All I wanted was to keep my job. Pretending to have a family seemed like an easy solution, until I realized the man I hired wasn’t who I thought he was. By the time I found out the truth, it was already too late to walk away.
I’ve always put my career first.
I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but it’s who I am. While my friends were getting married and posting pictures of their babies, I was building a name for myself, staying late at the office, chasing deadlines.
I told myself I liked my life.
It was stable, predictable, safe. But sometimes, late at night, the silence in my apartment felt heavier than success.
That evening, after another long day, I ended up sitting on a park bench, crying quietly. I’d just found out that my promotion might never happen.
Our company was getting a new boss, and the rumor was, he only trusted “family-oriented” people.
Apparently, in his last company, he’d fired a woman for having no family life. I had nothing even close.
“Excuse me,” a small voice said. “Do you know where to get ice cream?”
I looked up and saw a little girl, maybe five. When she noticed my tears, she gasped.
“Are you sad?”
I laughed softly. “A little.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t have a husband or kids.”
Before she could say anything, a man walked up. Tall, in a gray hoodie, holding a gentle smile.
“You’re young. You’ll meet someone, have kids. It’ll happen.”
“Not in a week,” I said.
He frowned.
“Why a week?”
“Because in a week, our new boss arrives,” I explained. “He’s apparently the kind of man who only promotes people with families. I’m the opposite of that.”
“Maybe it’s not true,” he said.
“I wish.” I sighed.
“But I can already see where it’s going.”
Lily tugged on his sleeve. “Can she come for ice cream with us?”
He gave me a questioning look, and for some reason, I nodded. “Sure.
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