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Chapter 21
I nodded, bolding back the sting in my eyes. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
| As I grew older, I gradually came to understand the immense trauma she had endured.
And slowdy, I realized I should’t have called her “Mom”
Her face trembled, ber eyes reddened, and she turned away.
Uncle David came over as well, his voice gentle yet a bit awkward. “You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
“I’ve put another hundred thousand in your account. Make sure you eat properly.”
*If anything comes up, you can still call, alright?”
As he spoke, he pressed a business card into my hand.
I nodded again, whispering, “Okay.”
After that, only endless silence remained. Eventually, they left.
It was a long moment before I dared to look up and steal one last, distant glance at their retreating figures.
A wind rustled the thin leaves of the locust tree.
The chilling wind stung my eyes, blurring my vision. I lowered my gaze and saw my long shadow stretching beneath the tree.
I finished high school and went to university to study fashion design.
In high school, my homeroom teacher had said I had a talen for drawing and could consider becoming a professional artist.
It was strange. Almost all my time in elementary and middle school had been spent on academics. Very little was devoted to drawing.
Yet somehow, it had become something I was genuinely good at.
I even entertained the idea of becoming a painter after graduation.
One night, as I lay in my dormitory bed, I was suddenly reminded of the photographs hanging in the living room at Miller estate.
Mom was wearing a white dress, painting.
Now that her hands had healed, she had piked up a brush again.
I also remembered what Ethan had told me years ago–how Mom, hysterical and in denial, had cried out, “She can’t have inherited anything from me!”
I spent the whole night thinking about it.
In the end, I wiped away the idea of pursuing art as a special talent.
I went to university, graduated, and joined a fashion company as a designer.
Sophia attended the same university and, even after graduation, remained my only friend.
At the end of the year, the company’s performance was poor.
Supervisor Mr. Smith boasted that he had managed to get the itinerary of a big–shot CEO through his connections.
If we could meet him, maybe he’d casually give us a small order that could support the entire department for months.
I didn’t want to go. I was just a new employee, barely confirmed in my position.
Everyone in the company knew Mr. Smith had a bad reputation and liked to harass female employees.
But he insisted I had to accompany him for the department’s work.
Chapter 21
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I had no choice but to go.
When we entered the private room, I saw Ethan sitting there, expression cold, alongside a blonde–haired, blue–eyed man–apparently they had jut finished a contract meeting.
The man collected his papers and left, leaving only Ethan in the room.
Mr. Smith forced a smile, leaning forward. “Mr. Miller! What a fortune coincidence! We had the pleasure of meeting briefly last time.”
Ethan glanced at him, puzzled. “Who are you?”
But his words froze when he saw me standing behind Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith seemed to misunderstand Ethan’s gaze at me.
He slid an arm around my waist and, with a suggestive leer, tried to steer me toward the seat beside Ethan.
“I heard you like to drink. My subordinate here is excellent at it”
I angrily tried to push him away. Before I could move, Ethan’s brow furrowed. He stood abruptly.
In his hand, a wine glass flew toward Mr. Smith’s forehead. “What are you doig?!”
Crash. The muted sound of the glass hitting Mr. Smith’s head echoed, then it shattered on the floor.
Ethan’s face darkened. He turned to me, voice fierce. “Emily, are you just going to stand there?”
In that instant, I saw a glimpse of the Ethan I had known as a boy.
I dropped my head in panic, tears threatening to fall.
Chapter 21
