In the end, I did not go in.

I went back home instead. With a face full of tears, I turned on my laptop and typed my resignation letter.

I did run for Ron’s secretary all for Ron’s sake.

But I was actually overqualified for it.

To tell the truth, Stone Corp had not even met my expectations at that time because it was on the verge of going under.

But I was cheap and naive. All I thought about was how I could help Ron while he was in trouble and after Flora abandoned him to pursue her studies abroad.

I kept on helping until this very moment, and all I did was make others think I was being a bother.

I wiped away the tears that were about to fall from my eyes.

I had to thank Flora for coming back.

She made me see the truth and let me have the courage to be my own self in the final moments of my life.

The next afternoon, someone came into my office. Although I was expecting her, I was still surprised to see her.

“How may I help you, Miss Lorde?”

Flora raised her chin coldly and proudly before ordering me, “I couldn’t get through to Ron’s phone, and his employees said that I need your permission before entering his office.

“What a bunch of ignorant idiots. I want to go in. Did you hear me?” She pointed at me impatiently.

I sighed in my heart.

Flora had always been like this since we were students. She only showed her gentle and dignified demeanor to people like Ron.

She always looked down on the rest of her classmates, especially me.

I did not want to say much else to her, but we were in the company, so I still had to ask her a question according to procedure. “Mr. Stone is in a meeting. Do you have an appointment, Miss Lorde?”

Flora giggled as if she heard something funny.

“Willow, are you an idiot?

“You were at the door yesterday, weren’t you? You must have heard what Ron said.”

I looked up at her in disbelief.

She seemed to be delighted by my expression. With a smirk, she walked over to me. “Ron knows too. He even said you were. A. Bother.

“I wonder if he did it on purpose to make sure you heard it? He was worried I’d be sad. Heh. Willow, even if I chose to leave the country, it doesn’t matter. Now that I’m back, all of this is still mine!

“I’m Ron’s girlfriend now, and I’ll be his wife in the future! All of the Stone family will belong to me! How dare you stop me, when you’re someone no one even wants?!”

Flora’s words cut into me like knives. The pain made it hard for me to calm down, and I glared at her. “You’re not worthy.”

Flora glared at me and brought her hand up to teach me a lesson while she yelled, “Willow, you’re just an unwanted piece of trash! You have no right to say that I’m unwort—”

Before she finished speaking, I grabbed her hand.

“Because you left when Ron was in his darkest hour!

“Flora, you always pretend to be a righteous person who’s above us all! You keep claiming that you won’t ever be a slave to money. But it’s been a long time since you have known about Ron’s family background. Am I right?

“He kept a low profile while we were still students, but you still managed to figure him out. That’s why you got closer to him and pretended to be a non-materialistic person.

“But in the end, what did you do? When the Stone family was in trouble, you said that you got an offer from a school abroad. How could it be so coincidental? You just didn’t want to go through hardships together with Ron!”

Flora’s face turned pale because of what I said. She staggered backward and stammered in disbelief, “W-What on earth are you saying…?”

Judging by her actions, I knew that I was right on the money.

At that moment, someone spoke at my door.

“Mr. Stone?”

While I was taken aback by the knowledge that Ron was at the door, Flora broke free of my grasp and fell to the side.

“Ah!”

When Ron came in, he saw Flora falling on the floor.

“Flora!” He quickly rushed over and carefully helped her up.

I had never seen him so anxious before.

“Willow, are you crazy?!” he practically yelled.

Feeling at a loss, I tried to defend myself. “I did not—”

But Flora interrupted me.

“Ron, don’t blame her… She’s just fulfilling her duties as a secretary and didn’t want me to go into your office to look for you. Then, I accidentally…” As she spoke, she started crying. Everyone in the office aside from me thought that she had suffered some great injustice.

Ron gently picked Flora up and gave me a cold sneer. “Miss River, you’re just a secretary. Stop vying for things that will never come to be. Flora is a kind soul, so she won’t hold this against you. But if this happens again…”

He gave me the ruthless expression I was incredibly familiar with.

Whenever the company was in trouble or he ran into a problematic person, he would show this expression, and I would take care of the problem for him.

But this time, he was directing that expression at me.

“Tell everyone that Flora won’t need any appointments or prior notifications to go anywhere in the company.

“As for Willow, since she hurt someone in the company, she won’t need to come to the company over the rest of the month.”

With that said, he turned around unhesitatingly and wanted to bring Flora to the hospital to get her checked.

“Ron.”

He turned around and stared at me with an impatient scowl.

“Did you know that I was at the door yesterday?”

He was stunned for a moment. When Flora whined in pain in his arms, he seemed to have finally registered what I was saying and said, “You look ugly while crying.”

Then, he stormed off, as if he was worried about Flora being in pain.

Honestly, we had cameras in our offices.

But that did not matter. Ron was partial toward her, and he had plenty of other ways to pin the blame on me, then punish me for it.

The people gathered in the office looked at each other before they left.

I bowed my head, and my tears gathered into a puddle on the floor.

Why was I crying again?

Ron was right.

I looked ugly while crying.

While I was on my way back, I fainted on the roadside.

When I woke up, I was told that I needed to be hospitalized.

I was surrounded by the smell of disinfectant when I handed in my resignation letter.

I did not need any severance, so I deleted all the contact numbers of my colleagues at work.

The doctor urged me to go through surgery again.

I just smiled and said that surgery would hurt a lot, and the success rate was not high, anyway.

The doctor angrily admonished my views before sighing and comforting me by saying that I had to be strong and keep on fighting courageously, even if I was alone.

But I had no hope to continue living.

I was too tired.

If I was alive, no one would be happy for me.

If I died, no one would be sad either.

That was good too.

At night, I slept, and I dreamed.

In my dream, I was surrounded by a group of people as they hit and cursed at me. They tried to blackmail me so that I could clear my father’s debt.

I fought back like a mad woman, but I could not win against the men.

Just when I wondered whether I should just take my own life, Ron showed up.

He put his school jacket over my head and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

When I saw light again, those people were gone.

I did not know how he did it.

He did not tell me how either. He just told me that those people were not going to pester me anymore.

From then on, I was sick.

It was a sickness of love, and the cause of it was Ron.

I was head over heels for him for ten years, and I never once complained about it.

Ron asked me to bring food to him, to run errands for him, to be Flora’s scapegoat…

I did whatever he asked me to do.

I even saw him kissing Flora in an empty classroom before.

I watched him pass out drunk on the street alone because his family was in trouble and Flora left the country.

When Stone Corp was on the verge of collapse, I worked with him day and night to resolve all sorts of problems.

I was the one who handled all the dirty things he could not bring himself to do.

To other people, I had an unpleasantly forceful and crass image.

Over the years, he would occasionally give me a kiss or two, as if he was handing out charity.

I asked him what our relationship was.

He just smiled and told me to behave, just like how he spoke to me all those years ago.

He was always generous to his lovers, but when it came to me, he just told me to behave.

That was why everyone said I was Ron’s most loyal dog.

I once dreamt of us being together, but because of what Ron said, that dream shattered to pieces.

Even so, I could not bring myself to hate Ron.

I woke up from my dream and found that my pillow was wet.

Since the weather was pleasant today, the doctor asked me to go out for a walk.

So I went to the backyard of the hospital.

Since I no longer had much time left, I found myself daydreaming quite often these days.

While I was sitting on the bench and letting myself bask in the sun, I suddenly heard a familiar voice call out to me.

I turned my head around and saw him amid fallen, yellow leaves.

“Why are you at the hospital?” Ron had a lunch box in hand as he stared at me with a scowl.

He must have been in a hurry when he came here. Two of his blazer buttons were in the wrong place.

I stared at the two buttons and asked instead, “Are you here for Flora?”

His scowl deepened. “Willow, Flora is hospitalized due to a sprained ankle, and it’s all because of you. How could you have the gall to even talk about her?”

I knew it. When it came to all matters regarding Flora, Ron would always panic, even though he always cared about his appearance.

As our gazes met, I smiled.

“Have you truly forgotten, Ron?

“When Flora abandoned you, you got yourself drunk and told me you hated her.

“Why are you handing over your heart to her so eagerly now that she’s back?”

Ron pursed his lips. For the first time, he did not dare to look into my teary eyes.

“You’ve misunderstood Flora, Willow.

“She got a rare offer to leave to study abroad, and her family forced her to take up the offer.

“She fought back, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Besides, she doesn’t know about my family background. You’re the only one who knows that I belong to the Stone family.”

I laughed in exasperation. “Yes, yes. It’s all just a coincidence.

“Flora is destined to enjoy a life of luxury. When you were rich, she was together with you and enjoyed all that you gave you. When your family was on the verge of going bankrupt, she had to leave because she got an offer. Now that Stone Corp has risen to power again, she can come back!

“She didn’t need to do anything, but she got everything!

“As for me, my mom ran away, and my dad died. No one tried to dissuade me or stop me, so I deserve to be your stepping stone to bring your company to glory. I deserve to help your beautiful relationship flourish.”

I got so worked up that I started coughing violently.

Ron was shocked and anxiously patted my back as he asked me what was wrong.

When I saw his anxious expression, I felt as if we had returned to the past.

During the Stone family’s darkest hour, I worked day and night. I did not sleep for days. In the end, I collapsed. When I woke up, he acted this way as well. He caressed my forehead and anxiously asked me what was wrong.

“Ron, I…”

At that moment, his phone rang.

The caller ID showed that Fiona was calling.

I grabbed his hand. With a pale face covered in tears, I stared at him with bloodshot eyes and stubbornly shook my head as I pleaded, “Ron, don’t go.

“I’m about to die.”