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“Luther, just investigate, and you’ll know whether I truly did all these things you’re accusing me of. And while you’re at it, tell Sasha that if she can dedicate this much time to pulling such petty tricks, she might as well use that time to improve her work capabilities.‘
I then hung up, blocked Luther, and deleted his number.
11
After a moment’s hesitation, I pulled up our chat history and deleted all our conversations. Years of messages–from our first meeting to the height of our romance–slowly cleared out as my phone processed the large data load.
Watching it all disappear felt bittersweet.
I slipped my phone into my pocket. Then, I turned to face Grandma and Uncle David with a lighthearted smile to ease their worries.
When we reached home, I discovered that Uncle David had already prepared a clean and cozy room for me.
“See if you like it, Tabby. I have no idea what a woman your age likes, so I just bought these things randomly,” he explained, scratching his head awkwardly.
But the room was decorated entirely in the creamy white tones I adored. There was even a
blue lamp that matched my preferences
“I love it. Thank you, Uncle David,” I gushed sincerely.
“Great! I’ll leave you to freshen up. We’ll be having dinner soon,” he replied cheerfully.
The warmth and care of my family filled the cracks in my heart. With that, I felt a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in years.
After a few relaxing days at home, I started getting restless and decided I wanted to work again.
When I had been with Luther, I had worked tirelessly to earn money and boost my career- all in the name of building a better life for us. Now, I just wanted a simple job so that I could have more time to spend with Grandma and Uncle David.
Soon, I found a job as a barista. I brewed coffee every day and enjoyed the laidback pace.
One day, Andrea Gosling reached out to me. She had been one of my colleagues back when I had worked in Luther’s company. She had sent me a video.
The gist of the video was that in his efforts to defend Sasha, Luther had ordered someone to look into the anonymous account that had slandered her. Ironically, it turned out the posts had been written by Sasha herself.
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“Is Sasha crazy? Who in their right mind exposes themselves like that?” Andrea exclaimed during our video call. “Mr. Jansen was furious when he found out. He removed her from her assistant role immediately.”
Andrea continued sharing gossip about this back at the office excitedly, but I knew why Sasha had done it. She had wanted to ensure my divorce from Luther was final.
It was evident that she had never been as innocent as he had made her out to be.
After some small talk, Andrea added, “Oh, and about that project you handed over to her- she’s been messing it up nonstop. She’s clueless about how to do things and keeps making mistakes with the data.
“The client is threatening to pull out unless she’s replaced. Besides, everyone knows now that she didn’t secure the project herself.”
I listened quietly, feeling unfazed. Anything involving Luther was no longer my concern. Holding my phone between my shoulder and ear, I focused on practicing my latte art and poured the milk steadily.
“Oh, by the way,” Andrea said suddenly, “Mr. Jansen’s been asking around for your contact information. The office has been tense lately–he’s snapping at everyone and making us work overtime like crazy.‘
My hand paused briefly. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”
“Of course not!” she reassured me. “You were so nice to me, Tabby. I’d never betray you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
My life and work continued peacefully for several days, bringing a sense of relaxation I hadn’t felt in a long time.
However, I started to get a strange feeling that someone was following me. Still, I convinced myself that it was just my imagination.
Until one day, he showed up.
I was behind the counter, enjoying the soothing scent of coffee in the shop as I greeted a customer without looking up. “Hello, what would you like to order?”
The moment I looked up, I froze. Instantly, the warm smile on my face vanished. It was replaced by a cold and distant expression.
“Tabby,” Luther greeted.
I didn’t know how he had tracked me down. Nevertheless, I knew one thing for certain–I didn’t want to see him again.
It had been months since we had last met. His face was unshaven, and he had prominent
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dark circles under his eyes.
The man who used to pride himself on his meticulous appearance now stood before me, disheveled and unkempt. He had been reduced to a shadow of his former self.
“Come back with me, Tabby,” he said.
