My fiancé and my best friend were million-dollar, top-tier attorneys at a prestigious law firm. I was the receptionist. In the courtroom, they were of one mind. They traded sharp, witty banter, perfectly in sync, dominating every trial. In their personal lives, their synchronicity was just as flawless. They flirted using obscure legal statutes and shared inside jokes only the two of them understood. I could never get a word in edgewise. My only option was to awkwardly chuckle along whenever they laughed. It was like this even at my own father's funeral. They were deep in an animated conversation, completely engrossed, and actually laughed out loud right in front of my father's memorial portrait. "Julian," I called out to him. "It's time for you to carry the urn." I was an only child. In my family's tradition, when there were no sons, the son-in-law was supposed to bear the responsibility of carrying the ashes to the grave. I anxiously pulled at Julian's sleeve to bring him to the front, but he just patted me on the head like a child. "Stop fussing. Just wait until Chloe and I finish discussing this." My best friend, Chloe, offered a condescendingly soft smile to placate me: "Anyone can carry it, Maya. It's just a funeral. Your dad is already gone, who really cares anyway?" And with that, the two of them dove right back into debating legal precedents. They got so heated and excited that they almost decided to leave the funeral right then and there to go back to the firm and check a case file. I stood at the front of the hall, utterly humiliated, my hands frozen in the air where they had reached for him. In our three years together, I had been cast aside like this countless times. Gritting my teeth, I picked up the ceremonial clay basin and smashed it on the floor myself. The sharp crack echoed through the silent funeral hall. Julian and Chloe paused for a fraction of a second, then seamlessly resumed their conversation as if nothing had happened. Looking at the funeral registry where Julian's name was listed under "Son-in-Law," I felt a sudden, bitter wave of irony. This hollow, meaningless relationship... it was time to end it. ... Seeing the embarrassment and pain on my mother's face, I still reached out and grabbed Julian's arm. "For my mom's sake, can you at least wait until the service is actually over before you leave?" He didn't even look at me. He was too busy helping Chloe into her coat. "Be good. This case is crucial. I'll make it up to you later." Make it up to me? When he forgot my birthday and went to look at the city skyline with Chloe instead, he said he'd make it up to me. When I was having an emergency appendectomy, and he abandoned me at the hospital to celebrate winning a mock trial competition with Chloe, he said he'd make it up to me. And now, when I had just lost my father and needed him more than ever, he was still using that same tired excuse to brush me off. In three years of dating, I had collected a mountain of his verbal "IOUs." Not a single one had ever been cashed in. Chloe shot me a look laced with pity. "Never mind, Julian. Let's just stay and keep Maya company. We can head back after it's over." Julian sighed, offering her an indulgent, affectionate look of surrender, and finally agreed to stay. He compromised. But for whose sake? The answer was agonizingly obvious. A dead silence hung over the hall for three seconds. Suddenly, the heavy front doors were kicked violently open. The wind whipped funeral paper and flower petals everywhere. "You the ones trying to sue our boss?! That old bastard died in an accidental car crash, stop trying to extort us!" "Drop the lawsuit if you know what's good for you!" Seven or eight men in muscle shirts swarmed in and started trashing the memorial hall. They flipped the offering table, smashed the incense burners, and knocked over my father's urn. The ashes spilled out across the floor. "No! Stop it!" I lunged forward, desperately trying to stop them, but one of the men kicked me brutally to the ground. I instinctively looked to Julian for help. He stood perfectly still, his tone completely detached: "We're outnumbered. Engaging them physically is tactically unsound. Furthermore, as an attorney, getting involved in a brawl is a violation of the law." "Just wait. The police will be here shortly." His chillingly rational voice shattered the very last illusion I had left of him. The Julian who had sworn to my father, right to his face, that he would protect me for the rest of my life... he was dead. My mother threw herself onto the floor, trying to scoop up my father's ashes, but one of the thugs shoved her hard. "Mom!" I threw myself over her to protect her. A heavy wooden stick slammed into the back of my head. Stars exploded in my vision. The ringing in my ears mixed with the funeral dirge and the sound of breaking glass. Through the haze, I saw Julian clench his fists. He instinctively took a step toward me. But in the next second, a stray shard of porcelain flew through the air and grazed Chloe's cheek, leaving a faint, shallow scratch. "Ow—" Julian rushed to her side instantly, his face tight with concern as he examined the tiny scratch. Then, he spun around and punched the thug nearest to her, sending him crashing to the floor. My chest seized up. I fell back, letting out a bitter, choked laugh. So it wasn't about professional conduct or the law. It was just that I wasn't worth throwing a punch for. Whenever he had to choose between Chloe and me, he had never, ever chosen me. The police arrived shortly after, and the thugs scattered. I discreetly wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and forced myself up to help my mom. Julian and Chloe were long gone. I found my phone on the floor. The screen was shattered, but I could read a text from Julian. "Chloe got hurt, so I took her to the ER. Call me if you need anything." I thought about the tiny scratch on Chloe's cheek. I reached up and touched the back of my own head. My hand came away covered in blood. My heart felt entirely hollow. The cold wind blew right through it, leaving my entire body completely numb. When the nurse disinfected my wound at the hospital, I only realized it hurt when she pressed down with the cotton swab. After getting patched up, I went back to our apartment. It was completely empty. The last message on my phone was still the one where he told me he was taking Chloe to the ER. I didn't turn on the lights. I sat in the darkness, staring at the computer screen on his desk. It was displaying our engagement photo. There was only one. And it was just a candid shot taken by the photographer during prep. Because right when I was getting my makeup done, he told me Chloe was stuck on a legal precedent for a case and he had to go help her. So, our engagement photoshoot had turned into my solo portrait session. I wiped my face, took down every photo of us in the apartment, and threw them all in the trash. It was dawn by the time Julian came home. He stopped when he saw me sitting in the living room. "Have you been up all night, or..." "Do you have anything to say to me about the funeral?" I asked, my voice like ice. Julian frowned. "Are you talking about me wanting to leave early? Or are you blaming me for not protecting you?" It turned out he understood everything perfectly. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do, and he still chose to prioritize Chloe. I was so angry I actually laughed. "Do you even remember that I'm your fiancée? Do you remember that yesterday was the funeral for your fiancée's father... your future father-in-law?" "I know, but..." "But what?! You left me standing alone at the front of the hall! And when thugs were trashing my father's memorial and bashing my head in, what exactly were you doing?!" He walked over and sat next to me, cautiously reaching out to stroke my hair. I jerked my head away. His hand hovered in the air, his brow furrowing deeper. "I apologize. I'll go home with you tomorrow and light some incense for your dad." More empty compensations. But I didn't want them anymore. I had no intention of giving him another chance. Once my father's case was settled, we were done. We'd go our separate ways. I choked down the lump in my throat, fighting to keep my voice steady. "No need. When are you going to finish your legal brief for my dad's vehicular manslaughter case?" He scrolled through his phone, not even looking up. "I can't take it. The damages involved in your dad's case are too small." "So you're dropping it?" "It's not about dropping it, it's about prioritizing cases by importance." Priorities? I looked at the massive stack of case files sitting on his desk. They were for a high-profile bullying lawsuit where the defendant was Chloe's younger brother. "Is the payout for a school bullying case really that high?" The room went silent for a few seconds. Julian cleared his throat, his eyes darting away. "Chloe has been swamped trying to make partner lately. She didn't have time to handle this, so I'm just helping her out." I stared right into his eyes, my voice ragged. "Helping her. Always helping her!" "She wants to make partner, so you have to help her. She gets a papercut on her cheek, so you have to help her. My father was murdered and hasn't seen justice, and you're STILL helping her?!" "What exactly does our engagement mean to you? What happened to the promise you made to my parents, that you would protect and take care of me?!" My mind flashed back to the day he had pressed my hand against his chest and sworn to my parents that he would never let me down. The memories felt like a fine, suffocating net tightening around my heart. "Julian." I sat perfectly still and said his name with absolute seriousness. "We're breaking u—" Julian's phone started ringing loudly, cutting me off. He quickly pulled away and checked the caller ID. It was Chloe. "Yeah, okay. No problem, head out now. I'll be right there." To avoid office gossip, we had kept our relationship a secret at work. Julian never even let me ride in his car to the firm. But he picked up and dropped off Chloe every single day, rain or shine. He hung up, grabbed his coat, and headed for the door. "What were you trying to say? Never mind, we'll talk later." I watched him rush out the door. I sat there in a daze for a long time. Suddenly, all the fight just drained out of me. A little while later, my phone buzzed. It was Lewis, a junior associate at the firm. "Hey Maya, Julian asked me to take over your dad's case." I said "Thank you" and hung up. By the time I took the bus to the firm, the break room was buzzing with activity. Sarah, a paralegal, saw me and looked concerned. "Maya, you look terrible. Low blood sugar?" I forced a weak smile but didn't say anything. Between my father's funeral and staying up all night, I was exhausted down to my bones. Sarah handed me a caramel candy, then immediately turned back to gossip with the others. "We really have Chloe to thank for all the snacks in here." "Right? Chloe fainted from low blood sugar once, and Julian had this entire snack bar stocked that very same afternoon." "And I always see Julian and Chloe coming in together every morning. Do you guys think they're secretly dating?" I kept my mouth shut and popped the candy into my mouth. Every snack, drink, and tea in the break room was handpicked by Julian in Chloe's favorite flavors, just so she'd never go hungry. I had fainted from low blood sugar at the firm once, too. All I got from him was a look of utter disgust. "If you can't even handle the stress of a receptionist job, you should just quit and go be a stay-at-home wife. You know how busy I am, why do you have to cause trouble?" From that day on, I never dared to show any sign of weakness or illness in front of him again. Right now, even the caramel candy tasted bitter. My phone buzzed. It was a text from my mom: "Maya, your dad's trial starts this afternoon. If Julian is... if he's busy, let's not bother him." My heart ached. I typed back to comfort her: "His associate is going to handle it." That afternoon, I stood outside the courtroom doors. The opposing counsel’s massive legal team had already arrived. My mom was sitting in the front row of the gallery. When she saw me walk in alone, panic flashed in her eyes. "Where is the lawyer Julian sent?" I tried to reassure her. "Traffic is bad. He'll be here any minute." But Lewis never showed up. And neither did Julian. As the start time loomed closer, my hands were drenched in sweat. I called Lewis 99 times. No answer. My phone finally buzzed twice. I frantically opened it. It was an apologetic text from Lewis. "I'm so sorry. Chloe needed her brother's deposition finalized for his case, and Julian told me to go handle it. I can't make it to court today." My entire body went ice cold. My heart plummeted. My mom sensed my panic and asked what was wrong. I forced down the terror and the crushing betrayal. "Mom, it's fine." In court, the opposing counsel presented their case. They cited statutes and precedents with practiced ease. When it was our turn, I had no choice but to step up. But this was my very first time speaking in a courtroom, and I hadn't studied the law in years. I stumbled through my responses, my voice shaking uncontrollably. The opposing lawyers looked at me like I was a joke. During a brief recess, I finally got Julian on the phone. The background noise was loud. Glasses clinking, people laughing. "Maya? It's really loud here, give me a second." I was shaking with rage. "Julian! The trial is over! Where the hell is Lewis?! And where are YOU?!" "Chloe got her partnership promotion finalized today. She dragged me out to celebrate. I couldn't get away." "Isn't Lewis..." He paused, as if finally remembering. He quickly tried to cover for himself: "It's fine. I'll file an appeal for you. I'll handle the second trial personally." Through the phone, I heard Chloe laugh. "Julian, hurry up! The meat's done!" I hung up the phone. My hand fell limply to my side. There was zero suspense. We lost the first trial. When the judge read the verdict, my mom completely broke down, sobbing uncontrollably onto my shoulder until she nearly passed out. When I got back to the firm, I took my resignation letter and went straight to HR. Linda, the HR manager, took the letter, looking confused. "Maya, you do great work here. Why the sudden resignation?" I looked at her, my voice perfectly calm. "I graduated from the same law school as every attorney in this firm." It wasn't that I didn't understand the legal jargon or the cases Julian and Chloe were always discussing. It was that they never gave me the chance to join the conversation. When I first joined the firm, I was an associate attorney. But before I ever got the chance to litigate a case, Julian made partner. He immediately had me transferred to the receptionist desk. He claimed it was to "avoid conflicts of interest," and said the job would be less stressful so I could focus on "taking care of our home." "Alright. I have the authorization to process your resignation, but are you sure? Don't do this on an impulse," Linda warned me. "It's not an impulse." I pushed the letter slightly closer to her. "Thank you for your help." I walked out of HR and bumped straight into Julian. "Maya, I messed up with your dad's case. I promise I'll handle the appeal myself." "It's about to storm outside. Wait a bit and I'll drive you home." Perhaps out of guilt, Julian offered to give me a ride for the very first time. In the car, he started rambling about his strategy for the appeal, making it sound like he was genuinely prepared. Then, his phone rang. The car's display screen lit up with the name "Chloe." "Now? The client has a new update? Okay, I'll..." Julian shot a quick, nervous glance at me, clearly trying to gauge my reaction. But I felt absolutely nothing. I spoke up before he could. "Go do your job. I'll take a cab." He let out a massive sigh of relief, looking incredibly pleased by my "maturity." He quickly told Chloe on the phone, "Alright, I'm heading to your office now. Don't panic." He pulled the car over to the side of the road. I looked at the torrential rain pouring outside, and without a second of hesitation, I got out of the car. When I got back to my apartment, I saw Chloe had updated her Instagram. Two photos. One was a delicate French pastry. The other was a candid profile shot of Julian sitting across from her. The caption read: My late-night work buddy. Rain or shine. Someone had commented: "I ship it! Looks like a date disguised as overtime." Julian had liked the comment. I dried my soaking wet hair. My clothes were clinging to my freezing skin. I casually 'liked' the post, too. I didn't have time to deal with his nonsense anymore. I opened my father's case file. This time, I was going to rely on myself. For the appeal hearing, Julian actually showed up. But he took a seat at the opposing counsel's table. I froze in shock. Chloe stood up, a hint of smugness in her voice. "I am the defense counsel, Chloe Vance. This is my associate attorney, Julian Hayes. The defense is ready to proceed." Chloe's introduction took the sliver of hope my mother and I had managed to scrape together and plunged it into the abyss. Shoving my fury down, I fought to steady my voice as I recounted the events of the accident. "Three hundred meters before the incident, the vehicle's speed was significantly above the legal limit. This is sufficient to infer either gross negligence or malicious intent on the part of the driver." Julian, wearing a bespoke suit, looked entirely unbothered. "Your Honor, the surveillance footage from the adjacent storefronts only shows the vehicle in motion. It cannot quantify the exact speed or prove it exceeded the limit." He always knew exactly how to dismantle the weakest link in his opponent's argument. The judge nodded. The courtroom was dead silent. Even the witness we had agreed to call suddenly changed his story on the stand. As the trial neared its end, Julian and Chloe exchanged a triumphant look. Chloe stood up and pointed confidently at the enlarged surveillance still on the screen: "The defense demands the plaintiff compensate the defendant for emotional distress in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars." I stared at them in utter disbelief. My father was intentionally run over and killed, and my mother and I were being forced to pay the murderer emotional damages? After the trial, Julian walked over to me. "I didn't know Chloe was going to take this case... It's her very first case since making partner." "She's your best friend. Can you please just be understanding?" I shoved him away numbly and walked straight out of the courtroom. Outside, a freezing drizzle had begun to fall. The rain hit my face, mixing with my tears. Three hours before my train was scheduled to leave, I went back to the firm to pack up the last of my things. I opened an envelope sitting on my desk and froze. It was a revocation notice from the Bar Association. "Following an investigation, Ms. Maya Evans has been found guilty of illicitly leaking confidential documents, a severe breach of professional ethics. Her license to practice law is permanently revoked, and she is banned from the legal profession for life." There had been a massive scandal at the firm recently regarding leaked files. Julian was the one responsible for reporting the final culprit to the Bar Association. I clutched the notice in my fist and kicked open the door to Julian's office. He and Chloe were laughing at something on a computer screen. I slammed the notice down on his desk. "Julian! The leaked files were in Chloe's possession the entire time! When did I ever have access to the firm's confidential documents?!" I thought he would at least try to comfort me or offer an explanation. But instead, he hit me with an absurd, condescending question: "Chloe is a partner. I couldn't let her get disbarred. Besides, a receptionist doesn't need a law license anyway. How does this actually affect you?" "And what good was your license doing you anyway? Have you ever litigated a case? Do you even know how to cross-examine? If I handed you a case right now, could you handle it?" Julian patted my shoulder, looking at me like I was a toddler throwing a tantrum. "Stop making a scene. Using your license to cover Chloe's mistake is the most useful thing it's ever done." I stood there, shaking uncontrollably with rage. He wasn't entirely wrong. From the day he shoved me behind the receptionist desk, I hadn't grown professionally. I had only drifted further and further from my dream of being an attorney. I let out a bitter laugh. My throat was tight, and my eyes burned. "So you took the license I studied three years for, and my entire future, and threw it away just to cover Chloe's tracks?" Julian looked surprised, as if he couldn't fathom why I was so angry. "Alright, calm down. Once your dad's case is totally wrapped up, I'll have Chloe teach you how to draft some basic legal docs to pass the time." Chloe, who had been flipping through a file, chimed in with a sickly-sweet voice: "Maya, I'll teach you. Drafting is super easy." SLAP! I couldn't take it anymore. I slapped him as hard as I could across the face. The office went dead silent for three seconds. Julian touched his cheek, staring at me in absolute shock. "You hit me?" I glared at him, shaking with fury, my eyes blazing red. "Julian Hayes, you don't have a soul!" I turned on my heel and slammed the door behind me. I heard his furious roar through the wood. "Maya Evans, you're fired!" Out in the hallway, I grabbed the handle of my suitcase, wiped away my tears, and smirked. Fired? Big deal. I looked down at the thick stack of case files and evidence I was clutching in my other hand. Julian, the next time we meet, we'll be sitting on opposite sides of the courtroom.