“And as for Zoe,” Oscar added, “If you care about her, stop being so proud and make the first move.” Alvin didn’t say a word as he walked out, but Oscar muttered to himself, “You’ll regret it when it’s toote.”


    Inded at 3 PM. Without even bothering to grab my luggage, I headed straight to the amusement park.


    Myra was already there. The moment she saw me, she ran over and hugged me. “Zoe, you’re back!”


    I gave her shoulder a pat. “Come on, let’s go check out a few things first.”


    I hadn’t slept much the night before-barely at all, really-because I’d been running through all the possible trouble spots in my head.


    Though I suspected the construction team and the lighting supplier, I knew the chances of them messing up were slim. This was a huge project. If they made a mistake, they wouldn’t just lose money-they’d lose everything.


    So, I kept thinking. ‘Maybe the issue isn’t with them.’ But as a non-expert, I couldn’t figure out exactly where the problem was. The only way to know for sure was to go on-site.


    I spent the rest of the nightparing lights, turning them on and off, checking the design specs, until it was nearly 2 AM.


    “Zoe, looks like you’ve been saving up all your energy for this,” Myra teased, clearly wiped out.


    I thought, ‘Has it really been that long?’


    I didn’t have the energy to think about it. Myra and I then went to the office and worked through the night, putting together


    report on the issues we’d found.


    We needed to contact the construction and lighting suppliers the next day and report everything to Alvin.


    He already knew about it and was furious. Myra told me that no matter how well we handled it, we’d still get punished in the end.


    Even though Alvin had no emotional attachment to me, he always kept work and personal matters separate-and he was extremely strict about these things. So, I wasn’t surprised.


    “Even if we get punished, we still need to do our job right,” I said, sticking to my principles.


    It wasn’t until 6 AM that Myra and I finished. She was so tired she just slumped over and fell asleep at the desk.


    I was exhausted too, but for some reason, I couldn’t seem to feel tired at all. I sshed some cold water on my face, brewed myself a cup of coffee, and kept reviewing the issues I’d found.


    If I was right, the problem likelyy with the lighting calibration.


    “Ms. Kemp, you’re back?”


    “Ms. Kemp, so early!”


    By the time the workday started, everyone had trickled into the office. They all greeted me warmly, but I could tell their looks were different now.


    Myra had already told me–everyone knew about my marriage troubles with Alvin. But they also knew I had been living with the Dolton family for years.


    Even though we never officially registered our marriage, we’d been living like a married couple for a long time.


    I didn’t care about other people’s gossip. Even though I could feel their stares and hear whispers behind my back, I pretended not to notice.


    I thought. Who doesn’t get talked about?’ And besides, Alvin and I were already separated. Their curiosity waspletely understandable.


    After a sleepless night, by 10 AM, I was starting to feel the weight of exhaustion. So, I went to the break room to grab some coffee to wake myself up. Just as I stepped out with my coffee, I ran into Alvin,


    When he saw me, I could feel his gaze sharpen. Even from across the room, I could sense theplex emotions in his eyes -resentment, anger… it was hard to put a name to it.


    “Good morning, Mr. Dolton!” I greeted him as usual, then walked past him with my coffee.


    “Come to my office.” Alvin’s voice was low, heavy, andmanding, making my hand tremble slightly.


    I took a deep breath. “Okay.”