Emily was so furious at her brother’s constant backtalk that she felt like she was going to pass out. A sharp pain twisted in her stomach—a warning. There was still a baby inside her. She couldn't let anger take over.
“I told you to find a real, stable job—not to mess around PLAYING entrepreneur with your friends.”
“Mess around?” Francie shot back. “I’ve got a whole plan, okay? And Aaron’s already said yes! He’s a business genius. If he thinks it’s a good idea, what makes you think you know better?”
His smug tone made Emily’s blood boil. A mix of betrayal, disappointment, and rage surged through her. Aaron had never once mentioned helping Francie o
“Em, don’t do this. I really have to go.” Aaron looked genuinely anxious, but he didn’t yank his coat free from where Emily was gripping it.“We were in the middle of talking about Francie. Didn’t you just say we’re family? That you wanted to take care of us?” Her voice was tight, almost pleading. She already had a good idea who was on the other end of that call—she just wanted to see if Aaron would stay.Even with that hope in her eyes, Aaron didn’t change his mind.“Your brother’s NOT in any danger. Ami fell. I NEED to check on her.”Emily let out a cold, hollow laugh. She fell, and that was enough to make
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
Teddy’s words echoed in Aaron’s ears—If you don’t truly love Emily, you’ll never be happy together.But did he not truly love her? Then why was he so furious, even devastated, when she asked for a divorce? Why did it hit him so hard, why did it drive him mad seeing how eager she was to cut him off completely?Frank and Teddy exchanged glances, both unsure of what to say. If Aaron didn’t even know where his heart stood, who were they to weigh in?Aaron couldn’t make sense of it. His mind was a fog, a mess he didn’t want to untangle. He hated feeling even remotely sober right now. His lips pressed into a tight, hard line as he reached again for the bottle in front of him.&ldquo
In a private room of a city bar, Aaron had been drinking nonstop from the moment he stepped in, downing glass after glass like it was water. Tonight was clearly no casual get-together. He’d only called two people—Frank and Teddy.Teddy, who had never seen Aaron like this before, gave Frank a look. “You gonna say something?”Frank was just as unsettled. Aaron sat there with a stone-cold face, pouring alcohol into himself like he was trying to drown something ugly. The last time Frank had seen him drink like this was five or six years ago—when Amelia’s engagement had hit him like a freight train. He’d locked himself in a bar for three straight days.Tonight was starting to feel the same. Was
Sadie, of course, knew who Amelia was. The moment that long-forgotten name resurfaced, she blurted out, shocked, “You’re saying Amelia came between you two?”The words had barely left her mouth before she realized how poorly they landed. She’d only just returned to the country after receiving news of Aaron's divorce.The moment she got off the plane, she’d gone straight to see her father—who had reportedly fainted upon hearing about the split. The doctor said it was nothing life-threatening, just a spike in blood pressure from the emotional shock.Once she confirmed the old man was stable, she rushed to find Emily. A divorce was serious. The longer this dragged on, the worse things would get between them. She knew comin
Emily clutched her chest, startled. “Jesus, you scared the hell out of me.”Still shaken, she hadn’t even had time to ask what Aaron was doing there. A cigarette butt smoldered at his feet—still giving off a thin wisp of smoke. Emily instinctively covered her nose, already wanting nothing more than to get inside and shut the door.Aaron stamped out the cigarette with his shoe and stepped in front of her door. He looked tired, drawn. “Em, I’m not here to cause trouble.”“I don’t care why you’re here,” Emily said coldly, automatically taking a step back.“Please, just hear me out.” Aaron’s voice was softer than usual. “Grandpa fainted just now… after hearing about our divorce.&
Theo had his assistant notify HR to send Lilian a formal warning—an official period on the day’s mess. Some coworkers packed up and headed home, while others, hungry for gossip, pulled together an impromptu dinner gathering."Wait for me in the parking lot," Theo leaned in and murmured to Emily before walking off with his assistant. Once they were out of sight, Emily made her way toward the exit.Bella darted back to grab her bag and quickly caught up to Emily, thumping her chest in mock panic. “You good? I was seriously about to die from secondhand anxiety. I was so tense I didn’t even get a good look at the boss’s face—and he’s seriously hot.”It was the first time she’d ever seen him that close—sharp jawlin
Theo’s assistant, John, came rushing over with a stack of wrinkled papers—maybe twenty or so—and handed them to Theo. “Sir, these were found in Lilian’s bin. They’re all Emily’s drafts.”Nobody expected a new development this late in the day. It was almost 6 p.m., time to go home, yet not a single person moved. Feet stayed glued to the floor. Everyone exchanged glances, unspoken but unanimous—they needed to see how this played out.Emily hadn’t expected Theo to actually have someone retrieve the tossed designs. But as she recognized the pages—clearly hers, complete with her signature—she realized something:Theo had probably been aware for a while that something wasn’t right with how she was being treated. It was only after hearing L
Completing two full, polished fashion drafts in just five hours and forty-five minutes?There’s no need to spell out what kind of level that is—it speaks for itself. Which meant everything Lilian had said earlier—her critiques, her questions about Emily’s competency—was officially irrelevant.To Emily, it was kind of funny how Lilian had written her off just because she hadn’t held a formal job in the past three years. As if that meant her skills were gone, her hands were useless, or she’d lost her edge just because she wasn’t out earning a paycheck.People tend to forget—she used to be a designer once too, grinding through long hours and brutal deadlines. In fact, her ol
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