2: 2

2

With that, I didn't spare the three of them another glance. I turned and walked straight out the door.

I hadn't even cleared the complex before Merlin caught up.

He grabbed my wrist, desperate to explain.

"Lulu, don't be angry. My parents are simple people from the country, they never had much education. What they said came out ugly, but they didn't really mean it that way."

"Trust me, I'll have a good talk with them later. Just don't be angry."

I pulled my wrist free.

"Didn't mean it that way? Then tell me. What did they mean?"

"And if you wanted to have a good talk with them, why didn't you say a word back there at the table? Now that you see me leaving, suddenly you know how to speak up?"

That seemed to anger Merlin.

"Even if my parents said some things wrong, you had no business giving them that look."

"It's your birthday. My mom worked hard to make a whole table of food, and you just walk out like that. You're telling me you did nothing wrong?"

Hearing that, I almost laughed from sheer fury.

"You don't blame them for how ugly their words were. You don't blame them for tearing me down with every single sentence. Instead you blame me for giving them a look?"

"Merlin, be honest. You think the same way your parents do, don't you?"

I looked straight into his eyes. He glanced away, a little cornered.

"Lulu, don't read too much into it, but my parents aren't wrong either."

"I'm only thirty. I've made something of myself, I have my own company. If I wanted to look, there are plenty of young girls out there for me to pick from."

"You're already thirty, and I'm still willing to be with you. Doesn't that prove how I feel about you?"

I didn't say anything. I just stood there and looked at him.

The more Merlin talked, the more he convinced himself he was right.

"I could find a young girl anytime I wanted. There are plenty of beautiful women who'd want to marry me."

"But you? You're already thirty. Find someone your own age and can he be as successful as me? Find someone successful and can he be as young as me?"

"Lulu, accept it. Thirty means something different for men than it does for women."

I didn't say a word. I just suddenly laughed.

Merlin and I met in college. We dated for four years there.

The year I was twenty-two, Merlin graduated and wanted to start his own business, so I went along with him.

We lived together in a basement that leaked. We ate instant noodles with no seasoning together.

When the company was just starting out, Merlin didn't like the drinking and the clinking of glasses with clients, so I carried the whole thing on my shoulders.

Not only did I draw the design work for the company's flagship products, at night I sat at the table and smiled for every client over drinks.

That was how I brought in the orders, one by one.

To this day I still remember drinking until my stomach bled for a single six-figure order.

Lying in that hospital bed, Merlin's eyes were red from crying.

"For the rest of my life, all I'll ever need is Joyce."

From that day on, the man who hated schmoozing forced himself to go out and do it, forced himself to build relationships with every client, so that I only had to focus on my designs.

On the strength of his charm and my designs, his company finally found solid ground in the industry.

It was clearly the two of us working together that got us here.

But now Merlin claimed all the credit for himself.

How laughable.

Seeing me stay quiet, Merlin thought I'd softened.

"All right, my parents are still waiting at home. Let's head back first."

"Go back and apologize to them properly. They're your elders, they won't hold it against you."

I took a step back, opening the distance between us.

"So the past twelve years I might as well have thrown to the dogs."

"Merlin, you and me, we're done."

I didn't wait for his answer. I turned and walked straight toward the gate of the complex.

Merlin's voice rose behind me, seething.

"Joyce, you don't know a good thing when you see it!"

"You're thirty, who's going to want you? I'm telling you, don't come crying with regrets!"

3: 3

3

Early the next morning, I went in to the office as usual, ready to pack up my things.

I'd made up my mind to end it, and I didn't want it dragging out.

I'd barely stepped into my office when Merlin came in right behind me.

"Well, well. Weren't you the one with all the backbone? What are you doing back here, looking so eager?"

"Enough. I already had a good talk with my parents last night. When you get off work, come home with me and apologize to them properly."

I didn't even bother to look at him. I just kept packing.

"You've got it wrong. I'm not here to work. I'm here to clear out my things."

"And while I'm at it, I'm letting you know I'm resigning."

The smugness dropped off his face in an instant. He strode over and slammed a hand down on the files I was sorting.

"Joyce, do you really have to take this so far?"

"I'm already backing down here. Can't you see that?"

I pulled the files out from under his hand.

"Nobody's taking anything too far. This is just a clean split after a breakup. Don't write yourself extra scenes."

"As for that lofty head of yours, don't bother lowering it. You might snap your own neck."

Along with the ordinary office files, I deleted every design in the computers.

Back when Merlin first started the company, he had no one at his side.

To get the business on its feet faster, I carried the whole design department alone, entering competition after competition with my own work.

Every award I won breathed new life into his company.

I still remember it, even now.

The day after I won my first national award, Merlin, who had been barely holding on, finally landed the company's first seven-figure contract.

He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, thrilled.

"Lulu, you're my lucky star. You're the reason this whole company works!"

"Being with you is the best thing I've ever done in my life!"

In all the years since, his company got where it is on my designs. Little by little, it found solid ground in the industry.

It wasn't as if bigger, more established firms hadn't tried to poach me. They had. Every time, I turned them down.

I loved that man for twelve years. I wanted to stand beside him.

To be there while he built it all from nothing, there while he made his name.

I really did think, once, that he would give me a home.

Once everything was wiped, I picked up the box and turned to leave.

Behind me, Merlin's voice came again, low and mean.

"Joyce, are you really going to take this all the way?"

I stopped. But I didn't answer him.

"By the way. Your company's main earnings all these years came from my designs, and I've never received a single royalty payment or copyright contract from you."

"We no longer have any working relationship, so I'm asking your company to stop profiting from my designs, effective immediately."

"If your company keeps using my designs after this, I reserve the right to sue to protect my rights."

With that, I walked straight out of the building without looking back.

I thought that was the end of things between Merlin and me.

But that night, my home got an uninvited guest.

I'd just finished dinner and was about to take the dog downstairs for a walk when someone started pounding on my door.

I opened it to find Victoria standing there.

The moment she saw me, she jabbed a finger in my face and started screaming.

"You little tramp, are you trying to ruin my son on purpose?"

"Let me tell you, you hurt my son, and I'm not letting you off that easy! You're nothing but a vicious witch!"

I couldn't be bothered to trade words with her. I just dialed 911.

"Hello, I need to report a break-in. Someone's trying to force their way into my home."

4: 4

4

The police being called didn't scare Victoria off. If anything, she screamed louder.

"Breaking in? I'm your future mother-in-law! I'll discipline my own son's woman, and I'd like to see who dares stop me!"

"Yesterday was your birthday. I was kind enough to cook a whole table of food for you, and today you want to break up with my son and cart off some designs of yours?"

"Twelve years you've been with my son. How can you be so vicious?"

At this hour, every family had just finished dinner and was either heading out for a stroll or settling in for the night.

Victoria's shouting quickly drew a crowd of neighbors.

I looked at her coldly.

"As for why I'm breaking up with your son, you know perfectly well in your own hearts."

"I've already called the police. If you don't leave, you can wait to sit in a cell and think it over."

I had nothing more to say to her. I turned to shut the door.

But Victoria slammed a hand against the door frame, stopping me.

Seeing more and more people gathering, she reached straight into her bag and pulled out a surgical payment bill.

Seven bold words printed across the top.

Bill for a pregnancy termination.

"A shameless woman like you, pregnant with my son before you were even married. What kind of parents raised you?"

"You're thirty, and you've already had a life die inside you. My family isn't even holding it against you, so what more do you want?"

"Now you insist on breaking up with my son. Back then you refused to keep the baby too. Is it because you've got someone else? Have you been cheating on my son all along?"

Merlin, who had only just rushed over, heard what his mother was saying.

Flustered, he tugged at her arm.

"Mom, what nonsense are you spouting?"

My throat tightened, and my whole body was trembling.

I fought to hold back the emotion pushing me toward the edge and looked straight at Merlin.

"My miscarriage. Did you tell your mother about it?"

Merlin avoided my eyes, and for a moment he didn't dare answer.

Victoria shoved him behind her.

"How dare you compare yourself to Merlin? You had the nerve to do it, but no one's allowed to talk about it?"

"Merlin, don't be afraid. Mom's here. I will never let this slut bully you like this!"

Watching Merlin cower like that, the ground seemed to tilt under me, and I nearly lost my footing.

That child had been lost six years ago.

At the time Merlin's company was on the rise, and I was working overtime night after night, when the blow of losing both my parents at once landed on me.

Only when I started bleeding did I realize I'd miscarried.

The first time I ever knew that child existed, I had already lost him for good.

In that stretch of time, I lost not only my parents but my baby too.

After the procedure, Merlin cried, tears rolling down in great heavy drops.

"I swear I will never wrong you in this life."

"That child never got to see this world, but I will love him forever."

Yet now he had told his mother, and let her rip open my wound in front of all these people.

And worse.

Twisted the truth into a lie!

Seeing my expression, Victoria grew smugger still.

She was about to open her mouth again when I cut her off.

"Merlin, this was your child too. You're just going to stand there and watch your mother throw filth on me and on the baby?"

Merlin couldn't meet my eyes.

After a moment, he mumbled his answer.

"As long as you're willing to come back to the company, I'll clear your name."

In that instant, the last taut string in my mind finally snapped.

The past twelve years, I really had been blind.

I drew in a deep breath and looked at Merlin and his mother, and the whole pack of gawking relatives.

"Yes, I was pregnant once. But I don't see it as a disgrace. It's part of what I've lived."

"And another thing. If everyone insists there's something wrong with me for having been pregnant, then isn't there something far more wrong with an irresponsible man? Especially one who's standing here right now letting his mother throw filth at me."

"And last of all, I never did a single thing wrong in this relationship. If there's one thing I got wrong."

"It's that I was blind."

Just then, several men in uniform arrived.

"Who called the police!"