EVELYN'S POV

When I got home that night, the weight of everything finally hit me. I dropped the shoebox on the floor and sat on my bed, staring blankly at the wall. My chest felt tight, my throat raw, and my heart… broken beyond repair.

I thought about the past year every smile Daniel gave me, every promise he whispered, every time he told me I was the only one. But now, all of it seemed fake. When I replayed our moments in my head, I realized there had always been signs, little cracks I had ignored. He never truly loved me. I had just been a fool, desperate to believe that he did.

How could he act so well? How could he kiss me, hold me, and yet only see me as someone else’s shadow? The thought made me sick. I loved him so much, maybe too much, and he fooled me all along.

Tears spilled freely, and I buried my face into the pillow. I cried until my body ached, until exhaustion dragged me into a restless sleep.

But the night wasn’t done with me.

My phone rang, pulling me out of my sleep. Groggy, I picked it up and saw the hospital’s number flashing on the screen. Fear gripped me instantly.

“Hello?” My voice cracked.

It was my mother’s doctor. He explained that my mom was responding to her cancer treatment, but she would need surgery to remove some of the cancer. The surgery, along with further treatment, would cost a huge amount of money.

I listened in silence, my hand trembling as I held the phone.

“I’ll… I’ll try my best to pay the bill,” I whispered when he finished.

After hanging up, I sat frozen in my dark room. The hospital bills had already drained me for years, and most of my wages from working part-time jobs had gone straight to paying for her treatments and my college fees. Now, after what happened tonight, I had lost my job at the restaurant too.

Where could I possibly get the money for the surgery?

That night felt endless. My heart was heavy with both heartbreak and fear for my mother.

The next morning, with swollen eyes, I made my way back to the mall. I carried the shoebox with me. I couldn’t bear to keep the gift meant for a man who broke me so cruelly. The store was quiet, and I went to the counter to return the shoes.

As I waited for the transaction, my eyes wandered to the next counter. A man stood there. He was tall, sharply dressed, with an air of quiet authority. He was handsome in a way that made people notice without him trying. Yet it wasn’t just his looks that caught my attention. It was his attitude.

The salesgirl kept showing him different items, but he dismissed each one with a shake of his head or a slight frown. Nothing seemed to satisfy him. His picky attitude made the salesgirl flustered, and the scene left a strong impression on me.

I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, “Rich people. Never satisfied.”

Still, I couldn’t deny that he was striking, the kind of man you remembered even after walking away.

After returning the shoes, I went home. I felt lighter without the box in my hands, but the hole in my chest remained. I opened Daniel’s drawer, packed all his leftover things into a bag, and walked them out to the trash bin. It was over. Completely over.

That evening, I sat down at my desk and turned on my old laptop. My hands shook as I began scrolling through job postings online. I needed something with a high salary. Something that could cover my mother’s medical bills before it was too late.

As I searched, a notification pinged in my inbox. I opened it and found an email from one of my professors.

Rosemond & Son Law Firm is hiring an intern lawyer.

I stared at the message in shock. Rosemond & Son wasn’t just any law firm. It was the most successful, most respected law firm in the entire state. People dreamed of working there. It had always been my goal to become a lawyer like the ones who worked in that building, closing deals, winning cases, making names for themselves.

If I could get this job, not only would I finally take a step toward my dream, but I could also earn enough money to pay for my mother’s surgery.

Hope flickered in my chest, fragile but real.

But before that hope could grow, my phone rang again. It was the doctor. His voice was firm this time.

“If you can’t pay the bill by the end of this month, Evelyn, your mother will not be able to stay here.”

The words crushed me. Panic rushed through me. “Please, just give me some time,” I begged.

After hanging up, I immediately started calling everyone I could think of relatives, old friends, family acquaintances. Each time, I explained, I pleaded, I swallowed my pride and asked for help. And each time, I was rejected. Some gave excuses, others avoided my calls.

By the end of the night, my phone felt heavy in my hand, as if mocking me with silence.

The next few days blurred together in frustration. I attended several job interviews, but one by one, they all ended the same way. The interviewers smiled politely, then rejected me. They didn’t want to risk giving a chance to someone who had just graduated.

Every rejection tightened the noose of fear around me. The deadline from the hospital was looming closer.

Then, one morning, a new email arrived. My heart raced as I read it.

Rosemond & Son Law Firm has invited you for an interview.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. After all the rejections, finally finally there was hope.

That morning, I prepared carefully. I ironed my best outfit, the one I had kept neatly folded for special occasions. I tied my hair back, applied light makeup, and reminded myself over and over not to panic. This was my chance. My only chance.

When I stepped into the grand meeting room of Rosemond & Son, my stomach tightened with nerves. Everything about the place was elegant and intimidating, from the polished marble floors to the towering glass windows.

And then my eyes landed on someone sitting near the head of the table.

It was him.

The same man I had seen at the mall. The same man who had looked so effortlessly handsome, so impossibly picky as he dismissed every option shown to him.

Now he was here. But this time, he wasn’t just another customer at a store.

He was the boss of Rosemond & Son Law Firm.

My heart skipped a beat as realization sank in. The man who had left such a strong impression on me was about to decide my future.