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Novel Catalog
Chapter 14
Marco had expected Loraine to hesitate, to delay the divorce proceedings at the last moment, but to his surprise, she allowed everything to move forward without a hitch. Once it was finalized, Marco didn’t hear a single word about her. It was as if she had vanished, completely off the radar.
The silence was both maddening and oddly peaceful. But as the days dragged on, Marco found his mind wandering back to her. He couldn’t shake the thoughts of Loraine, despite himself. It annoyed him to no end that his emotions were so entangled with someone who had once meant so little to him.
Determined to distract himself, Marco threw himself into his work, seeking out any way to vent the pent-up frustration he couldn’t quite shake.
Meanwhile, Loraine was starting over. She was putting the pieces of her shattered life back together, one small step at a time. She had already made the decision to regain control of her future, and the first step was to seek employment.
That’s how she found herself at Universe Group, waiting for an interview.
As she entered the building, Loraine couldn’t help but admire the bustling energy of the office. Employees moved with purpose, dressed in sleek corporate attire that exuded professionalism. For the first time in a long while, she felt a sense of belonging. This, she realized, was where she was meant to be. She regretted her decision to stay married to Marco for so long, thinking of how she had allowed him to dictate the course of her life. Three years of her life had been wasted, and she couldn’t get them back.
Her heart ached with the memory of what she had endured, but she was done looking back. From now on, she would live for herself—for her family and her future. Loraine took a deep breath, straightened her clothes, and walked into the interview room, her head held high.
And then her gaze froze.
There, sitting behind the table, was a familiar face.
Vickie Archer.
Loraine’s heart skipped a beat as the realization hit her. It was a strange coincidence—or perhaps fate—that one of the three interviewers was her old junior high classmate.
Vickie’s eyes met Loraine’s, and the recognition was instant. But while Loraine felt a mix of surprise and awkwardness, Vickie’s face darkened in an instant. The years had not softened her feelings for Loraine. In fact, the animosity that had once simmered in the back of Vickie’s mind now seemed to boil to the surface.
The jealousy had never left.
In school, Loraine had been effortlessly beautiful. She had a way of drawing the attention of boys, and even the ones Vickie had a crush on were always more interested in Loraine. That deep-seated envy had never faded, even as the years passed. Loraine’s beauty had always overshadowed Vickie, and now, after all this time, Vickie had the upper hand.
She was no longer the shy, overlooked girl from school—she was an interviewer, a woman in power, and she had the ability to shape Loraine’s future. The thought of wielding that power over her old rival made a sickening sense of satisfaction stir within her.
Vickie’s lips curled into a sly smile as she glanced down at Loraine’s resume, her eyes scanning it with casual disinterest. “So, you’re divorced, huh?” she said, her voice dripping with condescension. She glanced up, eyes narrowing as they flicked over Loraine. “How’s life now that you’re no longer Mrs. Bryant?”
