My Sweet Punishment by Amelia Brooks (little red riding hood ebook free .TXT) 📗

Chapter 40

It’s been quite a long time since Liam confessed his feelings for me. Of course, unfortunately, I couldn’t reciprocate his love. And it’s not because of Collins at all. Well, maybe partially…

Even though my friend is a wonderful guy: kind, sympathetic, funny, and now also pretty handsome – Liam will always be like an older brother for me, nothing more. Therefore, I did not torment him and immediately honestly said that I love him too, but as a good friend.

“Liam, you will always be one of the most precious people to me on this planet and...” I tried to find the right words, biting my lips until it hurt.

“Just on this planet?” the guy smiled broadly and then laughed bitterly, adding, “Relax, patty, I already realized that I was rejected.”

It was obvious that Liam did not expect such a quick refusal from me, but how much he was really upset… he tried not to show it. He even laughed off the fact that I was losing such a good catch and in general, phooey on me! And while the friend was talking, he kept trying to smile as nothing happened, but you can’t fool me so easily. I could still see the universal sadness in his warm brown eyes.

And even though I felt like a jerk when I said no, I knew I was doing the right thing. I’m sure soon he will meet the wonderful girl who will truly make him happy.

At the end of my week-long vacation, we took James home. The boy was getting better every day. The frightening pallor of his face was gone finally. Perhaps, after the entire course of rehabilitation, he will even be able to go to a normal school, make friends – in general, live like an ordinary healthy child.

“Mia, honey,” my mom said, stepping out into the hallway to see me off, “I put your favorite pie in here.”

“Thank you, mom,” I hugged and kissed my parent on the cheek, hiding the package in the backpack.

“Mia, are you sure you’re okay?” my mother asked, looking into my eyes with concern. “You look a little too pale and gloomy these days. Did you have a fight with Liam?”

“No, mom. I’m okay, don’t worry. I’ll call you as soon as I get there,” I hugged her one more time and jumped out the door, referring to the fact that I was already late for the bus.

Yeah. That’s how shamefully I ran away. But what am I going to tell her? That the man with whom her daughter is head over heels in love is her boss and that he is almost married. So I also think this is not the best topic for mom-daughter conversation.

I returned to the capital the day before I was due to meet Henry.

I don't know how this meeting will go. The last time our farewell was somewhat ambiguous. Well, in general, it was unambiguous… Unambiguously bad.

He’d actually trudged into my town, and judging by the fact that he was still wearing his business suit, he’d probably come straight from work. And all this just for the sake of figuring out a relationship with some girl for a couple of nights, who decided to leave him by text message? Am I that important to him? The only question is as who…

I really understand that we are from different social strata: the successful businessman, a tough leader, and the man who definitely knows what he wants from life, and I am just an ordinary girl from the outback.

And, in fact, he never promised me anything. I threw myself at him with those stupid kisses. I felt so safe with him, so desirable... But it still hurts.

The little naive girl inside me believed in a fairy tale for a moment. That we could be together.

And what was my surprise when on Monday at work I was informed that I was being transferred to another department. And it was not Collins who told me this personally, but some girl from the personnel department.

“Ms. Brown?” a pleasant female voice came out of the phone.

“Yes, it’s me,” I answered cautiously.

“It’s the HR Department that’s bothering you. Could you come down here for a moment and fill out a couple of transfer documents for a new position?”

Huh... So that’s it? Either by anticipating my desire to quit, Henry did so. Or probably he got tired of me and decided to get rid of me in this way so that I would no longer bother his eyes with my constant presence.

But I didn’t want to think about that right now. In fact, to be honest, I was sure that after this scandal on my landing, he would simply fire me out. So, the news that Collins left me in the company at all was an unspeakable relief for me.

Mom is now on unpaid leave to take care of my brother. Her boss will keep her position at the firm only on this condition. And it is almost impossible for me to find a job whose salary could help my family in any way. I also decided to save some money every month, so that maybe in a couple of years I could pay off my debt to Collins. I don’t want to owe him anything.

I blend into the new team quickly. I worked as a customer service manager. I was assigned a colleague who taught me and helped me the first time.

It was a nice young woman of 27 years, Julia. She’s married and has a small daughter. We quickly found a common language and soon even became friends. We also often went to lunch together.

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