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Chapter 1
The moment I stepped out of the municipal building, I got a notification. My resignation request had beer
rejected.
HR told me Steve hadn’t been in the office for days and couldn’t approve it. They gave me an address and
told me to find him myself.
Gritting my teeth, I went. The address was a pool hall. Mandy had posted that she wanted to learn to play pool, and Steve, the workaholic, had apparently skipped work for days to teach her.
When I found him, he was leaning over Mandy, guiding her shot, their bodies pressed close. The moment she saw me, a contemptuous smirk played on her lips.
A few of his office sycophants saw me and swarmed over.
“Well, well, look who’s here for Mr. Big Shot.”
“Told you. The three-day countdown wouldn’t even last one. She came crawling back.”
“Our boss really has her whipped. One word and she’s on her knees.”
“Alright, alright, pay up. A bet’s a bet.”
I frowned. I’d heard their taunts a million times before, but it never stung like it did now.
“I’m not here to make up.”
My words sent them into a fit of laughter. “Don’t pretend, Merrin. Everyone knows you’re Steve’s number one groupie. You wouldn’t leave if he set you on fire.”
I ignored them and slapped my resignation papers on the table. “Steve, sign it.”
He was about to look at the papers when Mandy whined, “Steve, honey, how do I make this shot?”
He immediately dropped the papers, pulled his personal seal out of Mandy’s pocket, and tossed it to me.
“Sign it yourself. And don’t bother me while I’m teaching Mandy to play.”
Steve was obsessed with his privacy. He never let me near his safe. He’d shield his phone like it held state secrets when he typed in a password. And his personal seal? He never let it out of his sight.
But now, he had just given it to Mandy. He was so wrapped up in their “date” that he couldn’t even be bother- ed with official company documents.
I clutched the stamped resignation letter, my heart feeling like a cavern with the wind howling through it.
I turned to leave, but Steve called out to me.
“Mandy’s busy for the next few days. Can you handle her caseload?”
He tossed a thick stack of case files at me, each one with nothing but a title. I’d lost count of how many tim- es he’d asked me to do Mandy’s work. Every time, she would take the credit. But if I made a single mistake
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under the crushing workload, the blame was all mine.
Sometimes I’d refuse, but then he’d accuse me of not caring about him or the firm, of letting him down. He’d say if I didn’t do it, he’d have to do it himself. And I, worried about him overworking himself, would always give in.
All my sacrifices just earned me his contempt and the right to be ordered around.
But I was an ex-employee now. The firm’s problems weren’t mine anymore.
“No, I already qui-”
My words were cut off by Mandy’s pathetic whimper. “Steve, it’s okay if Merrin doesn’t want to. I can do it
myself.”
“You just got divorced,” Steve cooed, full of sympathy. “You’re in no state to work. Go have fun. Don’t worry
about it.”
He turned back to me, his tone glacial. “You know, you’ve already upset Mandy enough with that stunt or your feed. I’m giving you a chance to make it up to her, and you’re refusing? If you keep this up, in three days
you could be on your knees begging, and I still wouldn’t take you back.”
I laughed bitterly. When my mother died unexpectedly, I had collapsed from grief multiple times. All Steve had said was, “Pull yourself together and get to work on time. The firm needs you.”
But Mandy, who had been divorced for two years, could still use “not feeling up to it” as an excuse to skip
work.
“Fine by me. I don’t care.”
I turned to leave. Steve’s face was a mask of shock.
The colleagues were stunned too. “Is she really leaving?”
N
Mandy just chuckled. “Oh, Merrin, if you don’t want to do the work, just say so. No need to play hard to get.”
At her words, Steve’s brow smoothed, his confidence returning. His tone softened. “Alright, Merrin, I know I’
ve been neglecting you. Be a good girl and finish Mandy’s work, and in three days, we’ll go get our license,
okay?”
Another empty promise. But this time, I had no appetite for it.
I didn’t answer. I just walked away.
The colleagues started their snide remarks again. “Look at her, pretending to be tough. Just wait. By tomorr-
ow, she’ll be back, begging for forgiveness.”
A wicked thought crossed my mind. I wanted to see them lose.
I smirked and looked back at them. “Fine. Then you just wait and see.”
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