3
“I used to love you. I don’t anymore.”
Finally, the words were out.
Last time, I wanted to say them.
But I still held onto a sliver of hope.
Until I died.
I was sitting on the doorstep, listening to a
professional pianist playing “Für Elise.”
Feeling the last bit of sunlight on my skin.
What was I thinking?
My knees hurt.
L
My head hurt.
I crawled all the way back.
Liam had people following me.
If my posture was off, I had to start over.
I wanted to live.
Compared to death, everything was nothing.
But I still died.
A horrible death.
All because I was stubborn.
I shouldn’t have hoped for their love.
Not family, not romance.
Dad narrowed his eyes at me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I didn’t answer.
I changed the subject.
“Brittany wants the sales director position. I’m
giving it to her. I’ll resign tonight. I’ll try to
finish the handover in two days.”
Brittany’s eyes lit up.
Afraid I’d change my mind, she said quickly.
<
“Dad, you heard her. She’s giving it up. I’m
just as good as her. I can do it.”
Dad’s company almost went bankrupt.
Once, drunk, he yelled at me.
Said I was bad luck.
That I was cursed.
If I hadn’t come back, the company wouldn’t
have been failing.
Business has its ups and downs.
But he blamed me.
I was two years out of college then.
Doing great in another company.
I quit that job and became the sales director
at his failing company.
In six months, I turned it around.
I went to every meeting.
Drank until my stomach burned.
I even got thrown out of a meeting once.
I wandered the streets half–drunk.
I was too aggressive with the clients.
<
I offended a lot of people.
That’s probably when Liam started hating me.
But I’m still grateful to him.
At least he answered when I called for help.
And he helped me.
Crawling, one knee at a time, was how I paid
him back.
“No way!”
Dad refused to let me quit.
The company was making millions every year.
Dad had never seen that before.
He was biased, not stupid.
He knew who was keeping the company
afloat.
But which way the scale would tip, no one
knew until the end.
Brittany looked shocked.
Her parents always gave her what she
wanted.
This was the first time she really wanted
something, and Dad said no.
She started shaking.
Cried and ran to her room.
Mom ran after her.
Afraid she’d do something crazy.
Dad hesitated.
Then, he spoke to me.
“I know you’ve done a lot for the company. The company is successful now because of
the deals you brought in. As long as you don’t
mess things up, I’ll keep you in the director’s
spot.
Poisoned words.
I smiled bitterly.
The old me would have been touched.
He finally acknowledged my hard work.
But now, I know what he was doing.
Brainwashing.
He’d put me down, then give me a little praise
to make me work harder for him.
L
Needy people always fall for that trick.
I knew what he was doing.
I just let it happen.
I was stupid.
Before.
