Chapter 358
“Flynn’s grandpa is celebrating his 73rd birthday this weekend. They’re throwing him a huge birthday banquet.”
“Are you attending it, then?”
Queenie laughed. Her crisp chuckle traveled from the other end of the line. It was a joyous laugh, but it sounded sad to me.
“He’s going with a female companion, but it’s not me. Do you know? He has never invited me to any formal occasion. Never. It’s like I bring him shame or something. He won’t let anyone see us together.”
Her laughter slowly vanished, replaced by a croaky voice.
“The contract will be over soon. What’s your plan next?”
After Queenie graduated, she was headhunted by a state–owned company. They offered an attractive employment package and promised her a promotion. However, Flynn persuaded her to quit her job and join his company, citing his unwillingness to be separated from her
as an excuse.
Perhaps Queenie was a lovesick girl, or perhaps she was smitten with Flynn, she moved to where Flynn lived without paying any heed to her family’s opposition. She joined his company as a rank–and–file employee, working under Flynn’s childhood friend, Daniela.
Behind Daniela’s naive facade was an ugly heart. She had been making Queenie’s life difficult, often making her work overtime until late at night. When Queenie told Flynn, he said that Queenie had no prior experience, so she was expected to work extra hard.
When she brought it up again, he shut her down impatiently, saying that they could never build a future together if she couldn’t deal with this hardship.
Needless to say, Queenie had a hellish year.
Everything was alright at first. Flynn would visit her and drive her to and from work every day. They would live together in the house he had bought her. As time went by, he stopped dropping by as often as before, saying that he was too busy.
He withheld everything from her. Oftentimes, she only knew that he had come back from a business trip from Daniela’s social media posts.
Julia and I had told Queenie to reconsider the relationship. She shouldn’t settle for someone
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who treated her badly like Flynn. But she told us that she wanted to wait for a bit. Perhaps he still loved her but he was just very occupied. If he no longer loved her one day, she’d leave.
She didn’t say that to convince Julia and me but to convince herself.
After what I had been through with Matthew, I lost even more faith in her relationship with Flynn. Love was nothing before class differences. Money and power would destroy a strong relationship.
“There are two more months left, Luna. But I’m so tired and disappointed. What if I can’t stand it anymore one day and give up?” Queenie choked.
She loved Flynn deeply. If she had to give him up one day, it’d be as if she had lost a part of herself. It’d hurt a lot.
“Queenie, if you decide to leave but you don’t know where to go, come to me. I’ll keep you company.”
“Is that a promise?”
“Yes.”
I opened my WhatsApp and saw many text messages from Colin. Perhaps he didn’t send me voice messages because he didn’t want Felix to overhear them and throw another tantrum.
“Sorry, Lulu. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I went crazy when I saw you two hugging together. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Sorry.
“Please reply. Babe, I’m worried about you.
“Does your shoulder hurt? I can’t come right now. Go to a hospital with someone and have it checked. Let me know how it goes.
“Please don’t ignore me, Lulu.”