"Lily, I never expected you to be this conniving. Your mother has a common illness—it's nowhere near as serious as you're making it out to be."
"You're playing the victim on purpose, trying to stir up trouble so everyone turns on Ursula."
"Since you love playing the victim so much, I'll give you what you're asking for. Effective immediately, you're demoted."
The moment Nolan finished shouting at me, he turned and left without hesitation.
He walked fast, as if every second away from Ursula might put her in danger.
I lifted my hand and touched the spot where he'd struck me. A thin line of blood had risen on my skin, scratched open by the pointed nail tips Ursula had put on his fingers. A decorative gift from her, now etched into my face.
It turned out everything they said on TV was true. Even the deepest love couldn't survive the slow erosion of time. Two people who once adored each other could become strangers who couldn't stand the sight of one another.
The whispers around the office were relentless.
"Lily's got it rough. She came from nothing and married into the Gilbert family. Even if she never intended to climb the social ladder, the world slapped that label on her anyway."
"What Mr. Gilbert did is honestly chilling. A hardworking employee loses to some manipulative woman who knows how to bat her eyelashes."
"Right? All over a cup of coffee. He shredded the contract she worked so hard to land, and then demoted her on top of it."
"If it were me, I'd divorce him too."
Hearing the gossip, I realized my heart no longer twisted the way it used to. No more restless ache, no more sting.
Because I was done with Nolan Gilbert. The divorce I'd brought up wasn't a bluff.
Surrounded by the murmurs, I left without a word.
Rachel Fox, my closest friend at the company, stepped forward and draped an arm around my shoulders. "Lily, are you okay?"
"Let's just leave together. We don't have to put up with this garbage."
I managed a bitter smile. "Leave? Don't be ridiculous."
"You've got your parents to take care of and kids to feed. Jobs aren't easy to come by right now. Stay here, keep your head down, and earn your paycheck."
I went back to my office. The second the door clicked shut, my eyes burned red.
I'd only been promoted a few days ago. The chair hadn't even warmed before they were shoving me out the door.
My mother was lying in a hospital bed, and she needed money for treatment. The thought had barely formed when my phone buzzed in my pocket. The screen showed an incoming call from my mother's attending physician.
"Ms. Henson, you need to come to the hospital right away."
"Your mother is insisting on being discharged. She says she doesn't want to be a burden to you anymore."
I didn't even stop to gather my things. I just ran.
When I reached the hospital and pushed open the door to her room, I found her eyes swollen and raw from crying.
The moment she saw me, she quickly wiped away the tear tracks with the back of her hand and forced a smile onto her face.
"Lily, sweetheart. You're here."
"I'm feeling so much better now. I can go home."
"Mom, stop. Please don't lie to me. Your condition is getting worse. You can't leave the hospital—"
"Lily, we have to face reality. Nobody knows my body better than I do."
"Help me with the discharge paperwork. I want to go home and cook you a proper meal."
"You silly girl. It's your birthday today!"
She reached up and cupped my face in her hands, her fingers tracing the dark circles and the hollowed-out exhaustion written across my skin.
Her eyes went red again.
In the end, I couldn't argue with her. I signed the papers and brought her home.
On the way, we stopped at the market and loaded up on groceries. Half were dishes I loved. The other half were Nolan's favorites.
While we bustled around the kitchen, my mother kept trying to call Nolan.
Today she'd been discharged. Today was my birthday.
She wanted the three of us to sit down together, like a real family, and share a meal.
But Nolan's phone never went through.
