Mistaken Name, Perfect Match

My boyfriend's assistant, who also came from the same university as him but a lower grade, has an incredibly similar name to mine. While mine is Marissa Parker, hers is Melissa Barker. At the party our colleagues are throwing to celebrate the end of my unmarried life with my boyfriend, Liam Yarrow, Melissa once again mixes up our names. Everyone is cheering and joking around as they unfurl the banner they had prepared, and one person reads the wording out loud. "Congratulations to Liam Yarrow and Melissa Barker! May you two be happy and blissful forever!" In an instant, the originally noisy room falls silent. Melissa's timid voice then rings out. "Sorry, Marissa. I accidentally made a mistake again." Instead of answering, I turn to look at Liam. Liam's brow doesn't even wrinkle in the slightest as he subconsciously assures her, "It's just a minor matter. She won't mind." Following that, he gets up, walks to Melissa, and stops in front of her, placing me opposite him. With this action, his figure completely blocks her from my sight, and like many times before, he shoots me a warning look. "Marissa, it's just a banner. Mel didn't mean to mess it up. At the end of the day, everyone already knows that you and I are the stars tonight, so don't dwell on this, okay?" He calls me by my full first name, while Melissa gets an affectionate nickname. Can his feelings be any more obvious? I slowly release my grip on the balloon I was holding. "Alright, I won't." I will never dwell on anything to do with him again. Chapter 1 The balloon I had let go of drifted slowly, the pop of color particularly jarring in the silent private room. Finally, it dropped limply to the ground. As the atmosphere grew increasingly awkward, someone spoke up softly. "Then… Do we still hang up the banner or not?" Face impassive, I replied, "Go ahead. After all, someone spent considerable effort making it." I had barely finished speaking when Melissa Barker's eyes reddened. "Marissa, I truly didn't mean for this to happen! I worked overtime till 11 last night to place an order for this banner, so I must have accidentally sent them the wrong thing since it was so late. I'm genuinely sorry!" Before I could say anything, my boyfriend, Liam Yarrow, was already frowning. "Marissa, it's just a name. There's no need to make things difficult for Mel. Just pretend that it's your name on there and stop kicking up a fuss." I stared at him, genuinely confused as to how I was making things difficult for Melissa. The displeasure in Liam's eyes grew increasingly obvious, but just as he opened his mouth to berate me, someone couldn't stand the tension any longer and stepped forward to smooth things over. "Marissa, come, have some wine!" "Right! Tomorrow is the last day you two will be legally single, after all!" A few rounds of drinks later, the atmosphere once again became lively. I sat in a chair with Liam beside me, cutting steak. His movements were quick and practiced, as I loved steak, so he had been cutting it for me for nine years. In no time, he had already cut up the steak. I opened my mouth to tell him that I had no appetite for them, but before I could, he was already pushing the plate to his right—toward Melissa. However, when he spoke, it was to me. "Melissa had her nails done, so it isn't convenient for her to cut the steak herself. Don't overthink it." It felt as though a piece of sandpaper had been raked across my heart, the sensation numb but painful. "Mari, for the rest of my life, I'll only ever cut steak for you!" That was the vow he had once promised me. I honestly couldn't understand it. How could someone's heart change so quickly? The plate of steak glared back at me, the sight stabbing into my eyes and making them tingle. I got up and excused myself to the restroom. As I made my way back, I stopped outside the private room door as our business partner let out a wicked laugh. "Liam, you're about to get your marriage to Marissa registered, so why are you still being so sweet to Mel?" "Exactly! Don't tell me… You're actually thinking of keeping them both? One on each side?" Liam didn't refute their words, but Melissa piped up, "Hey, now, guys! Don't say such nonsense! Liam is just looking out for me as my senior, that's all." Despite her words, she didn't sound like she was actually denying things either. On the contrary, it seemed more like she was trying to act coy. What followed was a bout of teasing laughter, the sounds almost knowing. I pushed open the door and entered, causing them to hastily change the subject. Nonetheless, Liam was still smiling from earlier as he pushed a plate over to me. "Didn't you tell me two days ago that you were craving steak? Here." With a glance, I knew that this was the leftovers from Melissa. As it turned out, he did remember me mentioning that I wanted to have steak, but in his heart, I only deserved to have the leftovers from someone else. Even till the party was over and we ended the night with a group photograph, I didn't touch the plate in front of me. Yet, Liam hadn't noticed at all. It was pouring outside, so I waited by the restaurant's entrance for Liam. A short while later, he arrived in his car. Opening the door, he exited with an umbrella, but then he walked straight past me before pulling Melissa closer and escorting her to his car. Only once they were both seated did he shout at me, "What are you standing around for? Get in! The rain's only getting heavier!" I had injured my shoulder last week, so I couldn't afford to get the bandages wet—a fact he had completely forgotten. With that, the pouring rain seemed to extinguish the last ember of hope in my heart. My lips twitched into a self-deprecating smile before I charged through the rain and slid into the car. The entire journey home, Melissa chattered away happily about everything under the sun. From what she would wear to work tomorrow to how her dog had been refusing to eat lately. Liam responded every now and then, a perpetual smile curving his lips. It was as though the person who had once told me not to disturb him when he was driving was a completely different person. I took out my phone. On the screen was the appointment page for registering our marriage at the marriage registration office. The appointment had been made a week ago, and the date would be the day after tomorrow. My fingers trembled slightly, but ultimately, I pressed the "cancel" button. Chapter 2 Perhaps it was because I hadn't said a word the entire journey home, for Liam glanced at the rearview mirror before actually explaining his actions, which was a rare occurrence. "Mel is on her period and can't get wet. Don't misunderstand." What a wonderful boss he was! He remembered that his assistant was on her period, yet he couldn't remember that his girlfriend had a shoulder injury that couldn't get wet either. My shoulder began to throb with pain, causing my hand to fly up and grip it. Almost instinctively, I wanted to retort, but what actually left my lips was, "It's okay." What else could I say? That she was just an assistant, so why did he have to remember when her period was? Or why had he given me her leftover steak? Why had he been worried that she would get soaked by the rain? Far too many times before, I had demanded such answers from him that even I was beginning to grow tired of it, because similar incidents had happened every single day since Melissa joined the company. I could still remember the first time Melissa mixed up our names. It had been during a collaboration with a very important client. Since that was our first time working together with that client, the company treated it with the utmost importance. I stayed up for seven consecutive nights to finish up the proposal, yet when Liam finally met with the client to discuss the project, Melissa had actually put her own name on the presentation. After that meeting, I asked Liam why we couldn't just change the names back. In response, he told me that that would affect how the client would look at us, as they might think we were careless. It was enough that everyone in the company knew that I was behind the proposal. However, after the project was over, the ten-thousand-dollar bonus went to Melissa, and so did the industry recognition and recommendation that came with it. When I sought out Liam to question him about it, he personally transferred me 30 thousand dollars, along with three words. "Is that enough?" Those three words trapped all the resentment and hurt inside my chest, leaving me with nothing but bitterness. From then on, Melissa mixing up our names became the norm. When Liam instructed her to order me a bouquet, the recipient ended up becoming her. When attending a business dinner, the place card of the seat next to Liam's also became her name. Time and again, Liam would find all sorts of excuses for her, saying how she was his junior, that she definitely hadn't done it on purpose, that I shouldn't be so petty. However, I honestly never expected that he would have so little care even for a banner that was supposed to wish us a happy marriage. It seemed that we just weren't fated to live happily ever after. The car came to a stop at the front of our apartment building. Still, there were no signs of the rain lightening up. "We're here. Get out of the car." I didn't move, my gaze focusing instead on the newly-changed rabbit car ornament. "What happened to the small tiger I gifted you before?" Chuckling softly, he replied, "Mel said that it was too old, so she gave me a new one. It's quite cute, isn't it? It's just an insignificant and worthless trinket, so there's no need for you to overthink it." What was truly old wasn't the ornament, but me. I didn't bother responding to his words, simply moved to open the door and get out. It was then that Liam belatedly realized that he had given the spare umbrella to Melissa. He hastily handed me his jacket. "It's pouring out there, so use this to cover yourself." I gazed down at the thin suit jacket for a few seconds before ignoring it, stepping straight out into the rain and dashing into the building. Upon returning home, I took a quick shower, carefully avoiding my wound, before I changed out the bandages. It wasn't until I stepped out of the bedroom that Liam noticed the fresh bandages. He appeared momentarily surprised before a hint of guilt crossed his face. "Mari, you've suffered today." Yet, in the next second, the words that left his mouth chilled me way more than the earlier soak in the rain had. "As compensation, you should hand over the Cloud Corporation project that you've been heading to Melissa. She can handle the rest from here. You've been running yourself ragged recently, so this is a good opportunity to get some rest." I could hardly believe my ears, and it took some effort to strangle the laugh that wanted to burst from my lips. I had spent over four months toiling over that project due to the client's strict demands. Even the tiniest details took many tweaks before they were satisfied. Now that things were about to be finalized, he wanted me to step aside? "On what basis? I don't agree with this." The guilt shining in his eyes was swiftly replaced by impatience. "On what basis? On the basis that the company is mine, while you're just an employee working there! Marissa Parker, why do you always have to be so stubborn and aggressive? Why can't you learn a thing or two from Melissa? You two have such similar names, yet the difference between you is as far apart as the sky and the earth!" Something in my chest seemed to shatter at those words. Back when he first started the company, he had taken my hand and told me that I was incredibly capable, so he wanted me to come work at his company to help him. He had also vowed to let me live in a huge house and drive the best luxury cars. Now, he could afford all that and more, yet he no longer had eyes for me. I smiled. "Give it to her if you want. I'll just resign and find a new job. It's about time I move on to the next company anyway." Chapter 3 Liam scoffed, completely unbothered. "Go ahead! If you have the guts to resign, I'll definitely approve it! Your talent for blowing your own horn is growing by the day." With that, he turned and headed for the bedroom. From the resolute stance of his back, I could tell that he didn't believe that I could bear to leave him. … The next morning, I had barely arrived at the company when I overheard a few new hires gossiping about last night's events. "Lennie, you had to work last night, so you weren't there to see it, but Ms. Barker was so smug!" "She wasn't punished or scolded for messing up the banner. In fact, she even remained glued to Mr. Yarrow's side the entire night! She was even closer to him than Marissa was!" "We need to be more careful from now on so that we won't accidentally offend her." "When do you think she'll officially take over Marissa's spot?" Setting my purse on the table, I answered, "Soon." The gossipmongers went pale as though they had seen a ghost. One of them stammered out, "Marissa, we were just joking. Don't take our words to heart…" I simply smiled in response. At that moment, the clicking of high heels rang out, gradually growing louder as the person came closer. Melissa walked over to me while carrying a stack of documents. Then, she purposely pitched her voice much louder so that everyone could hear. "Marissa, please hand over the Cloud Corporation project to me. Liam says that I'll be following up on it from now on." I took in the mocking sneer on her face, not saying a word as I sent her all the project documents, then signed my name on the project handover form. She leaned closer and lowered her volume. "Marissa, I didn't want to steal your efforts either, but Liam insisted on giving the project to me. What else could I do?" With that, she strode off with her hips swaying. Even from the back, one could tell the sheer smugness that radiated from her. I turned on my desktop and printed out the resignation letter I had drafted last night before heading to Liam's office. Behind me, the others erupted into whispers. I could already imagine what they were saying. Certainly, it would be something along the lines of my not being able to compare to Melissa and losing to her again. In the past, I would've been upset at hearing such comments, but now, I didn't care anymore. When I entered Liam's office, I saw that he was briefing Melissa on the project. A wave of amusement crashed through me, as I had been the one to report those matters to him previously. He had personally plucked the fruit I had painstakingly cultivated and was now feeding it to someone else, bite after bite. I handed him my resignation letter. Once he read the contents, his eyes widened. "You're so jealous of her that you're willing to go this far?" Till now, he still thought that I was just jealous of Melissa. In an eerily calm voice, I replied, "Please sign it, Mr. Yarrow." Curving his lips in a sneer, he picked up his pen. "Do you seriously think you can threaten me with your resignation?" With a few deft strokes, he signed his name before flinging the paper back at me. "There, you have your wish!" Having achieved my goal, I turned and left his office. I had only just returned to my workstation when an announcement was sent in our company's group chat. "From this day forth, the Cloud Corporation project shall be handled by Melissa Barker due to Marissa Parker's recent emotional instability. All departments are required to cooperate fully with this change." My fingers clenched tightly around my phone. Recent emotional instability? He couldn't even be bothered to think of a viable excuse! Clearly, he wanted to make me the laughingstock of the company. Everyone's gaze swiveled to me, but I kept my face impassive as I replied to the message first, "Noted." After work, Liam didn't return home. While I was waiting for him on the living room couch, I happened to see Melissa's Instagram post. "A boss who stays up late to help me work through a project? I'm sticking with them for life!" Scoffing, I headed straight for my bed to sleep. … Liam didn't return until early the next morning. As he took off his shoes, he said, "I had to work overtime till late last night, so I slept at the office. It's been an entire day already. You've probably calmed down by now, right? In the future, don't throw a temper tantrum like this again, but since you've already resigned, let's just go with it and get our marriage certified later today. I'll support you from now on." By the time he finished speaking, he had already made his way to the couch and was leaning over to hug me. A sickeningly sweet smell rushed into my nose, causing sheer revulsion to well up in me. I recognized it as Melissa's favorite perfume. My hands darted out to hold him away from me. "Liam, let's break up." Chapter 4 Liam straightened, his expression twisting into something that was not quite a smile. "Marissa Parker, stop this nonsense! You've been with me for nine years, a fact that everyone is well aware of. Besides, who would want an old woman who's already in her 30s? You know well that you're nothing if you leave me and the company!" So, that was what he truly thought of me. Even though I had already given up on him, my heart still felt like it had been stabbed. It took some effort to push down the bitterness that welled in me. "I'm not throwing a tantrum! I've already canceled the appointment, back when—" Before I could finish, Liam's phone rang. He answered it, his tone immediately turning gentle. "What is it, Mel? How did things go with Cloud Corporation?" The sound of Melissa crying came over the line. His expression fell before he hung up and strode toward the door with large steps. "Registering our marriage can wait. Something's gone wrong on Melissa's end." He didn't even wait for an answer as he hastily departed. I let out a self-deprecating laugh. Anything to do with Melissa always had a way of shattering Liam's calm. A long while later, I pulled out my suitcase and packed my belongings, then headed for the company to deal with my resignation paperwork. However, the instant I stepped into the company, I sensed a dark cloud hanging over everyone's heads. Lennie Boltman approached me and whispered, "Marissa, something's gone wrong with the Cloud Corporation project. There was a critical data error, and the client is pissed." I was momentarily stunned, but then Melissa came over to me. "Marissa, Mr. Yarrow is asking for you." The smirk quirking her lips caused my heart to sink, and a bad feeling rose in me. Upon entering Liam's office, I saw that his brows were tightly furrowed. "Marissa, did you do it on purpose?" I instinctively responded, "Did what on purpose?" Melissa's eyes reddened as she piped up, "Liam, I forwarded the documents Marissa sent me to the client without editing anything. I honestly don't know why she would do this! Even if she doesn't like me, she still shouldn't have done anything to harm the company's interests!" Her breezy words had all the blood rushing to my head. I turned to shoot Liam a disbelieving look. "You think I gave her the wrong data?" Liam's expression darkened, but he didn't refute my words. Fury surged through me, my fingers starting to tremble slightly at the force of it. "Liam Yarrow, when have I ever made such a mistake?" Of all the projects that I've handled all these years, not a single one has ever had a mistake. He should know better than anyone just how meticulous and careful I was. Yet, Liam remained unfazed at my words. "Besides you, nobody else has a reason to ruin the project. You've been arguing with me constantly recently, and you were resentful that I decided to hand the project over to Melissa. That's why you deliberately set her up—so that I would regret my decision. Am I right?" I felt as though he had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head, chilling me straight to the bones. No longer holding any hope for his trust, I merely let out a cold laugh. "The records showing exactly what I sent to her are still there. You can look into it yourself." A hint of hesitation flickered in his eyes. Melissa chose that moment to step forward and grab my hand, sobbing piteously. "Marissa, it doesn't matter that you don't like me, but why would you harm the company?" Disgusted by her acting, I ripped my arm from her grasp, my fingers accidentally grazing her face. Though I hadn't exerted much force, she collapsed to the ground while clutching her face. Immediately, Liam lunged forward to seize my wrist, his face twisted into a repulsed expression. "You're still so unrepentant, huh!" Turning to Melissa, he said sternly, "Mel, stand up and hit her back!" A suffocating feeling crushed my chest, making me feel like I was about to explode with the pressure. Nonetheless, despite my furious struggles, I wasn't able to escape his grip. Smug delight flashed in Melissa's eyes. Locking my gaze with Liam's, I spat out, "Liam Yarrow, the thing I regret most in my life was joining your company back then…" Following a loud smack, my face whipped to the side with the force of the slap. Silence descended upon the room. Liam subconsciously released me, but his tone remained as arrogant and full of superiority as ever. "I can't just stand by and watch you continue to make mistakes." I shot him one last glance before spinning on my heel and leaving. However, just as I arrived back home, I saw that the company had released an official statement. "Employee Marissa Parker has committed serious misconduct by neglecting her duties and intentionally leaking critical company data. The company has decided to terminate her employment effective immediately!" There was a loud ringing in my ears as my mind went blank. For Melissa's sake, he had no qualms about thoroughly ruining my reputation in the industry and cutting off any future paths I could take. At the same time, I received a message from him. "As long as you apologize to Melissa, I'll let you return to the company once the project is over." I curled my fingers into tight fists, my nails digging deep into my palms. The pain only served to clear my mind further. Not bothering to respond to his message, I took my suitcase and left this home without any hesitation.