My Last And My Only

Chapter 170: This One's on Me

Friday afternoons always carried a different kind of energy.

By four o'clock, conversations around the office shifted from deadlines to weekend plans.

Someone was already asking where everyone wanted to eat.

Someone else was counting the minutes until five.

Aiah smiled as she saved the final version of a social media banner and leaned back in her chair.

A notification appeared on her screen.

Payroll Credit Successful

For a second...

She simply stared at it.

Then she clicked on her banking app.

The amount wasn't life-changing.

It wasn't extravagant.

But it was hers.

Earned through early mornings, revisions, meetings, and the quiet determination of proving to herself that she belonged.

Without realizing it, she smiled.

"So that's the face people make."

Aiah looked up.

Bea stood beside her desk with a folder tucked under one arm.

"What face?"

"The 'my salary finally arrived' face."

Aiah laughed.

"Was it that obvious?"

"You checked your account three times."

"I checked twice."

Bea raised an eyebrow.

"...You checked again while we were talking."

Aiah looked down at her phone and laughed.

"Okay... three."

"I remember my first payday."

"What did you buy?"

Bea thought about it.

"My parents dinner."

Aiah blinked.

"Really?"

"Mhm."

"I wanted them to enjoy the first thing my job gave me."

She smiled before walking away.

"Don't stay too late."

Aiah watched her leave.

Then quietly locked her phone.

Instead of heading straight home, she stopped at a department store.

She wandered through the aisles slowly.

Not because she didn't know what to buy.

Because she wanted to choose carefully.

For Ivy...

A hardcover cookbook with handwritten-style recipes and notes in the margins.

The old one had pages stained after years of cooking.

Aiah had noticed months ago.

For Gwen...

A sturdy canvas pencil case and a set of pastel highlighters.