10
At Mrs. Miller’s birthday party.
Ashley, in a dark blue dress, stood next to
Mrs. Miller.
The guests were all rich and powerful. Liam
stood on the edge of the crowd, staring into
the night, like the party had nothing to do
with him.
Guests raised their glasses, congratulating
him:
“Congrats, Liam, on finding a wife.”
Yes, it was also the day he was supposed to
be engaged to Ashley.
People thought he was celebrating, pouring himself glass after glass.
And when he was drunk, he hugged Ashley,
calling out my name.
I watched the video Sarah sent me.
The whole thing became a scandal. Ashley
cried and left.
Liam’s dad beat him and sent him to the
hospital.
“Jane, I didn’t know about you and Liam.
“I kept bringing up Ashley.
“That must have been hard for you.”
Sarah apologized on the phone.
I shrugged, it was all in the past now.
By now, I knew.
Liam had never seen me as an equal.
Maybe he’d had some feelings for me.
But those were only a few crumbs.
He was willing to be with Ashley for family
He’d given me a boost, but he also had the
power to tear it all away.
My assets were frozen, my stocks were
disappearing.
I remembered the text from Chet:
“Come back to me, and you can have
everything back.”
Threats, promises, those were tools we’d
used in the business world.
And now, he was using it on me.
I smiled, took out my SIM card and threw it in
the trash.
I turned towards the sun, and the next stop
on my journey.
