Lillian had almost completely forgotten about the two traitors, but now her workmates were reminding her about it again, simply because she was still single.
Traumatized after the incident, Lillian never had another boyfriend after Tom.
Because Lillian had been single for so long, the people around her noticed. And they kept talking about her singleness as if it were a crime.
A lot of times, Lillian got so annoyed with getting told to get hitched, and being gossiped about as the unwanted, arrogant, and entitled virgin, who thought too highly of herself and her purity, as if she were some kind of noble lady in these modern times.
Since she was simply one of the millions of hardworking office workers, even though she was in a high position, office politics and gossip were hard to escape from.
Lillian was hoping she would eventually be able to do her own thing, so she would finally stop having to listen to everyone's nonsense.
With her perseverance and consistency, Lillian managed to establish a small travel and tours business and a cafe with several employees. She managed to put these up, thanks to bank loans she pays with her salary from her high-paying corporate job and freelance gig work.
What she earned from these two businesses and her jobs was just enough to pay her bank loans, support her large family, pay her employees, cover business expenses, and save a small amount from her earnings.
Yet, people around her concluded she was already earning so much and was simply too greedy for money, and thus, no one wanted to date her.
Being career-driven in her efforts to heal her broken heart and out of desperation to support her poor family, made people conclude she was too headstrong. They even said she was too "manly" and haughty for earning more compared to most people her age.
The people around her kept saying she should date and get married instead of being greedy for money and achievements. But Lillian never was. Everything she did was out of necessity.
When she got tired of their reckless gossip without understanding where she was coming from, Lillian wanted to slap them in their faces, that working so hard and earning as much as she could was not her choice. She had to, or else, they would go hungry.
Further, her two small businesses had not yet earned much for her to be immediately rich. She was just trying things out, if it would work. After all, it takes years to have an established business or career, especially when one has to start from scratch.
Yet, people assumed whatever came to mind and concluded Lillian was simply not content with what she had so far because she was greedy for money and hungry for praise and achievements.
The norm of the people around her was to date in their teens and early twenties and get married by 25 and above. People like Lillian, who was already 26, single, and had never gotten laid, were like an alien to them.
Lillian was a risk-taker in other things, but blindly going into relationships again after what she experienced was no longer possible for her. And she had to be busy, or else she would have drowned from her heartbreak. Witnessing Tom and Tricia doing the deed had left so much of a scar on her.
Further, Lillian grew up in an orphanage during her childhood. She was found in front of the orphanage when she was a baby. She was adopted by someone from the community when the orphanage was about to close. People in the community she was from were mostly poor, but they felt bad for the children who had nowhere to go once the orphanage closed, so those who were married with no children yet adopted one child each. Lillian was among those said children.
In the orphanage that barely had any funding, Lillian experienced the harshness of poverty and barely survived for so many years. It wasn't until she was in her fourth year in grade school that she was adopted. However, the said family was also not rich. They only had enough, and when the couple had more children, things became difficult until they were also barely surviving.
Thus, now as an adult, Lillian wanted to be stable enough when she formed her own family. She wanted to be ready before diving into relationships and the cost it may mean for her, which could last a lifetime. After Tom's betrayal, she became even more set in this belief. She simply trusted Tom that much. She thought he was the one she could make exceptions for.
After Tom's cheating, Lillian concluded she must have strayed from her original goals, so she was punished. Thus, concluding that Tom was a mistake, she focused on her original plans instead.
Yet, even when she kept moving forward, people still kept finding ways to put her down.
What was so wrong with dreaming to be successful enough one day so she won't make her future family suffer the way she did?
If she already had good enough savings and investments, plus a bit of excess money, then Lillian would not mind getting married already.
But Lillian didn't have those yet. So she knew she could not afford marriage and children for now.
Lillian did not want to randomly and irresponsibly have children without preparing enough for them. She didn't want her future kids to suffer in poverty, be looked down upon, and be cheated on the way she did.
Poverty is d*mned traumatic. She knew this firsthand since she experienced it since childhood. Feelings do not feed hungry mouths, so it's not enough to only have a partner she loves. They must be financially ready, too. She was rather shocked at how many people romanticize suffering together when they have not truly experienced it.
Further, she still had her family depending on her. Lillian was grateful to her adoptive mother and father, who got her when the orphanage closed down. They were her family. Thus, she was doing her best to help them.
Dating would probably be fine, but Lillian had been too occupied to even have time for it.