Georgia looked a little thrown by Emily’s reaction—clearly, they had more to talk through. “Let’s find a coffee shop and sit down for a bit,” she said gently.
“Sure.”
They stepped into a cozy local café just around the corner. Georgia glanced at the menu and asked with a smile, “Still a latte girl?”
Emily was touched she remembered, but shook her head. “I can’t have coffee right now. I’ll just get an orange juice.”
Georgia raised her brows, surprised, but kept her questions to herself for the moment.
It had been a while, and now that they were sitting across from each other again, a bit of awkwardness settled between them. Still, Emily took t
At Emily’s request, Georgia handed over her own phone—and sure enough, her message thread was complete, clear, and made perfect sense.Emily stared at it, her eyes darkening. The fury in her chest surged like a wave she couldn’t hold back.How dare he.Aaron had gone through her phone, deleted messages, forged replies… and nearly cost her one of the best friendships she’d ever had.“I just hope you’re not mad after reading it now,” Georgia said gently. “I really should’ve worded it better back then.”Emily’s heart felt twisted in knots. “I didn’t e
Emily wanted to keep talking with Georgia, but she had to be home before six—she didn’t want to risk Aaron noticing she was out and stirring up trouble. Georgia made plans with Emily to invite over next time to see her baby.On the way back, Emily pretended to stop by a clothing boutique, but she actually ducked into a different shop to buy a new phone and SIM card.That night, Aaron didn’t come home.It felt like her heart had sunk to the bottom of a lake. Was he not even pretending anymore? No matter how badly they’d argued before, no matter how late it got, Aaron always came home. Maybe not to the master bedroom—but at least the study.But now? No
Cecelia, after a moment, told herself she hadn't said anything wrong. Why should she feel guilty? It was just that Aaron’s gaze was so cold and sharp, it rattled her.She raised her chin and walked over to where Aaron was standing—right next to her husband, Frank. Frank stiffened and, sensing the shift in mood, quickly took her by the arm and led her out of the club.A sharp gust of wind blew in from outside. Emily pulled her arms tighter around herself—she’d forgotten to grab a jacket. A pair of polished leather shoes appeared in her view.Aaron frowned. “WHAT are you doing here?”Emily looked up at him. “I have something to tell you. Bu
Since that conversation, the atmosphere between them had turned oddly tense. Emily didn’t bring up the baby again. Instead, she made a point of waking early—just in time to catch Aaron before he left for work.Emily walked over as he stood in front of the mirror fixing his tie. “A friend of mine introduced me to a job. It’s back in fashion design.”Aaron noticed she was speaking to him first so his tone wasn’t cold like before. “Where’s the job? If you wanna go back to designing, you could just work at my company. I’ll have HR find you a position.”If this had been the old Aaron, he probably would've shut it down immediately—told her sketching was fine as a hobby, no need to go work. But after their recent argument, he didn’t want to add more te
After Theo explained, Emily finally understood the full story. She remembered seeing Miles Maren listed as the CEO of MAREN just last week.Turns out, Miles was Theo’s uncle. Due to health issues, he had handed over the reins early—giving Theo full control of the company.That’s why Theo had told her, “I wasn’t lying. One part of my job has always been managing freelance designers. I just happened to see your submission and decided to handle it myself. Hope I didn’t scare you.”Emily smiled. “Of course not. Just didn’t expect the CEO to meet with someone like me. I’m flattered, that’s all.”
Everyone returned to their desks and dove straight into work—having that many sketches due by 5:30 sharp, no one dared to slack off.The girl sitting next to Emily, Bella, hesitated for a second, then quietly rolled her chair over while Lilian was away.In a hushed voice, she said, “Lilian’s always like that—kind of petty. Probably just pissed because you’re pretty, dress well, and our manager Lucas told her that you’d be joining our team instead of the person she recommended.”The “Lucas” Bella referred to was the design manager who took over Theo’s original position after Theo became CEO.“Thanks for the heads-up. I’m fine,” Emily said, thankful at least the other coworkers seemed norma
"Yeah… they're fine," Emily said as she followed the server to a table clearly reserved in advance. Theo stepped ahead to pull out her chair."Thanks," she said, settling in. Picking up the previous thread, she added, "I think the team’s got great energy. Kinda reminds me of when I just graduated."Theo's gaze darkened slightly. "As long as you’re feeling okay there. But if anything ever feels off, you can come to me.""Aren’t you supposed to be super busy?" Emily smiled, flipping open the menu. "Still, you’ve always been good at making people feel seen. That hasn’t changed."She didn’t look up, so she missed the
Aaron’s strides were long and fast—so fast that even though Emily wore flat shoes, she nearly stumbled twice. They rounded a corner outside the restaurant, and she yanked her arm again. Still no luck. His grip only tightened.“Ow…” she gasped.Aaron came to a sudden stop. Emily hadn’t expected it, crashing straight into his back. Pain shot through her forehead, flaring with heat, and her frustration surged.When he turned to face her, his expression was still cold as ever. That was the last straw—her long-suppressed anger snapped.“WHAT the hell is wrong with you?!”He glanced down at her. “Just two more steps. We’ll talk in the car.”
Emily didn’t flinch. Her gaze stayed steady as she replied, “You DON’T have the authority to fire me. Only someone at the managerial level or above can do that.”Her calm words made Lilian’s expression twist—brows scrunched, lips tight.“YOU didn’t submit the required format. You failed to meet the basic expectations of this role. Why can’t I fire you?” Lilian’s voice sharpened. “I’ll report this to upper management. Not even Lucas will be able to save your ass.”That was the second time Lilian had emphasized that even L
Emily couldn't talk her grandmother out of it. Ruth said life in the city was just too dull, and after half a year spent in a hospital bed, she felt like time was dragging on — long and meaningless. Now that she could finally be discharged, she just wanted to return to the things she enjoyed and see more of her friends.Emily also knew, deep down, that part of Ruth’s decision came from not wanting to burden her. After much discussion, she finally agreed and picked a weekend to go with her back to the small town Ruth used to live in. Together, they cleaned up the old house — weathered, but sturdy.The town was only three hours away by train, which was the furthest Emily would allow. Before heading back, she invited Ruth’s longtime friend over for a meal."Don’t worry, Emily, I’ll t
She said Aaron didn’t want the baby…Francie sat slumped in the waiting area, hands covering his face, Emily’s desperate tone still echoing in his ears. In the end, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to make that call to Aaron.Why wouldn’t Aaron want the baby?That thought kept circling his mind. He wanted answers—but he also didn’t want to cause Emily more grief. That baby… was his niece or nephew now. Family.“You're sister’s okay, right?” Ruth rushed in, nearly breathless.Francie looked up, frowning. “You shouldn’t be running like that, your heart…” he started, then softened. “She’s fine. Everything’s fine.&rd
Francie threw up his hands. “I’m just stating facts here. People need to eat. You haven’t worked in three years—WHAT can you even do?”“I have a job. You don’t need to worry about it,” Emily said coldly.“Yeah? And how much are you really gonna make? Enough for you and Grandma? You’ve gotten used to a pretty comfortable life—think you’ll manage now?”Emily’s head was starting to throb. Her voice snapped sharper. “That’s enough. Go home!”Francie stayed rooted in place. “I’m just trying to
Shreds of paper scattered across the floor — over a dozen pages torn to pieces by Aaron’s brute strength, completely destroyed, beyond repair.Emily’s eyes followed the falling scraps slowly, silently. Just like their relationship, it couldn’t be put back together. Even if it could, the cracks were too deep — it would never be what it once was.Aaron saw her expression still hadn’t changed. His blood pressure shot up. “Three years… you’re really willing to walk away that easily?”Three years of love. How could it fall apart so suddenly in just a month?Emily took a deep, steadying breath. Yeah — three years. If it were
The scene was a mess. Aaron and Emily locked eyes, both equally stunned.But out of the three, Amelia was the first to speak. She tugged at Aaron’s sleeve gently and said, “Don’t blame Emily. It was my fault… I lost my balance and fell into the wall.”Aaron’s brows furrowed. “You just happened to hit your injury again from losing balance?”He turned to Emily, searching for an explanation. But she said nothing in her own defense — just cast a cool glance at Amelia, who now looked heartbreakingly delicate… with a hint of smugness underneath it all. Emily knew exactly what this was: Mission accomplished
Emily gripped the test results so tightly her fingers trembled.She had paid extra for the express lab work — 24 hours later, she now had the truth in her hands.Aaron had been secretly slipping her birth control.That’s why he was always so sure she wouldn’t get pregnant. All those times she’d hoped for a new life to start inside her, only to be met with disappointment after disappointment… and his comforting words, his fake concern?She wanted to throw up just thinking about it.All an act.
After last night, Aaron seemed to have turned back into the loving husband she remembered. He even waited for her to wake up in the morning so they could have breakfast together.When Emily came down in her pajamas, Aaron was already seated at the dining table with his tablet. The moment he saw her, he put everything down, walked over, took her hand, and sweetly pulled out a chair for her."You look like you slept well," he said, kissing her on the cheek.Emily nodded lightly, murmuring, "Not bad." Her mind was still a little foggy—she only remembered how, right after telling him to go shower last night, she quickly picked up the papers off the floor.Now, it felt like everything
Aaron’s strides were long and fast—so fast that even though Emily wore flat shoes, she nearly stumbled twice. They rounded a corner outside the restaurant, and she yanked her arm again. Still no luck. His grip only tightened.“Ow…” she gasped.Aaron came to a sudden stop. Emily hadn’t expected it, crashing straight into his back. Pain shot through her forehead, flaring with heat, and her frustration surged.When he turned to face her, his expression was still cold as ever. That was the last straw—her long-suppressed anger snapped.“WHAT the hell is wrong with you?!”He glanced down at her. “Just two more steps. We’ll talk in the car.”