Chapter 1
The office went dead silent.
After a long pause, Corbin sighed and tapped me lightly on the forehead.
"I arranged that schedule around Julia's situation. It took me forever to get it right, and you just ripped it apart."
I looked at him steadily. "Why have I never once heard of you arranging a schedule around mine?"
Corbin blinked, then broke into a smile.
"Come on, you two aren't the same. A Vice President and a secretary. I think I know who has more free time."
Free time.
Julia and I had been switched at birth. It wasn't until I was nine that my parents realized the mistake and brought me home.
By then, I was an awkward kid with no polish, spending every day watching Julia glide from one class to the next. My parents would look at the two of us, sigh, and say the same thing.
"They weren't raised in the same environment, after all. Same age, and Julia can do everything. Not like Federica, who just sits around the house with nothing to do all day."
Those words had driven me to nearly kill myself studying, desperate to close the gap between Julia and me. Even after I entered the company, the need to compete never left. I refused to give myself a single second of rest, and that was how I'd earned the title of Vice President at my age.
As my childhood fiancé, Corbin knew about my anxiety. But the moment Julia was involved, he would still reach for that same word to twist the knife.
Something in me went very quiet.
So quiet that all I could do was look at him calmly.
"Corbin, let's call off the engagement."
Corbin laughed.
He pushed the schedule aside without a care and said, as if coaxing a child, "Alright, alright, Federica. If you really want to spend more time with me that badly, I'll write a schedule just for you next time Julia's on leave."
"Happy now? Stop saying things like that, okay?"
He picked up the torn pieces of paper and carefully pieced them back together, still teasing. "As for this schedule, I already made it for Julia. At least let me see it through."
The moment he finished speaking, Julia called. She had offered to pick up coffee.
"Corbin, I just accidentally spilled coffee all over someone. Can you—"
Before she could finish, Corbin was already on his feet and heading for the door.
"Don't worry, I'm on my way. Don't feel bad about it. I had this time set aside for you anyway."
At the doorway, he hung up, turned back to me, and said, "Let me deal with Julia's thing first, and then I'll come find you. I promise I'll be quick. You won't have to wait long."
The office door clicked shut.
I sat alone in the empty room. Suddenly, the whole thing struck me as almost funny.
I picked up my phone and sent Corbin a message.
Federica: When I get home, I'm going to talk to my parents about ending the engagement. I hope you'll mention it to yours too.
The chat window blinked for a moment. Then Corbin called, and for the first time, his voice carried a hint of seriousness.
"Don't be ridiculous, Federica. Your parents will never agree to that."
As if to prove his point, he came home with me and Julia after work that evening.
After hearing what had happened, Mom frowned and looked at me with open disapproval.
"You want to break up with Corbin over something this small? Federica, do you seriously have nothing better to do?"
A vein pulsed at my temple.
I had heard this kind of accusation so many times the words had worn grooves into my brain. I knew exactly why my parents said these things. They knew about my anxiety. They counted on the guilt to make me fall in line.
If I had no ambition, they would scold me for having too much free time. And if my ambition made me think for myself, they would scold me for having too much free time to be doing all that.
I said nothing. I sat in silence and waited for the lecture to end.
After a while, it was Corbin who stepped in to mediate.
"Maybe Federica really has just had too much free time lately, and that's why she's been overthinking. I'll talk to her when we're home. I promise she won't bring it up again."
