"I do not accept your unilateral breakup."
"Kiki, we've been together for three years. Why don't you trust me at all?"
"Why can't you believe that I love you!"
His questioning made me want to laugh.
He loves me? If he really loved me, would he leave me time and again to find Lila?
I was never his first choice, just a backup.
He was sure that I would always be here waiting for him to choose, so he recklessly left me and deceived me over and over again.
I looked at him and said clearly, "Laurence, think carefully. Is this how you love someone?"
"When I was sick, you had to work, so I went to the hospital alone. When Lila was sick, even though you were with me entering the cinema, you left me to accompany her at the hospital."
"On Valentine's Day, I painstakingly decorated the house romantically and prepared a candlelight dinner, eagerly waiting for you. But what did you do? You watched the sunrise with Lila on the mountaintop..."
"To you, work is more important than me. Lila is more important than me. Everything is more important than me. Do you still think you love me?"
He was stunned for a long while before he finally said, "Because you can always handle everything. Lila is not as independent as you; she can't manage many things without me."
"Kiki, many times, you're not like her; you don't need my help."
Hearing this, I broke down completely: "Yes, I don't need anything from you. So now, I don't need you to be my boyfriend anymore. Can I go now?"
He let go of my hand. Without looking back at him, I walked towards the private room.
Behind me, he said softly, "I'm sorry, Kiki. I didn't consider your feelings."
I paused for a moment, thinking I had misheard. Laurence actually apologized?
I had waited a long time for this apology and thought I'd never hear it.
Tears blurred my vision. Without turning around, I said as calmly as possible, "Laurence, it's all over. It's too late."
Back in the private room, I pulled myself together and discussed cooperation details with George. We were already at the contract-signing stage when Laurence suddenly suggested a three-way collaboration.
George looked at me and my boss with some hesitation.
Laurence was already a major client of our company; my boss was eager to agree and immediately decided on it.
I wanted to slam the table and declare that if he joined, I wouldn't follow through with this project.
But then I thought about all the effort I'd put into this project-the long nights and overtime hours. Why should I give up my deserved performance and commission because of him?
No matter what happens, never mess with money!
Moreover, my promotion and salary increase depended entirely on this deal.
Laurence's way of joining was by injecting a large sum of money into the project. Seeing no objections from us, George happily drafted the contract and held a signing ceremony the next day to secure this unexpected investment.
At the celebration banquet, George jokingly raised his glass to me: "Kiki, my mom keeps nagging me about blind dates; it's driving me crazy. How about we make do with each other?"
"I think that's great!"
"Not happening!"
Lila and Laurence's voices rang out simultaneously as they approached us with their glasses in hand.