Chapter 4

Rowena didn't have to pull seventy-two-hour shifts, eyes burning from crunching numbers, just to pull off a project everyone said couldn't be done?

Don't ever have to push herself to the limit, lead her crew through hell and back, just to make the company millions, even tens of millions?

To Rowena, everything I did, my hard work, my skills, my value, was nothing more than a ploy to "get close" to the guy next to her.

And to Roger, all of Rowena's nasty suspicions and insults were just her being naïve, like she didn't even need to bother learning how the real world worked.

All the sacrifices I made, all the dignity I lost, were brushed off like they were nothing.

He honestly believed that as long as Rowena just sat there and behaved, that was more important than anything I could ever accomplish.

And what about me?

What about all of us women who work ourselves to the bone just to carve out a place for ourselves?

Is this really all we're worth?

A chill of anger surged through me, rising all the way to my head.

My face was blank, wiped clean of any emotion.

I didn't even bother with the last trace of my professional smile.

I calmly watched the two of them, wrapped up in each other's arms.

Rowena nestled against Roger, secretly throwing me a smug, provocative glance.

And Roger, with a look that screamed women were just trouble, pretended to be all deep and understanding, playing the caring boyfriend.

I could feel my colleagues' eyes on me—some pitying, some mocking, some just looking on like it had nothing to do with them.

A cold numbness settled in my chest, spreading until I felt frozen all over.

Fine. So be it.

Honestly, this is better for me.

Now that I'd let go of any hope, I could finally move forward without looking back.

I set down the damp towel, didn't spare anyone a glance, and didn't say a word.

I grabbed my bag and phone, turned around, and left that sickening room without looking back.

Behind me, my coworkers were whispering.

"Is Ms. Poe really mad?" one of them muttered.

"Well, duh! Wouldn't you be pissed? She got humiliated, had to bark like a dog in front of everyone, and the boss just acted like it was no big deal..." another snorted.

"Seriously. She's the top sales rep; no one else could've pulled that off and still get treated like crap."

"Shh, keep it down. Mr. Ferguson's still here..."

"But Ms. Daniels is really out of line..."

"She's just acting spoiled because Mr. Ferguson dotes on her. What can you do? He's crazy about her..."

The door shut behind me, cutting off the gossip.

The hallway was much quieter now.

The harsh glare of the lights made me squint.

I walked into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and splashed cold water on my face again and again.

I was trying to scrub away the suffocating humiliation that still clung to me.

I stared at myself in the mirror; my face was ghostly pale, but my eyes were cold and strangely steady.

Gina Poe.

Don't forget today.

Don't forget every single time you had to bark like a dog. All hundred of them.

Don't forget that hundred thousand.

Remember how Roger Ferguson turned a blind eye to it all.

Remember Rowena's tears and that triumphant, proud look.

Remember him saying, "You don't need to worry about any of this. Just stay put and be good."

This wasn't over.

But right now, I need to stay calm.

After drying my face, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Erasmus Ball, my department director.

[Erasmus, I'm suddenly not feeling well. I'm heading home and taking the day off tomorrow.]

I hit send and turned off my phone without waiting for a reply.

Right now, I didn't want to hear a single word from the company.

As I stepped out of the hotel, the chilly night air hit me, making me feel more awake than ever.

I glanced back at the hotel, its lights blazing.

A celebration party?

How ironic.

This place wasn't for me.

Roger's company wasn't where I belonged anymore; it was not a place where my worth meant anything.

A boss who let his girlfriend humiliate his core staff, a leader who didn't know the meaning of respect or boundaries? A place like this didn't deserve my loyalty.

My skills, my ambition—they deserve to be somewhere that truly values them.

Like... Aros Tech, that rival company that kept hitting me up in private, throwing all kinds of perks my way, trying to lure me over.

Before, I always turned them down out of loyalty to Roger for believing in me when no one else did, and because I couldn't bear to leave the team I'd built from scratch.

But now...

It was time to see what they were really offering.

I flagged down a cab.

As I slid into the back seat, it felt like I'd left all that suffocating tension outside, shutting the door on everything that just happened.

"Brocade International," I told the driver my apartment address.

Then, I leaned back in my seat, watching the neon lights flash by outside.

The city was huge, and there were endless opportunities out there.