On the 3,600th day of my relationship with Ethan Sinclair, his parents came to inspect the company. I handled the reception personally. Every detail, from the tour schedule to the welcome refreshments. I had stayed up through the night revising the reception plan eight times over. But on the day of the visit, Ethan gave me a last-minute notice. A new intern would be taking over everything in my place. Mia grabbed my plan and ran with it. She won his parents over without breaking a sweat. His mother, Helen, even asked Ethan in front of everyone: “Is this the girl you’ve been dating for almost ten years?” “She’s sharp, thoughtful, and she even switched out the desserts for sugar-free options for me and your father.” “No wonder you like her.” Ethan just smiled and said nothing. Back in the office, I was in tears, demanding to know why. He answered coldly: “It was just a reception. Was it really that big a deal?” “We’re not even engaged yet, and you’re already this desperate to be the lady of the house?” “Vivian, show a little dignity.” I froze. On our tenth anniversary, he stepped in front of my wedding car. “Didn’t you say you’d never marry anyone but me? Why are you marrying someone else?” I smiled. “Didn’t you say I had no dignity, Mr. Sinclair? Don’t worry. He doesn’t seem to mind.”
Ethan left his warning and walked away. I stood alone in the office for a long time, unable to speak. By the time I came out, his father, Richard, had already finished his speech. Mia was right there beside him. His mother, Helen, looked at her with undisguised affection. “Sweetheart, this is our first time meeting, and I didn’t even prepare anything for you.” “Here, take this family heirloom ring. I want you to have it.” My heart jumped into my throat. A family heirloom ring. That was something the Sinclairs only brought out for a daughter-in-law. And Helen was just going to take it off and hand it to Mia? Mia reached out to stop her. “Oh, I couldn’t, Mrs. Sinclair! It’s far too precious! I can’t accept this!” “Still calling me Mrs. Sinclair?” Helen smiled warmly. Mia’s cheeks flushed pink. “But…” “Come on, sweetheart.” Helen took her by the wrist. “We’re family now. Why be so formal with your own mom?” Mia’s face went even redder. She glanced shyly over at Ethan. I stood in the crowd below. My fists trembled at my sides. Ethan’s gaze passed over my face. A faint smile crossed his lips. “Mom’s giving it to you. Just take it.” Mia looked up at him through her lashes, then back at Helen, cheeks still burning. Richard laughed. “She’s too shy. Put it on her yourself.” Helen didn’t hesitate. Smiling, she took Mia’s hand and slid the ring onto her finger. Mia lowered her head, looking bashful. She didn’t pull away. Someone set off a confetti popper, and the crowd erupted. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair!” “Mia, you’ve been holding out on us! We had no idea your boyfriend was Mr. Sinclair!” “Right? We all thought it was Vivian!” “She’s been so attentive to him, and then today with all the effort she put into this visit. If you didn’t know better, you’d really think they were the couple!” I got up. And walked out. Every part of the event was going exactly according to my plan. Today had originally been Helen’s birthday. The surprise I had arranged for her after the speech was now, under Helen’s own direction, turned into a celebration for the two of them. A cake taller than a person was wheeled in. I watched as Ethan was nudged over to stand beside Mia. Helen gently steered Mia to the front of the cake.
The two of them stood there shoulder to shoulder. Mia’s face was red all the way to the tips of her ears. Ethan was perfectly composed. He glanced at her and picked up the cake knife. “Do you want more of the sweet layers or the less sweet ones?” Mia murmured, “Whichever you cut for me… I like it all.” “Awww~” The teasing from the crowd was immediate. Helen covered her mouth, laughing. “Look at these two.” Ethan cut her a slice himself. “You like grapes, right? I saved this piece for you.” As he said it, he glanced briefly in my direction. I turned away. And walked back to the conference room without looking back. I was sorting through documents when Mia pushed open the door, humming to herself. She saw me. Her smile vanished instantly. “Vivian.” I didn’t respond. I closed the folder and stood up to leave. “Vivian, wait!” She rushed over and grabbed my arm. “I never expected things to go this far!” “I was put in an impossible position. I couldn’t say no!” “I’ll give the ring back right now!” She began tugging at the ring with real effort. But the band was clearly bigger than her finger. She tried several times. It wouldn’t come off. “Stop pretending.” I said flatly. “Keep it.” “Vivian!” She grabbed me again. “I’m serious, I didn’t mean for any of this. Just give me a second, I can get it off!” “What’s going on in here?” Helen pushed open the door. She took one look at the two of us, Mia holding my arm, me pulling away, and her brow furrowed immediately. “You must be the one who’s always been difficult with Mia. Miss Hayes, is it?” I blinked. That was how Helen saw me? I looked at Mia. She quickly averted her gaze. Now I understood who had said what. “I’ve heard about you, Vivian.” Helen’s tone was cold. “You run a tight ship. All your subordinates are afraid to step out of line.” “Tell me, do you think this company belongs to you? Or do you already see yourself as the lady of this house?” My breath caught. Mia had only just met Helen for the first time today. So where had she heard all of this? Unless… I clenched my fist. No. Had it really been Ethan? The door opened again. Ethan appeared in the doorway. “What’s going on?” Helen looked at her son. “The people in your company need some serious managing.” “She was trying to take the ring I gave Mia.” Ethan looked at me. I gritted my teeth. “I was not.” At that moment, Mia finally worked the ring off her finger. She grabbed my wrist and slid it onto my hand. “Vivian, please don’t be upset. I’m giving it back to you.” Helen gasped. “Mia, what are you doing! You can’t just give that to someone else!” Mia’s eyes went pink at the corners. “But… Vivian has loved Ethan for so long.” “That gives her the right to take things from you? She’s been walking all over you this whole time, and you’re going to let her have this too?” Helen pulled Mia firmly to her side. “Don’t worry. This time, Ethan and I have your back.” “But… I’m just an intern. How could I possibly wear a ring like that…” “Who says you can’t?” My wrist was seized. Ethan took the ring off my hand effortlessly and held it out to Mia. “I say you can. So you can.”
“As for Vivian.” Ethan looked at me. “Your position is officially being transferred to Mia, effective immediately.” I stared at him in disbelief. He frowned. For just a moment, something reluctant flickered in his expression. Then it was gone. He said, “Vivian, stop making things difficult for people.” Helen beamed. “There we go, Mia. She’ll be answering to you now.” Mia looked down at the ring, now back on her finger. A faint flush rose in her cheeks. She glanced at me, and for just a second, a small, barely concealed smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. I watched the three of them perform in front of me. Suddenly, I felt almost ridiculous. I looked at Ethan. “That’s fine, Mr. Sinclair. Honestly, I’ve been more than ready to step down from that director position.” Then I walked past him and headed out. In the parking garage, I had just unlocked my car when a hand caught me from behind. “In a little while, I’ll move you up to VP, directly under me. Mia will still report to you. Don’t read too much into any of this.” “Mom loves her. In that moment, I couldn’t embarrass her in front of everyone.” It was always like this. After every fight. He could always pull me back with explanations and just enough softness. I clenched my jaw. And shook off his hand. He went still. I got in the car and drove away without looking back. When I got home, I found that Ethan had sent me over a dozen messages. The first ones were more explanations. But then, in a move completely out of character, he sent me a travel booking confirmation. A seaside town. The ocean. 【Vivian, don’t worry. While you’re on this forced break, I’m taking time off too.】 【You’ve always wanted to see the ocean. I’ll take you. Call it our late honeymoon.】 I couldn’t even imagine. If he had sent me that even a month ago. How happy I would have been. But this time, I typed back a simple reply. 【No thanks.】 He responded almost immediately. 【Don’t be like that. I already booked tickets for eight tomorrow morning. I’ll work late tonight and get everything cleared. Don’t wait up for dinner.】 He added a little heart emoji. I stared at the screen for a moment. Then put my phone down. Fine. I’d wait for him to come home and say what needed to be said. I had already agreed to go on a blind date that my family had set up. This relationship. I was done with it. But I waited an entire night. By the time morning light came through the windows, he stumbled home smelling faintly of alcohol. And eight o’clock had long since passed. “Didn’t you say we had tickets at eight? To go to the beach?” I couldn’t help asking. He squinted, trying to place the memory. Then laughed. “Oh, right. I canceled those. Took Mia instead.” I stared at him. “You’ve seen the ocean plenty of times. How many trips have you planned for that?” He collapsed onto the couch, clearly having not slept. “After I finished work last night, I was going to come home and pack with you. But Mia just got promoted, and the team threw her a little celebration. I had a few too many drinks.” “She mentioned she’d never seen the ocean.” “So I changed the itinerary last minute.” Even without any real hope left. Still, in that moment. I heard myself say: “You made a promise.” The alcohol slowed him down for a second. Then he smiled. That easy, unconcerned smile. “Vivian, we’ve been together for how long now? Almost ten years. Basically an old married couple at this point.” “Why are you holding onto something so small?” “And you’ve been to the beach three times already. Don’t be greedy.”
Then he leaned back against the couch. And closed his eyes. I sat there looking at him. A dull pressure building in my chest. Yes, I had planned three beach trips. But I had never made it to the water. Not once. The first time, Ethan came down with a sudden fever the night before we left. I canceled on my best friend and spent three days at his side taking care of him. The second time, he was in the middle of a major pitch. I gave up my ticket and stayed up night after night rewriting the proposal from scratch. The third time, a scheduling conflict meant an important client had no one to meet them. I canceled without a second thought, put on my heels, and went to the meeting myself. Three times. I had never once actually left. But all he remembered was that I had booked three trips. I nudged his arm. “Then I’ll go with someone else.” He answered without opening his eyes. “Yeah, go with your friends.” “It’s not my friends.” He kept his eyes closed. I listened to his breathing slow and even out. I didn’t wake him. I texted the guy I was set up with and arranged to meet at the lakeside resort in two days. Before I left, I had a few files to hand off to a colleague. But the moment I walked into the office, Mia appeared in front of me dressed in the director’s blazer. “Oh, Vivian! You’re here?” “Perfect timing. These need to be printed, two copies each. Leave them on my desk when you’re done.” “You know where that is, right? It used to be your office.” I looked at the stack of documents being held out toward my chest. Then shook my head. “I’m here to drop something off. Not to run errands.” “Vivian.” Mia smiled. “Mr. Sinclair gave me this position. Have you forgotten?” “I’m on leave.” “Did I approve that?” All traces of the awkward girl from before were gone. She stood there with her arms crossed, already carrying herself like she’d been in charge for years. “A leave of absence requires a signed approval from your direct supervisor. Did you submit a request?” I looked her over slowly. “Do I answer to you?” She frowned. I let out a short, humorless laugh. Didn’t spare the documents so much as a glance. Turned and walked out. “Vivian Hayes.” From the CEO’s office, Ethan had just caught the whole exchange. Mia turned toward him immediately. Then hugged the entire pile of documents to her chest. “It’s fine, Mr. Sinclair. Vivian was my supervisor. I can’t ask her to do that.” “I’ll take care of the printing myself.” She gathered the stack, which came up to her chin. It looked like it weighed a ton the moment she lifted it. She had barely picked it up before she was already gritting her teeth. Ethan’s voice was flat. “If she can’t be asked to carry it, what makes you think a director should be doing it?” I felt a flicker of irritation. Mia quickly said, “Really, Mr. Sinclair, I’ve got it, just let me—ah!” She stumbled. And went down, taking the entire pile with her. Ethan crossed the room and grabbed her arm. “Careful!” “I’m okay, I’m fine, Mr. Sinclair…” Mia pressed a hand to her ankle. Her eyes were glistening as they drifted over to me. Ethan’s expression hardened. “Vivian Hayes.” “You’re not the director anymore.” “If you want to throw your weight around, do it somewhere else.” “If you don’t want to be here, fine.” He looked at me. “Go collect your final paycheck from HR. We don’t need you anymore.” Everyone in the room was watching. I looked back at him, quietly surprised. “Go ahead.” Ethan said it without a flinch. I hesitated for a moment. Then said nothing. After all, he hadn’t said anything I wasn’t already planning to do myself.
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