4: 4
If it hadn't been for what happened when everyone was presenting their gifts.
Reg had deliberately tugged that pendant out from under his collar and looked at me, taunting.
Until then I'd had no idea she would dare give away the very pendant meant for my mother's birthday.
Joanna frowned and pulled me a little further off:
"Can't you keep your voice down? If your family hears you, they'll take it out on Reg."
"Today is your mother's birthday. Don't make a scene at a time like this and embarrass her."
I laughed.
"When you brought your ex-boyfriend to our family dinner and sat him in my place, you weren't worried about embarrassment then?"
"Get that pendant back. Now."
The moment I said it, Reg came over with tears in his eyes.
"Toby, I'm sorry. I really didn't know it was your mother's gift."
"When it was delivered to your house, the recipient's name was mine. I've been having nightmares lately, and Joanna said good jade calms the nerves, so I thought she'd bought it for me."
"I know you don't like me. I'll give it back to you, just stop making things hard for Joanna."
He lifted the pendant off his neck and made a show of pressing it into my hand.
But he let go before it ever touched me.
The jade shattered into pieces on the floor.
Reg burst into tears at once.
"Toby, is it because you think I'm dirty?"
"I'd rather die than be humiliated by you like this. All I do by living is offend your eyes anyway!"
He ran out, sobbing.
Joanna shoved me hard, and I went down to the floor.
My palm came down on the sharp edges of the broken jade, and my whole hand was covered in blood.
Joanna glared at me, shaking with fury.
"Toby, you knew Reg has depression, and you still provoked him this viciously. Are you satisfied now?!"
"I'm the one who forgot to change the recipient's name, and I'm the one who said to give it to Reg. If you've got the nerve, come at me!"
"It's just a birthday gift. It's not like your family is short one piece of jade. Or do you think your mother won't live to see next year? Nitpicking over something this trivial. You're impossible!"
With that, she rushed out after Reg without a second's hesitation.
I sat slumped on the floor and pulled my mouth into a bitter smile.
So it turned out changing the address had done nothing. The recipient was still Reg.
And for his sake, Joanna could even curse my mother.
That night, back home, my mother dabbed medicine on my palm, aching for me.
Not wanting her to worry, I'd deliberately worn long sleeves so the cuts on my arm wouldn't show.
"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry. I embarrassed you both."
My mother opened her mouth to ask something, but my father stopped her.
He handed me a partnership letter of intent.
"Toby, whether we're embarrassed doesn't matter. What matters is whether my son has been wronged."
"You're not in a good place right now, and there are things you don't want to talk about yet. We won't push you. But whether you still give her this letter is something you need to decide for yourself."
Joanna's small company was expanding this year, and I was the one who'd put in a good word for her.
Only then did my father agree to hand over one of our outsourced supply chains to her.
The plan had been to give it to her today, right after she presented her birthday gift.
Instead, Joanna ground our whole family's face into the dirt.
I said quietly,
"Dad, don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
Three days later, Joanna sent me a message:
【Your dad's letter of intent is drawn up, right? I've finished all the prep work on my end.】
【Plenty of friends and clients have heard our two families are partnering and want to come congratulate us, so I'm throwing a reception. Bring it over today for the signing.】
Her way of breezing over everything and smoothing it into a pretty picture was nothing new to me.
I just replied:【Understood.】
When I arrived, the banquet hall was packed with guests.
Reg wore a custom suit, his arm around Joanna's waist.
The two of them kept leaning their heads together, murmuring and smiling, very close.
A mutual friend of theirs teased them.
"If you ask me, after all these years, the two of you still make the best match."
A few clients joined in.
"Ms. Gilbert, this must be your husband? A perfect pair, talent and beauty."
Reg flushed, and Joanna thanked them politely without correcting a word.
When she saw me, Joanna came over and frowned at my casual clothes.
"Why aren't you in formal wear? Even Reg knows to look presentable at an occasion like this. You just keep getting worse."
"There wasn't time. Besides, the formal suit I picked out earlier, didn't you mail it off to Reg? That's the one he's wearing."
Joanna froze for a moment, then uncomfortably changed the subject.
"You brought the letter of intent? Your dad's signature is on it?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go up and hand it over. Everyone's waiting. Oh, and remember to apologize to Reg in front of everyone later."
"That night, you bullied him so badly he nearly slit his wrists."
I said flatly, "Sure."
Joanna hadn't expected me to agree so readily, and she nodded, satisfied.
"Toby, you've finally learned some sense."
Up on the stage, she said a few words thanking the guests, then held out her hand to me.
"Toby, hand over the letter of intent. Once I sign too, the partnership between our families is officially in effect."
I took out a document, but I didn't give it to her.
Instead I took the microphone and spoke slowly to the crowd below.
"Everyone, I did come today with something to hand to Ms. Gilbert in front of you all."
"Only it isn't a partnership letter of intent. It's a divorce agreement."
