking for me? I didn’t cry, I didn’t make a scene. I was a perfectly reasonable ex–girlfriend. Shouldn’t you be giving me an award for that?”
“Ex–girlfriend? You’re not my ex until I agree to it! You’re still my girlfriend!”
I scoffed. “Really, Gabriel? When you were showering at Cora’s place, did you still think I was your girlfriend then?”
He went silent. He clearly hadn’t known that Cora had called me while he was in her shower.
“Vivi, you misunderstood, he finally said, his voice pleading. “I was rushing home to see you that night, but Cora suddenly felt unwell and asked me to take her to the hospital. When I took her home later, she got sick all over my shirt. I had no choice but to take a shower at her place…
“You don’t have to explain. I don’t want to hear it. The moment I moved back to the dorm, the locks on our apartment were changed. You didn’t
want me coming back anyway.”
“I didn’t change them-” he started, then stopped, cutting himself off. He probably realized it didn’t matter. He had given Cora so much power, so
many privileges, that she had used them to hurt me, again and again.
“Vivi,” he begged, his voice low. “Tell me where you are. Let me come to you, please? This is all a huge misunderstanding. We can’t end things like
this, not over a lie.”
“No, thank you,” Lsald coolly. “You should focus on taking care of my little nephew.”
After I hung up, a text came through from my roommate.
[Vivi, I’m so sorry. Your boyfriend has been waiting outside our dorm building for days. He looked so miserable, I felt bad for him. That’s why I let him use my phone to call you.]
I couldn’t understand Gabriel at all. Wasn’t my leaving exactly what they wanted? Why was he putting on this lovesick, tragic performance for
everyone to see?
I took a deep breath and turned to go back to my desk, only to walk headfirst into a solid chest.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, so sorry…
Chapter 2
06:33
I couldn’t understand Gabriel at all. Wasn’t my leaving exactly what they wanted? Why was he putting on this lovesick, tragic performance for
everyone to see?
I took a deep breath and turned to go back to my desk, only to walk headfirst into a solid chest.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, so sorry…”
I looked up and saw Leo’s face. I was so flustered I couldn’t speak.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, a concerned frown on his face.
“No… no, I’m fine.” I clutched my forehead and scurried away.
A little while later, the office admin came to my desk with her phone. “Boss is treating us all to bubble tea. Pick what you want.”
She leaned in closer. “Vivi, what’s wrong? Your eyes are all red. Did someone bully you?”
“Red? Really? Oh, I think an eyelash just fell in my eye.”
I flipped open my phone’s front camera. She was right. My eyes were puffy and bloodshot.
The admin patted my shoulder. “Well, hurry and pick your tea. It’s not every day the boss pays.”
I suddenly remembered the concerned look on Leo’s face. He must have seen my red eyes too.
God, how embarrassing.
