Leave Her in the Dust

The moment the message was sent, my girlfriend, Joanna Vale, replied with a single question mark.

When I didn’t answer, she called me immediately.

"What are you flipping out about now? Zion forgot to block you this time, so I knew you'd overthink it. After he's shown so much improvement, can't I show him some encouragement as the CEO? The kid's out there trying to build a career, and now he just made a joke after feeling the warmth of society. How could you turn it into some big issue?

"Stop trying to threaten me with a breakup. It's tasteless."

She'd never minced her words with me, and it was always a matter of winning a debate or making me admit defeat for her.

This time, I couldn't swallow it anymore.

The improvement she talked about? All of it was just taking my achievements and giving the credit to Zion, turning him into the best performer in the team.

I laughed coldly and asked, "Don't you hate social obligations with colleagues the most, Joanna? Since when did you become so friendly? Also… Did you say this time? How many times have there been, hm? Besides, I've been the best performer for seven years in a row. Why haven't you graced me with a reward, Your Highness?"

I had never spoken back against her at all, so she screeched like a cat that had its tail stepped on.

"What's with your attitude?! You know that I hate social obligations the most! I did it all so that you'd have a good relationship with Zion, and that he could reduce your burden once he came into his own! How could you repay me by doubting me? Do you even want me to meet your parents anymore?"

Whenever she was in the wrong, she always shifted the focus to my “attitude” to avoid the real issue.

But I couldn’t pretend to be blind anymore.

Three months ago, during his interview, Zion had deliberately bumped into Joanna, then chased after her apologizing, fussing over her, insisting on making it up to her. The stunt left such a strong impression that she bent the rules to keep him at the company.

From that day onward, the cold and distant Joanna began to change.

For the first time ever, she asked me how to politely reject people and how to respond gracefully to someone else’s kindness.

I watched helplessly as she smiled at Zion, as she comforted him instead of firing him when he came in dead last during performance evaluations, and as she stole my credit just to polish his performance.

Everything that I witnessed felt like knives stabbing into my heart.

Each time I questioned her, she reprimanded me for having a filthy mind. She said she was only using Zion as a practice partner for social skills, so that when she eventually came home with me to meet my parents, she wouldn't embarrass herself.

I chose to believe her.

That was, until she once again refused to come home with me while secretly preparing a surprise for Zion instead, even going out of her way to invite his parents.

What I couldn’t get Joanna to do in seven years, Zion accomplished in just three months.

The difference between when someone loved you or not really was painfully obvious.