Echoes of a Vanished Love

"Enough! Stop freaking out!" Liam snapped.

He covered my mouth and dragged me out of the office. He had his palm wrapped so tightly around my mouth and nose that it felt as if he was trying to suffocate me.

Then, I heard Vivi magnanimously saying to my colleagues, "Since the necklace has been found, and I didn't suffer any losses, I won't pursue this matter any further. We're all colleagues, after all! I'll order some afternoon tea for everyone as a show of thanks!"

Liam seemed very afraid that I would publicly reveal my relationship with him. As such, he led me to the office pantry.

"Tell me—what exactly do you want? There's a limit to how much of a tantrum you can throw." He massaged his temples as he spoke, looking as if this situation was giving him a terrible headache.

I was panting for breath, and my face was bruised from where he'd grabbed me.

He continued to rant, "When did you become like this? Fortunately for you, Vivi's a generous person and has forgiven you. You should go and apologize to her immediately!"

"I'm not apologizing! Why should I admit to something I didn't do?" I asked angrily, glaring coldly at him.

He asked me when I'd become like this, yet I was the one who wanted to ask him when he'd turned into such a stranger.

Vivi entered the pantry and held a paper cup filled with hot water out to me. "Have a drink to calm yourself, Michelle. I know you harbor resentment toward me, but you can't act so impulsively next time."

I didn't take the water from her, but she was scalded by the boiling water and ended up spilling it all over my arm.

"Ow! It's so hot…" Vivi yelled.

Despite only a few drops of the water landing on Vivi's fingers, Liam had hurriedly took her to rinse her hand at the sink.

On the other hand, I was only wearing thin clothes, and the water had already soaked through my chiffon blouse. My arm, scalded by the boiling water, felt like it was on fire. There was even steam rising from it.

I went to the bathroom to deal with the burn alone. My left wrist was quickly becoming red and blistered.

As I returned to my workstation to resume packing, enduring the pain all the while, Liam walked out of the pantry and grabbed my hand.

When I hissed in pain, Liam froze and let go of me. Then, he asked a little stiffly, "Are you alright?"

I felt rather amused. He was the one who'd left the handprint on my face, and Vivi was the one who'd deliberately caused the burns on my arm. His current hypocrisy just made me sick.

I shook him off and swept all the items on the floor into a trash can.

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he turned and left. All he left me was, "You were too impulsive today."

After cleaning up the mess, I made my way to the company's control room. There was no way I was going to allow them to slander me without solid evidence today.

However, I ended up in a stalemate with the control room employees.

When I asked to bring up the surveillance footage of the office that morning, the employees stopped me and informed me that only in-house employees were allowed to view the footage.

It was only when I saw my work account being blocked and deleted that I realized this was Liam's doing. He was the only one who could have arranged for a work account to be deleted so quickly.

He was fully siding with Vivi and had already decided that I was the one who'd stolen the necklace.

It soon occurred to me that this technology company was also one of the businesses under the Chandler family's name. It made me eager to return home and meet the young heir of the Chandler family, Jayce Chandler.

After returning to the apartment that I'd lived in for six years, I moved all my belongings out in much the same way I was sweeping this relationship out of my life. It was just like taking out the trash.

That night, another deliveryman knocked on my door, this time with a plastic bag containing burn ointment from the pharmacy. I tossed it on the table, not even opening it.

Before I left, I took one last look at this empty house before leaving.

...

The next day, I booked a flight to Northsdale, then I handed over all my remaining work to the person who would take over my position that day.

...

The day after that, I walked into the airport alone, towing my suitcase behind me.

Before I boarded the plane, I sent a breakup message to Liam.