Chapter 3

I couldn't go back to the small apartment I had shared with Jake. It wasn't a home, it was a stage. I found a cheap motel on the edge of town and checked in, paying with the last of my own cash.

Jake's calls and texts flooded my phone.

"Lily, why did you hang up?"

"Please call me back. I'm worried."

"I have amazing news for us! This is it!"

"Lily, answer me!"

I turned the phone off and dropped it into my bag. The silence was a relief.

The next morning, I took a bus back to the Miller Corp building. I felt numb, detached. My only goal was to cut the final tie. I walked into the Human Resources department, my face a blank mask.

The HR manager looked surprised to see me.

"Lily? I thought you'd be with Mr. Miller today."

"I'm here to resign," I said, my voice flat.

I filled out the paperwork, my hand steady. As I wrote my name, memories flashed through my mind. Meeting Jake at a small cafe two years ago. He told me he was an aspiring entrepreneur whose business had failed, leaving him with a mountain of debt. He was charming, vulnerable, and I fell for him completely.

I remembered working double shifts at the diner, my feet aching, my hands raw from hot water. I remembered my mother, Sarah, taking on extra sewing work, her fingers getting pricked and sore, her cough getting worse day by day. We pooled every single dollar, living on instant noodles and stale bread, all to help the man we believed in.

"It's okay, honey," my mom would say, rubbing my back. "Jake's a good man. When you love someone, you help them through the hard times. That's what makes it real."

The memory made my stomach churn with a rage so cold it felt like ice.

Just as I was about to sign the final document, the door to the HR office opened.

It was Jake.

He stopped when he saw me, a look of relief washing over his face.

"Lily! There you are. I was so worried."

He walked towards me, his arms open. I didn't move. I just looked at him, then down at the paper. I picked up the pen and signed my name with a firm, clear stroke. I slid the resignation form across the desk to the HR manager, my eyes never leaving Jake's.

His smile faltered. "What's this? Lily, what are you doing?"

"I'm resigning, Mr. Miller," I said, my voice devoid of any emotion.

His expression changed from confusion to hurt. He tried to take my hand, his voice dropping to that familiar, gentle tone he always used to soothe me.

"Baby, talk to me. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

I just stared at him. The man I thought I knew was gone. In his place was a stranger, a cruel puppeteer.

The office staff outside the glass walls were starting to whisper, their eyes wide with curiosity. I could hear snippets of their conversation.

"Is that his girlfriend?"

"I heard he's going to propose. She's going to be the wife of the CEO!"

"She's so lucky."

Lucky. The word echoed in the silent space between me and Jake. I wasn't lucky. I was a survivor of a catastrophe he had created. All I wanted was to get out of this building, out of his life, and never look back.