“But I feel that whatever there is between the two of you is not as simple as an employment relationship. I’m your mother, Anna. I’ve raised you since you were a baby. Don’t you think I know how you tick?”

Mom chose to ignore my explanations. Besides, I could see that she had more to say as she bored into my eyes.

Confronted by her incessant questioning, I averted her gaze guiltily. I did not have a good answer for her. After all, I could not very well say that Michael and I were friends with benefits, could I?

Mom and Dad had a more traditional mindset. Thus, if I really said that out loud, I would probably never see the light of day again.

“Mom, Michael’s really not my boyfriend…”

I might not know what else to say, but I most definitely could not let Mom and Dad assume that Michael was my boyfriend. Otherwise, they would just keep asking Michael for money, devoid of any shame or guilt.

“If Michael’s not your boyfriend, then… is it true? Is it true what they say, that you’re his mistress?”

The conversation suddenly took an ugly turn. I froze when she called me a mistress. I looked at Mom with a pained expression, and my heart ached.

Mom actually called me a mistress. I was well aware that my relationship with Michael was not something that could be discussed openly. If other people had called me that, I probably would not have minded. However, out of all people, it had to be my mother who used that word.

I’m your daughter, Mom. How can you call me that? It’s such a demeaning term! Have you ever considered my feelings?

“Mom, how can you say that?”

My eyes turned misty as I stared at her, feeling upset.

“Anna, we are decent people. How could you let yourself be someone else’s mistress? Do you have any idea the shame you’ve brought to your father and me? What are we supposed to do the next time we meet our relatives?”

Mom did not give me a straight answer. But instead, she had basically decided that I was Michael’s mistress.

I’m not anybody’s

always jumped to her own conclusions. She never listened to me, and even if I did

that Dad, who had been eating silently while Mom and I were bickering, announced his stance on the matter. “I don’t care what you are. From now on,

My dad was never much of a talker, but whenever he

meet? What’s up

and Dad had never asked me about my relationship with Michael. Today, out of the blue, they

Go work at another company! There’s bound to

sounded again, but he did not answer my

salary in the entire design industry, and it’s a company with the most promising future for me. How can

having to think, I rejected Dad’s demand. Getting the opportunity to work in Joyful

long will it

was Steven who spoke this time. He looked at me with

by one million?” I stared at him

idea what he meant, but I had a bad feeling

truth, a woman came to us a couple of days ago. She told us that

could be quite a thoughtless person. With no effort at all, he had voluntarily

I understood why Mom and Dad wanted me to come home, and

are on a prize

toward me. I thought Mom had forgiven me. However, I had just come to realize that she was putting up a pretense all this time. She was

doing it for the

of hope I had left. I hoped she could give me a good explanation and tell

already had an answer. I knew what kind

see the guilt in her eyes. Then, she avoided my gaze

right. You just want the

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