I spent the entire day alone at the resort. She never came back. It wasn’t until deep into the night that I received a message from her. [Are you there?]
[No.] I replied.
[Don’t be so petty. Robin has depression... I was just afraid he might do something stupid.]
One message after another, she kept trying to explain. But I didn’t bother to read the rest. Robin might be at risk of breaking down—but did she not think I might be, too? She didn’t come back that night. Not a single call. Not even a voice. Maybe I should’ve known better than to expect anything. Maybe I was the one who couldn’t let go. But this time, she had made her choice. And maybe that meant… it was time for me to finally let go too.
***
One month later, I closed a major five-year deal for the company, in partnership with South US Capital. It was massive. A contract big enough to keep the company thriving for the next five years, even without a single new project. We wouldn’t have to worry about performance, profit, or survival.
To celebrate, we hosted a company-wide banquet. A formal evening gala. What no one expected—what no one could’ve seen coming—was that Robin, who had been fired from the company, showed up. Not only did he crash the event, he snatched the microphone and stood dead center on the main stage, staring straight at me with defiance written all over his face.
Then he turned to Natalie and shouted, “This man isn’t worth your life, Natalie! He doesn’t deserve you!”
Then, softening his voice, he looked at her with a twisted kind of affection, “Come with me. Leave him. You know we should be together.”
The whole room went dead silent. Faces turned pale with embarrassment and disbelief. Several of our security staff started moving in to remove him from the stage. But I held up a hand to stop them.
Instead, I turned to Natalie and said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Well, since things have already gone this far… why don’t you just go with him?”
The entire room froze. You could’ve heard a pin drop. Even Robin stared at me in disbelief. And Natalie—she just stood there, stunned. In the span of a few seconds, her expression changed a dozen times—shock, fear, panic, confusion, even sorrow.
