Chapter 1

Alexander Grant asked me to meet him at the café on the top floor of the company building. Olivia Hayes was already sitting beside him, the same woman who had sent me 99 messages demanding updates on his whereabouts.

She wore a pristine white dress and looked completely innocent.

Alexander motioned for me to sit, then spoke in the same commanding tone he used at work. "Emma, apologize to Olivia, and we'll put this whole thing behind us."

I stared at him, wondering if I had heard him correctly. "You want me to apologize?"

Olivia's eyes immediately reddened as she clung to Alexander's arm. "Alex, don't be like that. This is all my fault. I was too sensitive. Emma didn't do anything wrong."

She turned toward me, and tears spilled down her cheeks almost on cue. "Emma, I'm sorry. I love Alex so much. When I see someone as beautiful and capable as you working beside him, I get scared."

Her performance was convincing enough to deserve an Oscar.

I could barely suppress a bitter smile. Before I had the chance to respond, the cup beside Olivia somehow tipped over and sent scalding coffee across the back of my hand.

The heat seared my skin red, and pain shot through my hand. Olivia jumped to her feet and grabbed a handful of napkins. "Oh my God. I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't mean to."

She began wiping frantically at my hand, but her movements were anything but gentle. The pressure was so hard that it felt as though she were trying to scrub away a layer of my skin.

Alexander immediately pulled her behind him, then finally looked at my burned hand with a deep frown.

Instead of showing concern, he reprimanded me. "How could you be so careless? You're an adult. Couldn't you move away from one cup of coffee?"

My heart sank as I pulled my hand back. He wasn't worried about me at all. He was blaming me for getting burned.

I looked coldly at both of them. "Mr. Grant, perhaps you should install 24-hour surveillance in your conference room, so Ms. Hayes can keep tabs on you whenever she wants. Although I suppose she already has her own surveillance network."

Alexander's expression darkened immediately. Beside him, Olivia began crying even harder and swayed as though she might collapse. "Alex, I only asked a few people some questions. I didn't do anything else."

Alexander turned sharply toward her and cut her off. "Enough." Then he looked back at me, his voice carrying a clear warning. "Emma, remember your place."

For a moment, I could only stare at him. Apparently, my place was to endure harassment, surveillance, humiliation, and burns from his fiancée, then apologize whenever she decided she was the victim.

A humorless laugh escaped me as I pushed back my chair. "My place is as an employee, and I'm done serving the two of you. I quit."

I stood and prepared to leave that disgusting place, but Olivia suddenly rushed forward and clamped a hand around my arm. Her nails dug so deeply into my skin that I could already feel the sting.

The pitiful expression disappeared from her face. Naked resentment replaced it as she leaned close enough that only I could hear her. "Emma Rivers, who do you think you are? Some nobody from a backwater town, and you think you can steal my man?"

I jerked my arm free and met her hateful stare. "Watch your mouth."

Olivia smiled with exaggerated sweetness, though every word that followed was venomous. "Why? You think you deserve respect? I looked into you. You're an orphan who needed student loans to finish college."

She continued without giving me a chance to speak. "You came to the city hoping to land yourself a rich man, didn't you? You're pretty enough. If you're that desperate for money, sell yourself somewhere else instead of embarrassing yourself here."

Every word cut deeper than I wanted to admit.

Before I could answer, Alexander apparently noticed that we had been standing there too long and walked over with an impatient expression.

He looked between us and frowned. "Are you two finished?"

Olivia changed expressions instantly. She threw herself into his arms and looked up at him tearfully. "Alex, I only wanted to apologize properly, but Emma called me crazy. She said I wasn't good enough for you."

Alexander wrapped an arm around Olivia. When he looked at me again, his expression was filled with icy contempt. "Emma, I never knew you could be this vicious."

My chest tightened until breathing became difficult. I stared at the man who had already decided I was guilty without asking what had happened. "You think I'm the vicious one?"

"Get out," Alexander snapped.

That response told me everything I needed to know. I turned away from them and walked out of the café without looking back.

The moment I stepped outside, my phone buzzed with another message from Olivia's number. There was no written message at first, only a photograph that made my steps slow.