On the way to the sales office, I transferred five hundred thousand from my brokerage account into my debit card. That left a little over five hundred thousand in it.
The sales manager took me through Haven Residences. Back at the office, I placed the order without hesitation.
When it came time to pay, the manager hesitated, but he made himself say it.
"There's something I have to be upfront with you about. Years ago, there was a fire here—"
I cut him off with a smile.
"I know. Just run the card."
The things everyone else shied away from, I missed every waking moment.
Old Mr. Wang, Old Mrs. Zhang.
And my mom and dad.
Haven Residences, Unit 208.
I directed the movers, guiding each piece of furniture and every appliance into place.
Lying on the bed, looking across the room at my parents' memorial, I felt a peace I couldn't measure.
A little past seven that night, I went out to buy groceries.
I'd barely reached the bottom of the building when I ran into Sebastian and Letitia, arms linked, deep in conversation.
As I passed them, Letitia's face lit with that told-you-so look.
"See, Sebastian? Wasn't I right?"
I stopped, puzzled, and caught the venom in her voice.
"Our sales director keeps her distance from you in public, but behind the scenes? I'm sure she just can't stop chasing after you."
"Enough."
Sebastian cut her off, annoyed, then turned to me, his voice serious.
"Maud, if you regret this, come find me at the company. Don't follow me around in private."
"You haven't sunk so low you've lost all sense of decency, have you?"
I looked at the two of them, almost amused.
One, a man drunk on his own success, sure of everything.
The other, a pretty vase, all polish outside and rot within.
"Sebastian, I'm not part of the company anymore. I go where I please, and you have no right to ask."
I dropped the line and started to walk off.
"Stay right there!"
Sebastian came after me and grabbed my arm, hard.
"There's a limit to how far a joke can go. I expect to see you at the company tomorrow morning. Otherwise you know exactly what happens!"
His grip hurt. I wrenched free and looked at him coldly.
"After all these years, have you ever once seen me backtrack?"
"Right now I honestly feel sorry for you, and for myself. You're not the man you used to be, and there's no way I'm ever going back!"
"Well said!" Letitia came over, clapping.
She planted herself between me and Sebastian, contempt in her eyes.
"But please stop saying things like that out in public. People might get the wrong idea, like there was actually something between you and Sebastian."
I stared at Letitia's wrist and, for a moment, went blank.
She was still lecturing me.
"Without the platform Sebastian built, without his family's business connections, what does it matter how good a saleswoman you are?"
"The one thing a person needs is to know their own place. Don't let your desires go to your head and do something you'll regret for the rest of your life."
By the end, the threat in Letitia's words was impossible to miss.
But I wasn't listening.
The next moment I seized her wrist and, like something had snapped in me, wrenched that jade bracelet off her arm.
By the time she came to her senses, I was cradling the bracelet in my hands, shaking as I looked at Sebastian.
"Why? Why is the only thing my mother left me on her wrist?"
"Sebastian! You tell me why!"
Sebastian stood there, too ashamed to speak.
Letitia's hand shot toward me. I stepped back, but too late.
The next second the bracelet hit the ground and broke into pieces.
Letitia scrambled behind Sebastian, panic all over her face.
"Sebastian, I didn't mean to."
