Chapter 17
Iglare at Amanda, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. “This video is private,” I say.
Her expression doesn’t shift a millimeter. Like a cat toying with a cornered mouse, she tilts my screen toward me, that smug smirk spreading wider across her lips.
Jake’s confession has been exposed to the very last person who should see it. She has no sense of decency.
“You can’t just go through my emails,” I snap, stepping closer, trying to intimidate her with proximity. “Get out.”
Amanda stands her ground, her arms crossed over her chest. “I knew there was something you were trying to hide yesterday,” she fires back. “What did you expect?”
“Privacy,” I say. “And a little respect.”
Her mocking laughter gets under my skin every time I hear it.
“Respect? Don’t be ridiculous.” She tosses her sleek hair over one shoulder, scanning me from head to toe as if contemplating if I should be endowed with further explanation.
“You haven’t done anything to deserve it.
Everyone knows you’re the reason Jake left the branch. ”
“What are you talking about?”
She leans in, her words like poison. “Jake left because of you. Because of your history with him.” Her voice drops to a hiss. “You made him leave—admit it.”
Heat rising to my cheeks, I lift my chin and plant my feet firmly. “I didn’t make him do anything. And our history is none of your business, so get off my back about it.”
“Oh, but it is.” The distance between us shrinks to nothing, her face so close I can see the insane amount of foundation on it. For one wild moment, I think she might actually headbutt me. “Things were going perfectly fine between us, then you showed up.”
I scoff, bitterly. “I doubt it.”
Her lips purse, twisting into a grimace of barely controlled rage. “It doesn’t matter—you won’t be around much longer, anyway.”
Cold dread shoots down my spine, raising goosebumps along my arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Taking a deliberate step back, Amanda smooths her wrinkle-free blouse. “You’ll find out soon enough. But here’s a hint—you can kiss your career goodbye.”
The realization of what she’d done dawns on me. “You told on us?”
“I’m just following the rules.” Self-importance drips from every syllable, her tone so condescending it makes my jaw clench.
Fresh anger surges through me, straightening my spine. “Two can play that game. I know you and Tim are up to something.” My words tumble out faster now, gaining momentum. “You’re trying to sabotage Jake, and I’m going to make sure Judy knows about it.”
For the briefest moment, her triumphant expression falters. Then, the mask slides back into place. “You think anyone will believe you?” She laughs, the sound brittle and forced. “Go ahead. Tell the boss your little conspiracy theory. See how far it gets you. But trust me, it won’t end well.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I say with confidence. Seems to me like she’s the one afraid of how things might turn out. I’ve caught Tim red-handed, and she knows it. No matter how composed she appears, deep down I know she’s as afraid of losing her position at this company as I am.
Unblinking, she meets my gaze. “You should be.”
Her stare lingers, but so does mine. Then she spins on her heel and strides away, shoulders squared with unshakable confidence.
Alone at my desk, I inhale deeply, trying to steady my nerves.
My lungs struggle to expand, as if the air itself has grown too thick to breathe.
Lately this state of anxiety happens too often.
There’s no calming down, not when she’s crossed every line imaginable, rummaged through private emails, watched Jake’s most vulnerable moment like it was entertainment.
Whatever scheme they’re plotting, I can’t let them succeed. Judy needs to hear everything—about the sabotage, about Amanda’s threats, about the toxic environment they’re creating.
Determined, I grab my phone and stride toward the elevator, jabbing the button for the top floor. When it arrives with a soft chime, I step inside, waiting for the silver door to shut completely when Amanda’s manicured fingers thrust between them at the last possible second.
“Whatever you’re thinking it won’t work,” she says, stepping into the elevator with the cool composure of someone not in the least worried—which worries me. Does she have an ace up her sleeve? Her hostility radiates in this confined space.
I can’t show weakness—not when I haven’t done anything wrong. “Worried your little plan might fall apart?” I say.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amanda’s lips barely move as she speaks.
“Don’t play dumb,” I retort, counting the floors on our way up, barely able to stand another second in such close proximity to her. “I overheard Tim at the anniversary party. He’s planning something, and I know you’re in on it.”
Amanda shifts her weight to one leg. “Maybe you heard wrong. Like the boss said, it’s just a friendly competition.”
The metal walls of the elevator seem to close in, reminding me of all the ways I’m trapped—by this situation, by my own mistakes, by the past. Jake hasn’t returned to his apartment since that night and hasn’t answered a single one of my increasingly desperate messages.
But I can’t let him get hurt in any way—not on my account.
Absolute silence stretches between us, the only sound the mechanical whirring of cables pulling us upward.
From the corner of my eye, I see her tapping a finger against her arm. Perhaps in another life, we might have been friends—two ambitious women climbing the corporate ladder. But she’s crossed the line more times than I can count. Enough is enough.
Judy will decide, I tell myself.
The elevator announces our arrival with a cheerful ding that feels oddly out of place given the tension simmering between us. Without hesitation, Amanda strides out, heels striking the polished floor on her way to Judy’s office.
My sensible flats make no sound as I rush to catch up, weaving around a mail cart and narrowly avoiding a collision with the water cooler.
Within seconds, I’m at her side, our shoulders brushing as we hurtle down the hallway like two racehorses neck-and-neck at the final stretch. Neither of us yields an inch.
She flicks her gaze sideways, catching mine. That smirk widens, taunting me.
When her pace quickens, mine matches it. When she slows, testing me, I adjust without breaking stride. This is a race to the truth, and I won’t yield no matter what happens.
Judy’s office door looms ahead, dark wood with a brass nameplate gleaming under the hallway lights. At the last possible moment, I lunge forward—my college track team training finally paying off—and reach the door first, my breath coming in quick puffs.
Amanda’s back at my side, her immaculate eyebrow arches as though this little race amuses her to no end, as though she’s already won some prize I don’t even know about.
She gestures toward the door as if allowing me the honor of knocking first. I tap three times and push the door open before my courage can desert me.
Inside, Judy Hawthorne sits like a queen at her massive desk, head tilted slightly as she focuses on whoever’s speaking through the Bluetooth device in her ear.
Her silver-streaked hair catches the light from the floor-to-ceiling windows behind her.
With one manicured finger, she signals for us to wait.
“Yes, darling, the venue is all set,” she says, her voice warm in a way I’ve rarely heard around the office. “I look forward to it.”
She presses a button on her earpiece and removes it, setting it aside before fixing her penetrating gaze on Amanda and me. For one terrifying moment, she studies us without speaking, as though reading everything we’re too afraid to say.
“Miss Lake,” she finally says, “just the person I wanted to see.”
I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry as sandpaper. My hands want to fidget, but I force them still at my sides. “Ma’am, there’s something you need to know.”
Judy arches a thin eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. “Does it have anything to do with a certain gentleman named Jake?”
Her words catch me off-guard, sending my carefully rehearsed speech scattering like leaves in a gust of wind. Does she already know? “Yes,” I manage to say. “At the party—“
Judy cuts me off with a raised hand. “I’m well aware of what happened at the party.”
“You are?”
She nods in a way that makes my skin prickle, then retrieves her phone with elegant, deliberate movements that suggest she’s savoring whatever’s about to unfold. “Everyone in the office is aware, Miss Lake.”
She approaches where I stand, holding the screen toward me as if presenting evidence in court. My stomach doesn’t just drop—it plummets through the floor, free-falling somewhere around the lobby fourteen floors below.
On her screen, captured in high-definition clarity, Jake and I stand frozen in our party confrontation.
His fingers grip my arm, his face tense with emotion while mine blazes with unmistakable anger.
The image screams of personal history, of shared secrets, of everything forbidden between colleagues.
To my left, Amanda’s smirk has transformed into something more repulsive than her sneers—a full-blown victory grin that makes my blood run cold. No doubt she behind all of this.
“Office romance is strictly forbidden at this company,” Judy says, placing her phone back on the desk’s glossy surface. “It always leads to preferential treatment and a plunge in productivity.”
Panic creeps into my voice as I say, “No, this isn’t what it looks like. That’s not what—“
Judy’s hand rises again, palm out, silencing me with the efficiency of a mute button. “Spare me the gory details, Miss Lake. Jake didn’t deny it.”
My breath catches in my throat, trapped there like a butterfly in a net. “What do you mean?”
Behind the imposing mahogany desk, Judy settles into her throne-like chair.
“I spoke to Jake about it last night. Imagine my surprise when he admitted there is history between the two of you and that he still has feelings for you.” She delivers that last part with such loathing that I should probably shrivel under her gaze, but strangely, the words “still has feelings” light a fire in me I hadn’t felt since high school.
Jake still likes me...and I’ve been monumentally, catastrophically mean to him.
“He even suggested it would be best if you didn’t work together. ”
My mouth falls open, words abandoning me completely.
“I debated firing him on the spot for keeping it a secret,” Judy continues, her fingernails tapping a light rhythm against her desk. “But he’s the best we’ve got, and our new client deserves nothing less than excellence.”
“Where’s Jake now?” My voice emerges with a slight tremble.
“He’s at the Pineridge branch with the rest of your team.”
“So you transferred him?”
“It was his idea,” Judy says, leaning back in her leather chair with a squeak.
“As for you, Miss Lake, I should fire you. But Jake mentioned you were the one behind the concept of what your old team is working on, and I know what you’re capable of.
Talent is hard to find, and I recognize it when I see it. ”
For one fleeting, dizzying moment, hope flares to life in my chest, warm and bright—then extinguishes as quickly as a candle in a windstorm. What does she mean old team?
“However,” Judy continues, her voice cooling several degrees, “your relationship with Jake is problematic. That’s why I’m putting you on Tim’s team, effective immediately.”
Shifting my gaze sideways, I catch Amanda’s expression—pure terror flashes across her features before she can mask it.
Clearly, she didn’t anticipate this outcome.
But it couldn’t have happened better than if I had planned it.
I’ll be perfectly positioned to keep an eye on whatever she and Tim are planning.
“But we don’t need her,” Amanda protests, her body itching to lunge forward, but she knows better than to agitate Judy. “Our team is already well established, and everyone knows their roles. What if she gives Jake information about what we’re doing?”
Light and dismissive, Judy’s laughter fills the room as she waves off Amanda’s concerns. “In the end, my dear, we’re all one team. All that matters is that we impress Beatrice—and two campaigns are better than one.”
“But—“ Amanda starts, her voice rising.
Like a conductor ending a symphony, Judy raises her hand once more. It’s a very good hand—now that it’s aimed at Amanda instead of me—soft but commanding instant respect. “That is all. You’re both dismissed.”
Drawing a deep breath that fills my lungs with something that feels remarkably like victory, I turn and stride toward the door.
In the hallway, Amanda brushes past me with enough force to make me step sideways, hissing, “This isn’t over.”
From the daggers shooting from her eyes, they were definitely plotting something against Jake, and now their carefully laid plan lies in tatters.
She reaches the elevator first, jamming her finger against the button, then steps inside before turning to face me. “There’s no more room.”
Like I’d want to be trapped in a metal box with her toxic energy again. Taking a deliberate step back, I offer her my warmest, most sugary smile. “See you at the next meeting, partner.”
Just before the polished metal doors slide shut between us, I glimpse the pure, unadulterated fury washing across her face.