Chapter 1: Pressure

The sun was shining brightly amid the vast expanse of a clear blue sky. Birds were chirping happily. Flowers were in bloom. The children were out and about having fun. Beaches were full of people enjoying the warmth of summer and the scent of the sea breeze.

Meanwhile, a certain lady in the travel industry who was supposed to be out and about as well, especially at this time of the year, was at home, enjoying her rare vacation. 

It had been a long time since she was at home doing nothing. Perhaps, several years ago when she was still young.

She had almost always gone to her office or was on a trip to who knows where for work. She could count with her fingers the days she just stayed home doing nothing. 

Especially in summer. Once she got more into the travel and tourism industry, she was often busy with work during summers, guiding VIPs and the like.

It was almost like a miracle that she was not going out today.

In the past, she had almost always spent summer on beaches or hikes even if she was there for work.

Somehow, she felt that it was better to have no plans this summer. She had only thought of going to her office as usual and staying home when she was free.

She had not even booked any flights to go somewhere either for business or personal purposes. She also did not accept tasks to tour their VIP clients to lively beaches or beautiful lakes and rivers like she usually did in summers.

Even she, herself, found it weird. But somehow, this summer, she just wanted to lay low and focus on office work and her other gigs.

She used to be a normal office worker with several part time jobs, but she worked her way up the ladder, and built a small business with her hard work.

Her name is Lillian Wang.

She's twenty-nine years old. Married, but her husband was nowhere to be found. He had ghosted her after their wedding.

It was three years ago when Lillian finally got so annoyed with being talked about as the unwanted, arrogant, and entitled virgin; and getting told to get hitched. 

She was still a corporate slave back then. She did have a small travel and tours business with only four employees and a cafe with five employees that she put up thanks to bank loans she pays with her high-paying corporate job and gig work.

What she earned from these two businesses and her jobs were just enough to pay her bank loans, support her huge family, pay her employees, cater to business expenses, and get a small amount to save from what she earned.

Yet, people thought she was already earning so much and was only too greedy for money so no one wanted to date her.

Being career driven out of desperation to support her poor family even made them conclude she was too headstrong or manly for earning more compared to others her age.

They keep saying she should date and get married instead of being greedy for money and achievements. 

But she never was.

It was out of necessity.

Lillian wanted to slap it to their faces that working so much was not her choice. She had to or else they would go hungry. And her small businesses did not earn so much for her to be immediately rich.

Yet people treated her like she was not getting contented with what she had so far because she was greedy.

The norm of the people around her was to date or get married by in their twenties and she, who did not yet do the same was like a pain to their eyes.

Lillian wanted to be stable enough when she forms her own family.

What was so wrong with dreaming to be successful enough one day so you won't make your future family suffer the way you did?

If she already had good savings and investments plus excess money, then she would not mind getting married either.

But she didn't have those yet.

Thus, she could not afford marriage and children right now. She did not want to randomly and irresponsibly have children without preparing enough for them so they won't suffer in poverty.

Poverty is d*mned traumatic. She knew this firsthand since she experienced it since childhood. She was rather shocked at how many people romanticize suffering together when they have not truly tried it.

Further, she still had her family depending on her too.

Dating would probably be fine, but she had been too occupied to even have time for it. She had tried in the past, but it simply didn't work because relationships, take time to build. And she did not have the time.

Without knowing about her circumstances and simply basing on how she always dressed elegantly (for her corporate work which had rich partners), people concluded that she was still a virgin because she thought too highly of herself and her purity.

But it wasn't like that at all.

Lillian dressed the way she did since it was what was required. And she simply did not have the time to mingle and date because she was busy working. Further, she knew it's dangerous to just go and sleep with a random guy she did not even know just to get it over and done with.

However, after the talks of people around her got even worse, Lillian got too annoyed that after her work in a business trip in Las Vegas concluded, she tagged along when their business partners invited her to a high-end bar with expenses paid by them.

Everyone got all dressed up and when their business partners left her side and let loose, Lillian was free.

Perhaps it was the gorgeous dress and the make up, or perhaps it was the mood in the bar that she felt so fearless and emboldened. Or perhaps, she simply wanted to let loose too after studying and working so hard all her life.

Lillian made the impulsive decision to get some action.