Twenty-Nine
Annalise
The next day at work, I knew what I had to do. But knowing and actually doing were two very different things.
So I spent the day doing something I normally never did.
Procrastinating.
Minute after minute, hour after hour, dread built in my stomach, an eerily familiar feeling these days, made especially worse the longer I waited.
It was Friday. So if I didn't do something about it today, I'd have to worry all fucking weekend, and by the time Monday came around, I might have landed myself in the hospital with an anxiety attack.
My gut made strange, ominous noises as I tried to work. Tried and failed. Time and time again.
It was like when you were reading, but found yourself preoccupied, going over the same paragraph repeatedly, not really comprehending what it was saying.
Mona encouraged me to just do it, get it over with, keep moving forward with the plan, sending me inspirational texts all day. Bless her heart, it did help.
But I was the one who had to face the music. I'd created this mess, and I had to take full responsibility, no matter the stakes. And the stakes felt oh so incredibly high right now. Everything I'd worked for and wanted from this subterfuge could potentially come crashing down on me in a heartbeat.
Toward the end of the day, with quite a few people already filtering out, I looked toward Veronica's office. No one was in there with her. She was all alone. Now would be the time.
Fuck it. I deserved whatever was coming to me.
Standing up, I caught Mona's eye from across the room, and we exchanged a significant glance. She gave me a nod and a smile, as if to say, "You can do this" and "I got your back" at the same time.
My stomach gurgled, but I ignored it, giving myself an internal pep talk that whatever happened, I could handle it, something Mona had said the night before repeatedly.
I had to do this. I couldn't keep living a double life. If I didn't put an end to it now, I'd just keep getting deeper and deeper into it until it all blew up in my face. I had no choice really.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked on Veronica's door which was already slightly ajar. She glanced up immediately and smiled slightly when she saw me. "Come on in, Cordelia."
Shit. This was so damn hard.
"Hi. Sorry for bothering you."
"No problem. Take a seat."
Looking at the beautiful view behind her, I tried to take solace in the iconic skyline of Manhattan, something that I normally admired. But it did no good, because now she was crossing her arms on her desk and leaning forward, an expectant look on her face.
"What can I do for you?" she asked. "Is everything going okay with the Venus project?"
"Yes. Yes, actually, it is."
"Good."
There was an awkward pause as she waited for me to say what was on my mind. Maybe I could just make something up and then run for it, not admit this at all. Now was my chance to save myself.
"Is there something else?" she prompted.
Oh, God. This was awful. I'd have nightmares forever about this very moment, especially because there was no good way to say it, despite how many times Mona and I had discussed it.
Veronica raised a brow, and I knew I was testing her patience.
"So..." I started, "I have something to tell you. And there's just... well, it's really hard to tell you."
My boss was not exactly the motherly type. My own mother wasn't exactly the motherly type, not that that had anything to do with this situation. But Veronica offered no trite reassurances or warm smiles to encourage me, only narrowed her eyes at me.
"Okay," she said a bit warily.
I inhaled deeply and blew it out. On with it, Annalise. Get it the hell over with .
"So I'm, uh, I'm not really Cordelia Dole. My real name is Annalise Stratton, and I've been working here under a false name because I wanted to prove myself by my actual work and not just my last name. At my last job,people either hated me or kissed my butt because of my pedigree. And between those two things, there was no room for anyone to actually see me for who I really was, for me to just do my job to the best of my ability despite how hard I worked, and I—"
I was now officially babbling, so I stopped myself from speaking any more, instead watching Veronica carefully while trying to judge her expression. But it didn't take a genius to see that she was pissed. Beyond pissed.
"How on earth did you manage to fool us all like that? Even HR?"
Oh, crap. I hadn't thought of poor Nina. But Veronica sure did, picking up the phone and telling Nina to report to her office immediately.
This was not good. Not good at all. My heart took off racing even more, my breathing shallow, sweat pooling in places it shouldn't.
I wasn't sure what I'd expected, but it sure felt like I was about to get the ax. Despite bringing in Venus, the biggest project we'd ever had, all of that meant nothing in the face of my deception.
While we waited, I apologized profusely, telling Veronica how sorry I was, that I never wanted to hurt anyone else in the process, just wanted to get out from under the shadow of my name.
But her expression was the definition of icy, making me wish I'd never confessed at all. I should have simply resigned and disappeared as Cordelia Dole. What a colossal mistake this was.
Seeing the writing so clearly on the wall, I could have stood up and walked out, but I didn't want to leave Nina to fend for herself. She'd been nothing but kind and accommodating to me, and the last thing I wanted was for her to face Veronica's wrath.
Wishing I could warn her, she stepped inside the office a moment later, her gaze darting back and forth between Veronica and me. It only took a second before the confusion on her face transformed to understanding.
Taking a seat next to me, the other hot seat, she let out a sigh as Veronica pierced her with a glare.
"You knew about this, right?" Veronica began, jerking her head in my direction. "About Annalise's false identity?"
"I did," Nina said calmly.
How she could be so calm was beyond me, but I wouldn't let her take my punishment.
"Please don't blame Nina," I interjected, drawing Veronica's cold glare. "This is one-hundred percent my fault, and I deserve all the blame."
Veronica blinked at me a few times, her nostrils flaring as she did so. "You do deserve the blame. Both of you do. I should honestly fire both of you right now."
I sensed a 'but' there, but I didn't dare hope or voice anything.
"However, the Venus deal is tied to you," she went on, looking directly at me.
Momentary relief swept through me that I might be saved by Venus, but what did that mean for Nina? That relief was extremely short-lived, the shortest life ever for relief unfortunately. Because I would rather have spared Nina than myself.
She turned her attention to Nina once more. "So you knew about both Max and this?"
Wait, just a minute. So Veronica knew about Max? And Max didn't think to tell me that?
"I did," Nina admitted.
"Max was one thing, but two people doing this at the same time?" She shook her head. "That borders on ridiculous. This is not a soap opera. This is a well-respected publishing house."
Just then, Veronica's phone rang, and her assistant's voice came through the speaker. "It's Max Sterling on the line for you."
What the fuck? Really? The timing of it all.
Veronica thought for a moment as Nina and I both watched, the air in the room suddenly stifling. Had Veronica turned off the air conditioning? It was terribly warm in here.
I squirmed in my seat as she pressed a few buttons on her phone— please not speaker, please not speaker —and Max's voice rang out loud and clear in the room.
"Veronica, I hope this isn't a bad time."
"No. Actually, it's the perfect time."
Did Nina feel like a criminal right now too? Oh, my God, was what I'd done an actual crime? Could I go to fucking jail for this?
An image came to the forefront of my mind, of myself sitting in the witness stand, being interrogated by some ruthless lawyer, my family looking glum in the courtroom gallery, Max and Veronica at the prosecution table wearing killer suits and killer glares.
"Oh?" Max said. "How so?"
"Well, first of all, I should tell you I put you on speaker, and I have Nina Morgan from HR in the room with me as well as Cordelia Dole aka Annalise Stratton."
Silence, dead silence, took over the room as we all waited to see what the great and powerful Max Sterling might say to that.
"Let me explain further," Veronica said before he could respond. "Annalise, with the help of Nina, has been operating under a false identity as Cordelia Dole. Fake name. Fake credentials."
"Ah, I see," Max said. "And how did you come to learn this?"
"She confessed it to me directly," Veronica said, looking pointedly at me. "It's a fireable offense. And I'd like to terminate both of them, effective immediately."
Nina let out a small, involuntary sound next to me, and I glanced over, guilt twisting in my chest. The fact that she was such a kind soul and would suffer serious repercussions because of something I did made me want to break down and cry.
"Again," I spoke up, desperation giving me courage. "Please don't blame Nina. This was entirely my doing, one-hundred percent my fault."
Veronica's expression remained impassive. " Annalise , the use of a false identity is a serious offense. And if Nina knowingly accepted fake documents, or even worse, fabricated them herself, that's a major violation of company policy and federal law. This could lead to penalties for tax fraud or falsifying employment records, not to mention how it would affect our impeccable reputation."
I gulped like a five-year-old facing a spanking.
"Veronica," Max spoke up, his tone calm but firm, "I'd like us to take a closer look at Nina's role here. When I went undercover at Insight, Nina was my main support. Her record with the company is spotless, and she's always shown good judgment. It's possible she acted out of compassion for Annalise without realizing the full extent of the situation."
Veronica hesitated, all of us focused intently as Max continued, their corporate speak making everything even worse somehow.
"If she was unaware of the deception and believed the documents were legitimate, this is more a case of misjudgment, not intentional negligence. And as we all know, HR responsibilities are challenging—especially when someone intentionally conceals their identity."
Nina had indeed helped me a bit, but I was going to keep that part to myself. She made a movement beside me, and I shot her a look, a look that hopefully said to not say a word. If I lost this job, I would hardly be destitute. But my privileged situation was extremely rare, and I highly doubted that Nina was in the same boat as me.
"So where does that leave us?" Veronica asked.
I sat up straighter as Max cleared his throat. This was it. Judgment day. Never thought I'd face the music from fucking Max Sterling, the guy I'd given head to just a short time ago. Jesus Christ, what had my life become?