Zane said with amusement, "It's bad to go without breakfast for this long."

"I don't remember having worked for that long," I said as I picked up my phone and checked the time on the screen. I frowned when I saw that it was already 10:30 am.

The corners of Zane's mouth curled upward. "Be considerate of your health and have some breakfast, Annalise. I made granola and cut up some berries to go with it. You can continue your work after breakfast."

"All right," I said readily. I knew it was bad to miss breakfast. Besides, I was a grown-up, and I ought to set

a good example for the young ones. The last thing I wanted was to encourage them to skip breakfast, which would be troublesome.noveldrama

I followed Zane down the stairs and heard him muse, "You know, I was known as a workaholic for as long as I could remember. But now, it seems you suit that title more than I do.'

I teased, "You're a great employer, and I might not get so lucky with my next job if I lose this one. I like to think of this as my calling to make as much money as possible. It'd be great if I could make enough to pay for Mom's medical treatment and have some left to do whatever I want.'

Zane asked, "Is there anything else you'd like to do besides drawing comics?"

I figured he would offer to help me if I said yes. I didn't want to keep him in the dark, so I said, "Yes. I told you about it, remember? I want to set up a company of my own where I can give my employees a lot of perks and give them a better life."

"I could help you realize that dream right now if you want," Zane offered, as I expected.

"No, thanks." I didn't want anyone to pay for me to accomplish my dream. "I'd prefer to work for the money. I'll make it happen once I have enough saved up.'

...

There was light in Zane's eyes when he heard this. He was admittedly stung by the rejection at first, but after some thought, he agreed Annalise could build character by working toward her dreams and learning to grasp every opportunity that came her way.

As we took our seats at the table, Zane began introducing me to the breakfast he made. "It's not good to have greasy food for breakfast, so cut up fruits and bought low-fat yogurt. I also air-fried some bacon, but it wouldn't overwhelm the rest of the breakfast."

He told me he had started making the granola at six in the morning, cutting up a variety of nuts and dried fruits to go with the oats. The golden-brown granola looked delicious.

I stared at the spread before me and suddenly recalled the mornings before Steven and I divorced.

I was the only one who woke up early to make breakfast, yet Steven and Zachary never appreciated my effort. Instead, they blamed me for butting into their diets and not letting them have the food they wanted. After that, they believed Jessica was doing them a huge favor by inviting them to have breakfast at restaurants and cafes.

But if they had only told me they were sick of my cooking and wanted to try other foods, I would never

have stopped them from eating out. They simply refused to talk to me and let me know what they were thinking. They also picked on my cooking a lot.

There was a time I wondered if my cooking was indeed terrible. When I sampled my cooking and found it decent, I thought my judgment was biased because I was used to the flavor profile.

Why else would Steven and Zachary gang up on me and criticize my cooking?

I didn't understand until much later that familiarity bred contempt. I had cut off the rest of the world and devoted myself to my family at the time, so I became sensitive to their hurtful remarks and began myself.

As a result, I lost my confidence.

Thankfully, I had moved past those dark days.

Sobting

I added the yogurt to my granola and took a bite. The fruits gave it a sweet aftertaste that balanced out

the tanginess of the yogurt. The bacon was crispy and fleshed out the breakfast with its savory notes.

I gave Zane a thumbs-up and said, "Everything's delicious!"