"After all you’ve done for the company, are you truly willing to walk away just like that?"

Mia, whom I had mentored and trained, sounded regretful about my departure. I rested my chin in my hand and took a sip of sake.

Willing?

After nine years of tumultuous love and hate, I had once dreamed of a future. But when faced with an ultimatum, there are no winners in this game. Once spilled, water cannot be gathered back; exiting gracefully to minimize losses felt like the best option amid my resignation.

Seeing my unwillingness to reconsider, Mia began to voice her complaints. Jarvis, in an attempt to placate Joey, had...