My mother nodded and offered me some words of comfort before she got up to make the call.

After I returned to my room, I lay in bed.

As I stared at the familiar ceiling above my head, I remembered the first time I saw Claire hugging William.

At that time, I had been furious and rushed over to pull them apart.

Before I could even demand answers, Claire had already started crying and apologizing. She said, “I’m sorry, Yggdra! I’m really sorry! I didn’t do it on purpose. I was just too sad…”

William pulled Claire over while she was still apologizing and shielded her behind him before giving me a scowl. “Yggdra, Claire didn’t do anything wrong. Cut her some slack. I was just comforting her just now, anyway.”

Perhaps I had really acted like an unreasonable woman at that time because I had pointed at Claire and shouted, “Comforting her? Do you need to hug her to comfort her?

“And are you saying I’m making her life miserable? How am I doing that, then? Tell me!”

William smacked my hand down and left with Claire.

That time, we had a huge fight. We also gave each other the silent treatment for a long time.

I slept through the entire night. The next day, my mother told me that my blind date was scheduled for that noon.

After cleaning my haggard-looking face up, I went to the restaurant for my blind date, despite my swollen eyes.

A man in a white dress shirt sat at my table.

I sat across from him and greeted him politely before we engaged in a brief but casual conversation.

Then, he put down his cutlery and looked at me. His expression was all business. “Miss Howard, I’ll get straight to the point. I need to get married as soon as possible. My grandmother is sickly, and she wants to see me settle down. If you can accept that, we can sign a contract. Since we’re both lawyers, we don’t have to worry about either one of us trying to take advantage of the other in the contract.

“But if you can’t accept such a hasty marriage, you can tell me straight away. I’ll tell my parents about it and won’t cause you any trouble.”

This man, Richard Zimmer, had a regal air, but he was not aggressive whatsoever. I also felt at ease as I listened to him.

While I was thinking about what he said, my phone lit up, and what I saw immediately gave me the motivation to make an instantaneous decision.

John’s and William’s messages reached my phone at the same time.

John: Yggdra, you better apologize to Claire as soon as possible. You don’t own the law firm, so stop with the haughty act!

William: Stop bringing your emotions to work. Even if we’re breaking up, it’s not a reason for you to skip work. No one wants to take care of your mess for you.

I stared at the two messages until my screen faded to black. Then, I looked at Richard and forced a smile. “Sure. I’d like to get married as soon as possible too.”

Richard gave me a worried look before he took out his phone and pointed at a date. “How does this date sound? It’s a week from now. If it’s necessary, I can introduce you to my current law firm, but you may only be able to be my assistant at the beginning.”

I looked at the date before I blinked back my tears. “Okay. Coincidentally, I’m dissatisfied with my current job situation. I’ll hand over my job to the others before I transfer.”

Richard said nothing despite seeing that I was about to start crying in a moment. He just ordered dessert.

Then, he sat across from me quietly as he watched me eat the sickeningly sweet chocolate cake.

The sweetness from the chocolate melted in my mouth, but once it slid down my throat, it seemed to have turned into endless bitterness.

I never liked sweet stuff, and I only ever ate savory snacks at home and in the office.

John had once gone above and beyond to order a savory cake for me. It tasted horrible, but I was really happy about it.

When did things start to change?

One day, Claire came into my office with a cake and said that it was an afternoon snack, courtesy of John.

I just glanced at it before I said faintly, “I don’t eat sweet stuff. Please give it to someone else. Thank you.”

I then continued organizing the documents at hand, but in less than a minute, John pushed my door open and stormed in.

“Yggdra, why did you lose your temper at Claire?!”

I looked up in puzzlement, but all I saw was John’s angry face, along with Claire, who had white cream on her shirt. She was standing by the door.

Rage burned in me, and I stood up before saying coldly, “Claire, did I do that?”

With teary eyes, Claire shook her head and waved her hands. “N-No. I was just careless.”

But before I could say anything else, William removed his suit jacket and draped it across Claire’s shoulders.

That suit jacket was a gift from me. I had bought it using the money I got from my first case.

I could not help it. I yelled his name. “William!”

William paused for a moment as he was leading Claire away.

John started talking sarcastically. He said, “I’ll take Claire away instead. If you’re too close to her, Miss Howard here will bully her even more.”

When did John start referring to me like this?

In the end, they all left. No one gave me a chance to defend myself.

The white cake that had splattered onto the floor reminded me of our relationship.

…

After lunch, Richard sent me home.

We exchanged contact numbers. Before I got out of his car, he handed me a box of biscuits.

“You didn’t seem to like sweet stuff. These are my favorite biscuits. Try them.”

I was momentarily stunned. Richard managed to figure out what I liked after dining with me once, but my childhood friend of more than twenty years could no longer remember that.

I forced a smile at Richard before I returned home with the box of biscuits.

My phone kept vibrating; the calls were from John and William. They just kept calling me non-stop.

I drove to the law firm.

Since it was lunch break, only a handful of people were in the office.

Right after I walked in, I saw Claire sitting at my spot.

I stared at her and said coldly, “Get up and get out.”

Claire stood up with a smile while twirling her hair. “Yggdra, are you really breaking up with William? You’re already so old. It won’t be easy for you to get a boyfriend now.”

I sized her up. “Only people like you would think Mr. Nice Guys who flirt with every woman they see are good.”

Claire’s expression shifted. Then, she immediately put on a pitiful expression.

John and William had come in.

Claire covered her face and moved to the side while John rushed in to hug her. “Yggdra, have you lost your mind?! How on earth am I friends with you?!”

William went over to Claire as well to ask her what had happened. Then, he looked at me in disgust.

“Yggdra, apologize to Claire now.”

Despite seeing William’s disgust once more, I no longer felt sad. I just found the entire situation hilarious.

I went over to them. “Apologize to her? For what? For hitting her?”

Before they reacted, I slapped Claire in the face.

Right before their surprised expressions, I rubbed my numb palm before I leveled my stoic gaze at them. “See that? That’s real. This time, I really did hit her. Now, stop blaming me for everything!”

Rage seemed to have overtaken John for a moment. His neck turned red, and he brought his hand up.

I wanted him to hit me. That way, I would have an excuse to instantly cut ties with him.

And I could also sever our friendship of more than twenty years.

But he did not. Instead, he lowered his hand before my emotionless eyes.

A severe scowl had etched its way onto William’s face. He tightened his hold over Claire’s shoulder.

I returned to my desk. While I shut my laptop, I said, “I’m leaving the law firm today. I’ll get the shares transfer agreement ready in a few days and send it to you two. The information and progress of all my cases are in the company computer. Have someone take over.”

With that said, I left.

When I walked past William, he instinctively grabbed my arm, but I just shoved his hand away.

I would get married in seven days, and I had finally gotten rid of them.