2
After leaving Sanchez Group, I drove straight to the restaurant where I'd agreed to meet my parents.
They were already seated in the private room, waiting for both of us.
When only I walked in, my mother blinked and asked, "Where's Harry?"
I set my bag down, picked up the teapot, and poured them each a cup of tea, smiling. "Something came up at his company. He can't make it. Let's just eat."
My father took a sip of tea and frowned. "What could possibly matter more than sitting down with us to talk about the engagement? Ruby, where exactly did Harry Sanchez go? Tell me the truth."
"He's busy with a matter of life and death." I sat down calmly beside my father and gave them the rough outline of the whole ugly business.
My father lost his temper on the spot and slammed his hand down on the table.
"You two aren't even married yet, and he already dares to walk out on his future in-laws, right in front of you, to go to the hospital with some other woman. If you actually married him, what would he get away with then? If you ask me, Ruby, you should break up with him!"
My mother sighed too, taking my hand. "Ruby, your father's right. Harry Sanchez really has gone too far. Back when you two got together, I already had a feeling this boy wasn't the right match... If you ask me... you should just use this as your chance to end it with him."
I held my mother's hand, and all at once the little moments with Harry Sanchez came rising up in my mind.
When I first got together with him, Harry was still just a project manager at some small company.
He rented a room, lived on instant noodles, wouldn't even spring for a slice of cake on his own birthday.
Back then he courted me tirelessly, bringing breakfast every day, showing up with an umbrella whenever it rained.
Whenever I worked late, he'd wait downstairs for me until the small hours.
That was how his devotion won me over.
Back then, everyone told me, "A guy who marries up isn't reliable. You'd better think it over."
But it was as though I'd been bewitched, and I chose to be with him anyway.
I even pressured my father into setting up a company for him, forcing him up into the CEO's chair.
For three years, for his sake, I gave up my own seat as VP of Pruitt Group.
I chose to step into the background, all because I was afraid people would say I was using my family to hold him down, that they'd call him a kept man.
I gave him every bit of face, every bit of respect.
And I never imagined that what it all bought me in the end was a slap in the face like this, a joke.
Slowly I pulled my drifting thoughts back and gave my parents a smile. "We're breaking up, no question. But before that... everything he owes me, I'm going to collect."
My parents exchanged a glance, and both of them saw the resolve in my eyes.
My father set down his teacup and patted my shoulder. "Your father knows you've got sense. Whatever you decide to do, I'll back you. Sanchez Group was built on Pruitt money in the first place. If it ever comes down to a fight, the right's on our side."
My mother smiled too. "Ruby, as long as you've thought it through, that's what matters..."
I didn't answer. I just picked up my chopsticks, lifted a crystal shrimp dumpling, and put it in my mouth.
And whatever feeling I still had for Harry Sanchez turned to ash the moment that dumpling went down.
