At the reunion, my old classmates snickered, convinced I was still a nobody until the next morning, when they spotted me on the cover of a business magazine.
“Fitzgerald? Emily Fitzgerald?! Blimey, you actually showed up!” Edward Blackwood stretched his lips into a grin, but his eyes stayed frosty. “Everyone, look whos decided to grace us with her presence!”
Emily paused at the pub door. Fifteen years had passed, yet his voice carried the same sneer she remembered from their uni days. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.
“Hello, Edward. Hi, everyone,” she said, sounding far calmer than she felt. Her heart thumped like a drummer having a particularly enthusiastic solo.
The pubs back room glowed under warm, low-hanging lights. Nearly their whole year had gathered around the long tableabout fifteen faces, familiar yet distant, like faded Polaroids tucked in a drawer.
“Em!” Charlotte Whitmoreher only real friend back thendarted over. “Im so chuffed you came!”
“Wouldnt miss it,” Emily smiled, some of the tension easing.
“Come sit!” Charlotte tugged her toward the table. “We were just reminiscing about that time we bribed Professor Higgins with biscuits to pass his dreadful economics exam.”
Emily sat, sensing curious glances. Beside Edward lounged Olivia Pembrokeonce the belle of their year, now a polished woman with flawless curls and a vaguely exhausted air.
“You havent changed a bit, Emily,” Olivia said, friendly but polite. “Still so understated.”
“You look lovely too, Liv.”
“So, what are you up to now?” James Hartley asked, topping up his wine. “Still trying to save the bees or something?”
Ah, that tonethe same one theyd used to rib her about her sustainable start-up pitch back in uni.
“Something like that,” Emily replied, accepting a glass. “I run a small company.”
Edward leaned in, smirking. “Let me guesseco-friendly tea cozies? Remember when she went on about those compostable straws?” He chuckled, and a few joined in.
“Spot on,” Emily said evenly.
“Profit in planet-saving, then?” Edward pressed.
“Some years yes, some years no,” she deflected with a smile.
“Well, not everyones cut out for the big leagues,” he shrugged. “Im heading a division at TechSphere, Daves got his own firm”
“Remember when Emily flubbed her dissertation defense?” piped up Sophie Wexford, Olivias old sidekick. “Got her figures all muddled!”
“Thats not quite how it went,” Emily corrected gently. “I got a 2:1.”
“For a First student, thats a flop,” Edward jumped in. “Especially after all your big talk about disruptive green tech.”
An awkward hush fell over the table. Emilys cheeks warmedjust like they had back in Lecture Hall B.
“I remember Emily cracking that finance problem even the tutor couldnt sort,” muttered Thomas Graves from the far end of the table.
Emily blinked at him. Hed always been quietshe hadnt expected him to recall anything about her.
“That did happen,” she acknowledged, offering him a small smile.
“Right, enough nostalgia,” Edward raised his pint. “To fifteen yearsgone in a blink!”
Glasses clinked. Conversation veered to safer ground: jobs, kids, and embarrassing uni antics. Emily relaxed slightly but still felt like an outsider. She didnt fit here. She never had.
“Married, Emily?” Olivia asked during a lull about football.
“No.”
“Kids?”
“None. Work keeps me busy.”
“Oh, youre missing out,” Olivia sighed. “Ive three under six. Edwards always at the office, of course, but we make it work.”
Emily nodded, at a loss. By their standards, she *was* a sad spinsterno ring, no pram, just a career.
“Need some air,” she muttered, slipping outside.
The pub garden was quiet and cool. Emily breathed deeply. Why *had* she come? To relive being the odd one out?
“Mind if I join?” Thomas appeared with two coffees. “Thought you might need this.”
“Cheers,” she accepted the cup. “Got a bit stuffy in there.”
“And not just from the heat,” he said wryly. “Edward hasnt mellowed.”
“Some things are timeless,” Emily shrugged.
“Others change,” Thomas studied her. “You have. More sure of yourself.”
“Have I?” she arched a brow.
“Quite. Its not just the sharp blazer.”
“And youre less invisible than I remembered,” she teased.
“Had to be, around Edwards lot,” he admitted. “But you never were. You always stood your ground, even when they took the mickey.”
Emily opened her mouthbut Charlotte burst into the garden, waving her phone.
“Emily! Why didnt you *say* something?!” She thrust the screen at her. “This is *you*!”
There, on *Business Today*s homepage, was Emily in a tailored suit. The headline: “Green Gold: How Emily Fitzgerald Built a £40M Empire from Eco-Innovation.”
“It only just published,” Emily admitted. “Wasnt planning a grand reveal.”
“*Wasnt planning*?!” Charlotte dragged her back inside. “Oi! Everyone, *look at this*!”
Chaos erupted. The phone did the rounds. Expressions shiftedshock, disbelief, a slow dawning of respect.
“This real?” Edward looked like hed swallowed a wasp. “*Forty million?*”
“Valuation, not my bank balance,” Emily clarified.
“But you *own* it?” he pressed.
“Majority shareholder, yes.”
The table went dead silent. Olivias gaze ping-ponged between Emily and Edward. Someone whistled low.
“So all those years we took the piss” Edward began slowly.
“I was just getting on with it,” Emily finished. “Same as you.”
“*Forty million*, though!” Sophie squeaked. “Thats mad money!”
“Twelve years of 80-hour weeks,” Emily said. “And a fair few disasters the mag didnt mention.”
The vibe shifted instantly. Suddenly, everyone wanted her attentionasking questions, claiming theyd “always known shed smash it”. She answered politely, but their enthusiasm rang hollow.
Later, as the crowd thinned, Edward sidled up with a whiskey.
“Always said you had potential,” he lied smoothly.
“Funny,” Emily met his eye. “I recall you betting Id fold within a year.”
“Banter, love, just banter,” he waved it off. “ListenTechSphere could partner with you. Ive got pull there”
“Sorry, Edward, early start,” Emily stood.
Outside, she nearly collided with Olivia, smoking by the door.
“I had no idea,” Olivia blurted, not looking at her. “That youd *this*.”
“Its just business, Liv.”
“No, its not,” Olivia finally faced her. “I dropped out for Edward. Thought he was the ticket. And now”
“Youve three beautiful kids,” Emily said gently. “Thats not nothing.”
“Yes, but” Olivia trailed off. “Never mind. Justwell done, truly.”
Emily nodded and hailed a cab. Thomas appeared beside her.
“Walk you?”
“Please.”
They strolled through the lamplit streets. Thomas spoke of becoming a financial consultant, moving to Manchester, his divorce. Emily listened, realizing shed always liked this quiet blokeshed just been too busy noticing the loud ones.
“Kept your dissertation,” he admitted suddenly. “The one on sustainable supply chains everyone mocked.”
“Why?” she laughed.
“Because it was brilliant. Always knew youd outshine them,” he grinned. “Too chicken to say so at the time.”
“And I was too busy doubting myself to see my allies,” Emily squeezed his arm. “Thanks for telling me now.”
At her hotel, they swapped numbers and planned breakfast.
Next morning, Emily entered the dining room to find a group already seatedEdward and Olivia included. On the table sat that mornings *Business Today*, her face smiling up from the cover.
“Sleep alright?” Thomas asked as she joined him.
“Barely,” she admitted. “Too much to process.”
“Good or bad?”
“Bit of both,” she smiled. “But Im glad I came. Feels like proper closure.”
“And a fresh start?” His eyes were warm.
“Maybe,” she grinned. “Well see.”
Out the corner of her eye, she saw Edward shove the magazine toward a waiter, loudly explaining who she was. But it didnt sting anymore.
Emily finally grasped the real win: success isnt about rubbing noses in it. Its about your own path, your own convictionsand the people who quietly cheer you on. Even if it takes fifteen years toAs she sipped her tea, Emily realized the best revenge wasnt wealth or fameit was finally being happy with the life theyd all once laughed at.
