Semua Bab I’m Not Your Second Choice: Bab 1 - Bab 9

[I booked you a red-eye flight. Keep an eye on the time.]Ten minutes after I told my father I was going back to take over the family business, I got that message.I had been playing the role of an ordinary person in front of the Burgesses for far too long. It was time to go back and inherit what was mine.Just as I was about to reply, Terrance Burgess and Claude Burgess suddenly showed up behind me, leaning in to peek at my phone."A flight? What flight?" Terrance only caught the last few words and frowned. "Are you going back home?"I gave a small nod. I didn't feel like lying to them."Yeah, right. Grandpa and Grandma are dirt poor. Why would you go back?" Claude crossed his arms, his tone dripping with disdain. "You're just mad that Dad hit you earlier, and you're trying to make a scene for us. You smashed Stephanie's favorite vase. Of course, he hit you. What did you expect?"Stephanie's already being nice about it and letting it go. If it were anyone else with her fami

Something in my head snapped. I stared at Terrance in utter disbelief.He acted as if I weren't even there, his gaze fixed on Stephanie, admiration written all over his face."Everything looks good on you."Fine. We were done, anyway. I didn't need that teddy bear. That was what I told myself, over and over.Stephanie curled her lips in satisfaction. When she looked at me, her eyes were full of mockery, her voice soft and sweet in that deliberate way."Vivian, Terrance gave me your ring. You're not upset, are you?""Why would she be? She doesn't even wear it," Terrance said flatly.Then he pulled out his phone, getting ready to take pictures of Stephanie."Wait, I haven't taken photos of you yet. You look amazing today. Can't miss this."Claude rushed over to stand beside her, taking her hand for the photo like they were mother and son. I stood off to the side, like I didn't belong there at all.I wanted to tell them to get out, but my flight was coming up fast. I didn't ha

I didn't answer. I hung up right away.But Terrance kept calling, as if he was doing it on purpose. So, I turned my phone off.Finally, everything went quiet.The plane landed the next morning. As soon as I stepped out of the airport, I spotted my parents waiting for me in the distance.It had only been a few years, but they looked older. The only thing that hadn't changed was the way they looked at me, full of love, even stronger than before."Vivian, you're finally back. We missed you so much." My mother opened her arms and pulled me into a tight hug, her tears soaking through my clothes.I hugged her back just as hard, trying to pour every bit of longing from the past few years into that moment.My father stood off to the side without saying much, but I could see the concern and warmth in his eyes."Did Terrance treat you badly? Why do you suddenly want a divorce?" my mother asked after a long pause.I shook my head, then nodded. I didn't even know where to begin explaining

The client recognized me. The way he looked at me and my father felt a little off, but he didn't say anything.It wasn't until the meeting was about to end, when Terrance pushed the private room door open, that I realized what he had been thinking: he had assumed my father was some rich man I was seeing on the side.Terrance stood in the doorway, eyes bloodshot, staring at me."You suddenly divorced me and disappeared. Was it because of him?"In all six years of dating and marriage, he had never met my parents. At first, I had avoided it, worried it might hurt his pride.By our second year of marriage, I wanted to introduce him to them. But he always claimed he was too busy. I believed him back then. Now, I knew the truth.After becoming a CEO, he had started looking down on them.He thought my parents were poor. He thought having them as in-laws was embarrassing.But he used to be poor, too.When I didn't answer, Terrance grew more agitated and suddenly lunged forward, rais

Terrance's POV:I met Vivian when I was 18. She stepped into my dull, gray world like something out of a dream and gave me a kind of hope I had never known before.We came from the same kind of background, both raised in poor families. But she was different from me. She was always brighter, more optimistic. Somewhere along the way, I fell for her completely.With her encouragement, I started my own business after graduation. Maybe I just got lucky, but in only two years, I was already sitting in the CEO's chair at a major company.I thought it was all because of my ability. I believed I had built everything from nothing and lifted Vivian into a better life along with me.So I proposed. I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving her.In our second year of marriage, she suddenly said she wanted me to meet her parents.Even though my life had improved, the poverty I grew up in still clung to me like a shadow. I couldn't shake the inferiority it left behind. So, I didn't dare meet