After the Storm Clears, the Evening Breeze Embraces Me

I told Kieran James not to spend money on Daisy Fox.

He agreed to my face, then turned around and maxed out our joint card.

Everyone around me said I was making a big deal out of nothing. So the little sister has a birthday, so her sister's boyfriend buys her a bag, what's the harm?

That was three years of my overtime, dollar by dollar, saved up for the down payment on our wedding home.

Daisy came over for dinner with that new bag on her arm, showing it off right at the table. "Sis, look at this color. Perfect on me, right?"

Kieran kicked me under the table, telling me to keep quiet.

Watching him sit there like it was all perfectly natural, I remembered what he'd promised when he proposed. "From now on, all my money is yours to manage."

Turned out that "from now on" had never included me at all.

I got up and went straight into the bedroom, and dug out the breakup agreement I'd drawn up long ago.

When I came back out with the paper, Kieran had his head down, peeling shrimp for Daisy, and my mother stood beside them holding up her phone, taking photos to post online.

I slapped the agreement down on the table. "Kieran, we're done."

His hands went still over the shrimp.

Daisy looked up and stared at me. "Sis, what kind of joke is this?"

"It's not a joke." I kept my eyes on her. "If you've set your sights on him, then be with him out in the open. Stop turning my stomach while hiding behind the word 'sister.'"

I turned to Kieran. "You used to make three grand a month, and I ate instant ramen with you every single day. Now you pull in fifty thousand a month and hand her a bag worth six figures. I feel sorry for myself. Three years, wasted, blind the whole time."

His mouth opened, but not half a word came out.

I grabbed my suitcase and headed for the door. Behind me, my mother shouted, "Let her go! In a couple of days she'll come crawling back on her own."

I let out a cold laugh and tossed the door key onto the shoe cabinet.

This miserable place, I would never set foot in it again.

The door shut behind me.

The hallway's motion light flicked on, then went dark a few seconds later. I stood in the stairwell, my hand on that twenty-four-inch suitcase.

My phone buzzed. Kieran's name flashed on the screen.

I hit decline.

Two seconds later, he called again.

I hung up without hesitating and blocked him on the spot.

Right after that, a bank alert popped up on the screen.

Your savings account ending xxxx: 0-088,888 spent. Available balance 0-02.50.

One hundred eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight.

The price of Daisy's limited-edition bag. Also every last cent we'd saved for the down payment on our wedding home.

I stared at that 0-02.50 balance, my cheeks burning, a ringing in my ears.

Middle of the night, I found a budget hotel on the street.

The clerk sized up my suitcase. "Checking in?"

"One single room."

"ID."

I handed it over. She ran the card and passed me the key card. "302. Elevator's on the right."

The room was cramped, the whole place reeking of disinfectant.

I shoved the suitcase into the corner and dropped onto the bed.

So tired.

My body was tired, my heart more so. My chest felt hollow.

The phone buzzed again. A text message.

From my mother.

"Marilyn Fox! You think you've grown wings now? Your sister just wanted a birthday, and who are you to give her attitude?"

"You know full well how good Kieran's been to you. You keep acting out like this, you won't rest until you've driven him away, will you?"

"Get back here right now! Apologize to your sister and to Kieran!"

Reading those demands, I didn't even have it in me to type.

I just powered off the phone.

I woke the next day with my eyes swollen up, aching badly.

I needed to find a place to live, and fast.

I went to a rental agency near the office.

"One-bedroom, budget three thousand, close to the subway if possible."

The young agent tapped at his keyboard, his face going awkward. "Ma'am with that budget, it's going to be pretty tough."

He pointed at a listing on the screen. "Take a look at this one. Old and rundown, no elevator, sixth floor, thirty-two hundred a month."

I glanced at the photos. The paint was peeling off the walls, the furniture worn to pieces.

"Nothing else?"

"There is. That new complex over there, fully furnished, but it starts at five thousand."

I said nothing.

Every cent I had was gone, taken by Kieran to please Daisy, and now I couldn't even afford a decent place to rent.

I was stewing over it when a man's voice came from behind me.

"Marilyn?"

I turned to look.

It was Liam Gilbert. Our company's newly appointed VP, and also the client I'd been working with lately.

He wore a suit, his hair combed neatly into place.

"Mr. Gilbert." I felt suddenly self-conscious.

He glanced at the computer screen, then back at me.

"Looking for a place?"

"Yeah."

He didn't ask anything more, just pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, it's me. A friend of mine wants to rent at Grandview Gardens. You got anything empty right now?"

"A one-bedroom's fine. Sooner the better."

He hung up and turned to me. "My friend's the property manager over there. He just got back an employee unit, appliances included, move-in ready. Rent's twenty-eight hundred."

I stood there, stunned.

Grandview Gardens, the most upscale complex near the office. Rent of twenty-eight hundred a month. How was that any different from him just handing it to me for free?

"Mr. Gilbert, this is too much trouble for you, I"

"It's nothing." He cut me off. "Just think of it as an advance on next quarter's project bonus."

Put that way, there was no way for me to refuse.

"Come on, let me show you around."

The place was even better than I'd imagined.

One bedroom, one living room, with light coming through from both sides and a clean, simple layout. Through the living room's floor-to-ceiling window, I could see the complex garden.

"What do you think?" Liam asked.

"It's good. Really good." I nodded again and again.

"All right, then live here."

He set the keys on the entryway cabinet. "Anything you need, just ask the property office."

Watching his back as he turned away, something in me went tight and sore.

A boss I'd barely met a handful of times had reached out and pulled me up at my most humiliating moment. And the man who'd sworn he'd love me for a lifetime had dug me into a grave.

"Mr. Gilbert, thank you. I'll transfer the rent to you on time."

"No rush." He waved a hand. "Just do good work."

Then he turned and walked out.

I stood in the living room and finally let out a breath.

Moving in was simple. I didn't have much to begin with. A few clothes, a few professional books.

When I unzipped the twenty-four-inch suitcase, everything inside was the wreckage of my three years with Kieran.

Matching couple's shirts, ticket stubs from movies we'd seen, the birthday gifts he'd given me.

I pulled it all out piece by piece and stuffed every bit of it into a garbage bag.

The second I switched on my phone, dozens of missed calls popped up.

Kieran's. My mother's. Daisy's.

I deleted them all.

The most recent text message was from Kieran, sent half an hour ago.

"Mari, I really was wrong. Can you just come back first? Let's sit down and talk this through properly."

"I know you're angry, but Daisy is still my sister. I couldn't just leave her humiliated in front of her friends, could I?"

"Consider that bag money I borrowed from you. I'll pay you back for sure."

Borrowed?

He made it sound so pretty.

I tapped out a few words and sent them back.

"We've already broken up."

Then I blocked him again.

Wednesday, the company had its regular meeting.

I picked up my project materials and walked into the conference room ten minutes early.

The moment I pushed the door open, I saw someone who spelled bad luck.

Kieran.

He was sitting next to my department director, the two of them deep in cheerful conversation.

The second he saw me, he shot to his feet.

"Mari."

I didn't so much as glance at him. I walked straight to my seat and sat down.

A few coworkers beside me muttered under their breath.

"Hey, isn't that Marilyn's boyfriend? What's he doing at our company?"

"I heard his firm wants to partner with us on a new project. He's leading their side."

My stomach dropped.

He really wouldn't stay gone.

The meeting started, and the director introduced the new project from the front of the room.

The partner firm really was Kieran's company. And he was the lead on the whole project.

The director was all smiles. "Upper management cares a lot about this one, so we have to land it. Marilyn, you're the top performer in our department. You'll take point on this project."

I was about to open my mouth and turn it down when Kieran cut in first.

"Director, I don't think that's a good arrangement."

Every head in the room turned toward him at once.

"Marilyn's skills are decent, but she's young, and her experience still falls a little short."

He paused, then turned his head to look at me.

"A project this big. I'm afraid she can't carry it on her own."

The hand I had under the table clenched hard.

He was stepping on me in public.

Denying my ability in front of the whole company.

I drew a deep breath and stood straight up.

"Mr. James is right to worry."

I looked him dead in the eye, my voice steady.

"Except whether my abilities are up to it or not isn't something one word from you gets to decide."

"This project, I'll take it."

"And I'll deliver it beautifully."

The whole conference room went silent.

Kieran's face went black as a pot bottom in an instant.

The meeting had barely ended before Kieran cornered me in the underground parking garage.

"Marilyn, you really have to make a scene like this?"

He grabbed my wrist, gripping hard.

"What's between us privately, why are you dragging it into work?"

I wrenched my hand free.

"Kieran, who was the one who brought private matters into work first?"

"Stepping on me in front of everyone during the meeting. Does that make you feel like a big man?"

He raked a hand through his hair, agitated.

"I didn't mean it that way. I just wanted to make things easier for you."

"I was afraid you'd be under too much pressure and couldn't handle it."

Hearing that turned my stomach.

When he was maxing out my bank card, where was all his concern for my pressure?

"Save your fake little speech."

I stared at him. "From the day you took my house money to buy your sister a bag, there's been nothing but work between us."

I turned to leave, and he seized my arm again.

"Mari, can't you just give me one more chance?"

His tone softened, edged with a bit of pleading.

"That one-eighty grand, I'll pay you back as soon as I can. Let's start over, okay?"

"We were together for three years. You're going to erase all of it over one bag?"

Looking at him like this, all I felt was sadness.

Even now he still hadn't figured it out. This was never about a bag.

"Kieran, let go."

My voice was calm, with no room for negotiation.

He froze, and his grip loosened a little.

I took the chance to pull my hand free and strode off toward the subway station.

Back at the apartment, I collapsed straight onto the couch.

Even one more sentence with Kieran left me drained to the bone.

My phone rang. It was Liam.

"Send me a copy of the project file."

His voice was as flat as ever.

"Sure, Mr. Gilbert."

I flipped open my laptop and sent the file over.

A few minutes later, he replied by text.

"The proposal's fine. A few details need work."

"Come by my office first thing tomorrow."

Early the next morning, I knocked on Liam's office door right on time.

He pointed out a few holes in the proposal, every one of them dead-on.

I caught on right away.

"Thank you, Mr. Gilbert. I'll go fix them now."

"No rush."

He leaned back in his chair.

"I hear the team lead on the partner side is your ex?"

My stomach tightened. This had gotten around already?

"The whole company's talking about it," he said, offhand.

I felt awkward, and for a moment I didn't know what to say.

"If it's too difficult, I can put someone else on the project."

"No need!" I said quickly. "Mr. Gilbert, this is work. I can keep the two separate."

He nodded and let it drop.

I carried the file back to my desk, my head a mess.

Liam knew about the whole ugly thing between me and Kieran. Who knew what he thought of me now.

Would he think I mixed the personal with the professional?

I shook my head hard and forced myself to stare at the screen.

That afternoon, Kieran came in with his team to kick off the project.

The air in the conference room was strange.

I stood at the front and ran through the revised proposal again.

Kieran didn't say a word the whole time.

He just stared straight at me.

The moment the meeting ended, his assistant Robert Dickerson sidled over.

"Marilyn, Kieran asked me to give you this."

He handed me an envelope.

I opened it. Inside was a bank card.

"There's two hundred thousand on it," Robert said, lowering his voice. "Kieran said the extra is interest and compensation for you."

I pushed the card straight back.

"Tell him I don't want it."

"He and I settled up a long time ago."

Robert looked stuck. "Marilyn, you really should take it. Kieran sold his brand-new car to put this together."

My heart gave a hard jolt.

He'd loved that car.

The day he picked it up, he was so happy he couldn't sleep half the night.

But so what? He sold his car to scrape the money together, and that wiped clean all the disgusting things he'd done?

"Whether he sells his car has nothing to do with me."

I shoved the envelope back into Robert's hand. "Take it."

I honestly never expected Daisy to show up at my company.

She was dressed to the nines, the hundred-and-eighty-thousand-dollar bag slung over her shoulder, standing there bold as anything outside the building.

"Sis," she called out.

I stopped and looked at her, cold.

"What do you want?"

She came over and hooked her arm through mine.

"Sis, don't stay mad at Kieran. Whatever went wrong, it's all my fault."

As she spoke, her eyes went red.

"I really shouldn't have taken this bag from him. If you like it, I'll give it to you."

She made a show of sliding it off her shoulder.

I stepped back and shook off her hand.

"No thanks."

"I'd feel dirty carrying it."

Her face went white in an instant, tears dripping down.

"Sis... how can you say that to me?"

"We're sisters!"

A few coworkers heading home had already started whispering and pointing.

I couldn't be bothered to go back and forth with her here.

"If that's all, I'm going."

"Don't go!" She clung tight to my clothes.

"Sis, I came today because there's something I have to tell you."

She leaned in close and dropped her voice.

"I'm pregnant."

My body went rigid.

"It's Kieran's baby."

She stared at me, the corner of her mouth curling up just slightly.

"He said he'll do right by me."

Something roared in my head.

Pregnant...

Kieran's baby.

He sold his car to scrape the money together, and it wasn't guilt over me at all. It was to clear space for the baby in Daisy's belly.

What a joke.

Looking at Daisy's tear-streaked face, my stomach churned.

"Congratulations."

I forced the word out through my teeth.

"May you two grow old together, and may your line die out with you."

I flung her hand off and walked away.

I don't even know how I made it back to my complex.

Cold sweat all over me.

I locked myself inside, Daisy's words turning over and over in my head.

She said Kieran would do right by her.

The man who'd sworn up and down that it was me or no one had turned around and become the father of my sister's baby.

And what was I?

A pure, first-class sucker.

My phone buzzed nonstop on the table. I couldn't be bothered to look.

Then the doorbell rang.

I figured it was Kieran come knocking, and I didn't want to deal with him.

But the bell kept ringing, on and on.

Irritated, I went to the door and looked through the peephole. It was Liam.

I opened the door.

He stood there, a thermos in his hand.

"Have you eaten?"

I shook my head.

"Let's talk inside."

He came in and set the thermos on the dining table.

"My mom made chicken soup. She had me bring you some on my way."

He lifted the lid, and the smell of the soup rushed straight up my nose.

I looked at him, and the tears came at once.

I really didn't want to cry.

Least of all in front of Liam.

But there was no holding them back.

He didn't say anything, just pulled out a tissue and handed it to me.

I took it and swiped roughly at my face.

"Sorry. You must think I'm a mess."

"It's fine."

He ladled out a bowl of soup. "Have something warm first."

I held the bowl, the warmth soaking into my palms.

"Thank you."

"Did something happen to you today?" he asked suddenly.

I hesitated, then told him about Daisy coming to the company.

Including the part about her being pregnant.

My tone was flat, like I was passing along gossip about someone else.

When I finished, I looked at him. "Mr. Gilbert, do you think I'm pathetic?"

He shook his head.

"No."

He looked at me, his voice serious.

"I think you're brave."

"It takes courage to cut a piece of trash out of your life that cleanly."

My heart jumped hard.

It was the first time since this whole thing blew up that anyone told me I hadn't done anything wrong.

Everyone else was calling me dramatic. Only he called me brave.

"Drink it while it's hot," he said. "Once it's gone, we call this closed."

I nodded and bent my head to the soup.

It was rich, and one swallow spread warm through my stomach.

The next morning, Kieran showed up at the office again.

His face was sallow, his eyes shot through with red.

Mari, let's talk.

He backed me straight into the break room.

There's nothing to talk about.

Daisy's pregnant. Shouldn't you be home taking care of her instead of coming here?

That clearly caught him off guard.

She came to see you?

She did. I looked right at him. Congratulations. You're about to be a father.

His whole face changed, and he scrambled to explain.

It's not what you think! There's really nothing between us!

That night I blacked out drunk, I

Enough! I cut him off sharply.

Kieran, you don't owe me a report.

Whatever's going on between the two of you has nothing to do with me.

I turned to walk out, and he grabbed me from behind, hard.

Mari, just trust me this once!

You're the only one in my heart! You're the only one I love!

His arms clamped around me so tight I couldn't breathe.

I fought with everything I had and couldn't break free.

Let go of me!

No!

His voice cracked. Mari, don't go, I'm begging you, all right?

We were still struggling when the break room door swung open.

Liam stood in the doorway.

The moment he took in the scene, his face went cold.

Kieran saw who it was too, and instead of letting go, he only crushed me tighter.

Mr. Gilbert. My face was burning red as I fought him.

Liam walked in with long strides.

He fixed his eyes on Kieran.

Mr. James, this is a workplace.

His voice wasn't loud, but there was a chill in it.

I'll ask you to watch yourself.

Only then did Kieran grudgingly let go.

He glared at Liam, venom in his eyes.

This is a private matter between me and Mari. It's got nothing to do with you, does it?

Liam gave him a cold glance.

Marilyn works for me. During work hours, everything that happens to her is my business.

He turned to me. Come to my office.

I followed Liam out of the break room, Kieran's stare crawling up my back the whole way.

Once we were inside the office, Liam closed the door behind us.

Sit.

I sat down across the desk, a little uneasy.

I'm sorry, Mr. Gilbert. I've caused you trouble again.

He filled a cup with warm water and passed it to me.

Your wrist okay?

I looked down. A red mark had been pressed into my wrist.

It's fine. It'll fade in a bit.

He pulled open a drawer, dug out a tube of ointment, and tossed it on the desk.

Put some on.

Looking at the ointment on the desk, something twisted uncomfortably in me.

Mr. Gilbert, what Kieran did just now

I opened my mouth, not knowing how to explain.

I trust you. Liam cut in.

I raised my head.

I know you wouldn't get tangled up with someone that shady.

He paused, then went on.

Besides, the man's a piece of trash.

I couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud, and a lot of the tightness in my chest eased.

Thank you, Liam.

It was the first time I'd called him by his name.

He blinked, and the corner of his mouth curved up.

Don't mention it.

Kieran didn't show his face again the whole afternoon.

Right before I clocked out, my phone buzzed with a text.

Somehow he'd managed to add me back as a contact.

Mari, I laid it all out with Daisy. There's no way I'm claiming that baby.

Give me some time. I'll get this whole thing cleaned up, I promise. Just wait for me.

Reading those two lines, all I felt was a cold prickle down my back.

A man who could throw away his own flesh and blood that easily. What wouldn't he do?

I didn't send back so much as a punctuation mark. I just deleted the thread.

When I walked out of the building, Liam's car was parked at the curb.

The window rolled down.

Get in. I'll drive you.

I hesitated.

There's no need. The subway station's right up ahead.

Get in. There was more weight in his voice this time.

So I pulled open the passenger door and got in.

Soft music played inside the car.

Neither of us said a word the whole way.

When we reached the entrance to my complex, I unbuckled my seatbelt.

Thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow.

Marilyn. He called out to me all of a sudden.

What is it?

Stay away from Kieran from now on.

His face was dead serious.

That man has no limits. He's dangerous.