Year Five: The Perfect Goodbye Plan novel Chapter 28

“You’re the better choice.”

The man’s reply was simple, decisive—he didn’t hesitate for a second.

Leaning against the old oak, Silvia silently watched as Shipley helped Vianne down the path and out of sight. For the first time in weeks, she felt something inside her loosen. Letting go. That’s what this was. She was setting herself free, and setting him free too. It all made sense now.

That night, her phone buzzed. A colleague was calling—they’d heard she was transferring to the branch office and wanted to get together one last time.

Silvia hesitated, confusion flickering in her eyes before she pushed it away. She’d made things clear in her farewell letter—she was resigning, not transferring. Shipley must have wanted to avoid a scene.

But in the end, she agreed to meet them. These were people she’d worked with for three years—people she’d mentored herself. Whatever happened with Shipley, she couldn’t just turn her back on them.

By the time Silvia arrived at the restaurant’s private room, her former team was already there, grinning and waving her over. Laughter and clinking glasses filled the air; the food and wine flowed freely. Eventually, someone brought up Vianne, tugging at Silvia’s sleeve with a tipsy pout.

“Silvia, now that you’re leaving, Vianne’s going to run wild. Every day she’s hanging around Mr. Barlow, acting like she owns the place—always poking her nose into everything. I can’t stand it anymore.”

“Exactly! Everyone says she’s Mr. Barlow’s girlfriend, but honestly, Silvia, it always seemed like you and Mr. Barlow were—well…” The implication hung in the air.

Silvia and Shipley had always kept things discreet at work, but there were always people who noticed more than they let on.

Silvia paused, then smiled and shook her head. “That’s not true.”

If she was honest, she and Shipley had never really started anything in the first place. So, it hardly mattered how abruptly it ended.

Her friends looked surprised—none of them expected her to be so candid.

Someone tried to lighten the mood. “Well, we always thought you had something going on, the way you worked so hard on Mr. Barlow’s projects and how he always seemed to treat you differently. But I guess Vianne’s the type to rely on connections, while you—our Silvia—you always got by on your own skills.”

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