Proposal No. 18: Still Lost to Her Childhood Sweetheart

"Daniel, I know my tone was harsh, but it's all for the sake of our future. And about yesterday… It was wrong of me to reject you so coldly. But you know how Eric is now.

"He can't handle stress, and I'm the only one he has. You don't want to marry someone who's always worried about someone else, right?

"Once Eric gets better, I'll be at peace, and I can belong to you completely. Don't be angry anymore, okay?"

She grabbed my hand and stiffly said a few words about it being for my own good.

I just found it laughable. Rejecting me publicly again and again was for my own good, and so was leaving me to be with another man?

She had used too many of these grand, empty excuses before, and now I no longer wanted to hear them. I shook off her hand forcefully.

"Got it. I'm going to work."

Hailey stumbled from the force. She was clearly angry, but that vanished quickly when she met my icy gaze.

I had never been this cold to her before. She felt a flicker of unease and could only let me leave.

The company I worked at was quite far from where I worked, totaling a two-hour commute. Back then, I'd willingly chosen to endure this so Hailey could be closer to her job.

Now, thinking about it, I would be much happier being closer to work.

Without hesitation, I quickly contacted realtors, found several apartments near my office, and started negotiating prices.

People at the company were surprised to see me come in so early.

After all, I had often been late before, always because I was taking care of Hailey and making her breakfast.

Because of this, even though my skills were outstanding, the higher-ups never dared to promote me.

My direct supervisor, Ethan Black, had talked to me about this many times.

"Establish your career first, then start a family. Daniel, you're at a critical point for advancement now. Don't lose sight of the big picture over small matters."

Those words had haunted me, especially when I saw colleagues who had joined at the same time as me getting promotions. My frustration had peaked then.

Well, not anymore. I wouldn't be late again.

Ethan patted my shoulder. "That's a good attitude, Daniel. If you had shown this earlier, those important projects would have been yours already."

I nodded thoughtfully and pulled out the document outlining the company's next project from my files.

"Mr. Black, you know I've been stuck all these years. If you trust me, could you assign this project to me?"

Ethan looked surprised. This project required traveling to multiple cities for meetings, so someone like me—who seemed inseparable from Hailey—had no reason to volunteer.

But I was adamant in my stance. Ethan thought it over for the whole morning and finally gave me the project.

"Dan, I hope you don't let me down," he said.

I nodded firmly before throwing myself wholeheartedly into my work. I didn't look at my phone all day.

Hailey should have been happy about this. She always found it annoying when I shared my daily life and photos of food with her.

But by the time I finished work, my phone was flooded with messages.

Hailey had sent pictures of beautiful sights, things she encountered, and an invitation.

"Let's go to Sunset Villa for dinner and watch the sunset. Isn't that what you always wanted? Order anything you like. Consider it my apology."

I was surprised. That place had been open for three years. I'd mentioned it for three years, and Hailey had always acted like she didn't hear me.

Now, it was being offered as compensation. I thought for a long time as I stared at the message saying she was downstairs at my company. Eventually, I slowly made my way down.

Hailey rarely picked me up. Even though I'd bought the car, I wasn't the one enjoying it.

So, I naturally walked past the front passenger seat toward the back. She had to quickly grab my arm to stop me, asking, "Who sits in the back when there are only two people?"