003

SHAYLE

Alina frowned, whining as she pushed her chair back.

“This was supposed to be a nice dinner but you just had to come in and spoil it all. You can’t stand anyone being happy unless it’s you.”

And then she stomped away, her heels clicking across the floor. Carlos followed after her, calling her name and trying to calm her down. His voice got softer as it trailed down the house until I could not hear them anymore.

Now it was just me and Mum left.

I stood slowly, my knees weak, and grabbed my bag from the chair. Without looking at her for another second, I turned and walked out of that house that no longer felt like home.

The night air hit me in the face as I stepped outside. My eyes burned but I forced myself to keep them dry until I booked a cab. The car pulled up and I climbed inside, my chest aching with every breath.

By the time I got back to my apartment, the dam inside me broke.

Tears spilled down my face as I pressed my back to the door and slid to the floor. I had been holding it in since, trying to be strong, but now there was nothing left to hold on to.

I felt dead already.

The pain tearing through my chest was worse than the cancer. I wished the doctor had said one month instead of four. One month would have been enough. I didn’t want to live anymore. Not like this. Not with this pain.

Dragging myself into my room, I collapsed on my bed and pulled my pillow close. My alarm went off, a gentle reminder to sleep early so I could wake up for work in the morning.

Work.

The thought of walking back into that office made my stomach twist. Everyone would look at me differently. They would whisper. They would laugh behind my back. I had been invisible for so long and now, after Carlos humiliated me, I was the joke of the entire building.

I covered my face with my hands and sobbed until my head throbbed.

Then a thought struck me.

Why was I even thinking about going to work? Why waste time sitting at a desk when I only had four months left to live? Shouldn’t I spend whatever time I had left actually living?

I sat up, my chest heaving, and grabbed my phone. I opened my savings app and the amount in it glowed on the screen.

All my life I had saved carefully, aside from my own rent, Mum and Alina’s rent, and their bills too. The number was decent. Enough to survive for four months if I was careful.

For a second, guilt tugged at me. Shouldn’t I leave some behind for them?

But then I remembered tonight. The betrayal. The pain of that slap on my face.

They didn’t deserve my sacrifice anymore.

I shook my head fiercely and pushed the thought away. This was my money. It was what I had spent all my life and time on.

I grabbed my journal and pen and sat at my desk. If I was going to die, I was going to die on my own terms.

I wrote the first thing: Quit my job.

It felt liberating even seeing the words on paper.

I tapped the pen on the desk, thinking hard. What else had I always wanted to do? What had I denied myself all these years, too busy being the perfect daughter, the perfect sister, the reliable one?

Right. I had never had sex.

I was always so insecure that I thought the only men who would approach me were just horny bastards. And I wanted to find true love so badly hence why I decided to wait till marriage.

Carlos had always pressured me, always made snide remarks when I refused, but I held on to the stupid belief that he respected me for it.

And now here I was, dumped for my sister who spread her legs without hesitation.

I scribbled furiously: Lose my virginity.

Then I froze. Lose it to who though?

Carlos was gone. My male coworkers? Hell no. I hardly even spoke to anyone at work.

And then I remembered him. My hot next door neighbor.

He was tall, had broad shoulders and dark hair that fell messily into his eyes. He looked like a runway model.

I had only seen him once, moving boxes into his apartment across the hall, but I hadn’t been able to look away. I thought about him for weeks, guilty as hell, until I confessed to Carlos like a fool and begged for forgiveness for even thinking about another man.

But now? Now I was single. And we both didn't know each other so he wouldn't judge me if I asked him for sex.

A smile tugged at my lips for the first time in days. He was perfect.

I wrote the next thing: Get a tattoo.

The thought made me laugh through my tears. Me, who was always the boring one, the plain one, the dependable one. I wanted ink on my skin. Something just for me.

After that, I scribbled more: Travel. Spend extravagantly. Do whatever the fuck I want.

When I leaned back to stare at the list, my chest filled with something I hadn’t felt in so long. Satisfaction. Hope, even.

Tomorrow I would start.

The next morning came far too quickly. My alarm rang and I dragged myself out of bed. My body felt heavy, my eyes swollen from crying. I wanted to stay curled up in the sheets forever.

But the list called to me.

I dressed quickly and headed for work. The second I stepped into my department, silence fell. Every single pair of eyes turned to me.

I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.

Usually I could walk in unnoticed. But not today. Today I was the girl Carlos not only dumped in front of everyone but also exposed that I was literally still a virgin.

My eyes darted to him. Carlos sat at his desk, pretending to work, but I saw the flicker of guilt in his eyes before he looked away.

Four years ago, when I first joined the company, he was the only one who noticed me. He said he liked how quiet and reserved I was. That’s what made me fall for him.

What a joke.

I hurried to my office and shut the door tight. Thank God for the promotion that gave me a private space. Thank God I didn’t have to sit out there and drown in their stares.

I sat at my desk, breathing hard, and pulled up a blank document. My resignation letter practically wrote itself. Each word felt like freedom, like I was cutting ties with the old me who always bent until she broke.

When I finished, I printed it and carried it to my department head.

He glanced at the letter, frowned, and pushed it back toward me.

“Shayle, you’re one of our best employees. I can’t be the one to process this. You’ll have to take it to the boss”

My stomach dropped.

Lucien Dorne.

I had managed to avoid him all these years. I had heard enough from the gossip in the restroom to know he was not only arrogant but also a womanizer and the kind of man who made your skin crawl. I had always steered clear.

But now I had no choice.

Anyways, it was just a resignation letter. Nothing could go wrong.

At least, that’s what I told myself as I walked down the hall to his office.

I stopped in front of his door, my palm sweating on the handle.

With a deep breath, I pushed it open.

The first thing I saw was a redhead woman bent over his desk. Her shirt was unbuttoned to reveal her full large tits and her skirt was pushed up to her small waist.

Behind her, stood my so-called boss, pounding into her.

And worst? I looked just in time to see the largeness and width of his cock as he came out of her.