Chapter 4
Mia wandered at the foot of Varkon Mountain, then found herself in a cozy café overlooking the snowy peak, enjoying exquisite desserts and a cup of rich coffee.
As dusk settled in, she watched the sunset turn the mountain's summit into a fiery gold and red glow, breathing in the crisp, chilly air.
She turned on her phone.
Notifications flooded in, and her screen was instantly filled with missed calls and messages. Most of them were from Liam.
She casually tapped on one of Liam's voice messages. He wasn't concerned at all. He was just going off on her with a flood of accusations.
Liam: [How could you fire Gabriella on your own? I'm the CEO, and I was the last to find out. What am I to you, huh?]
Mia let out a dry, self-mocking laugh. Not once did he ask why she'd disappeared all day, or if she was safe out there on her own.
Before she could even check the rest of her messages, Liam's call came through.
Mia stared at his name on the screen, then swiped to answer.
"Mia, why did you turn off your phone? Do you even realize how much of a mess the company is in right now?" Liam snapped.
Mia pulled the phone away from her ear, waiting for him to finish yelling. Then, she replied calmly, "A mess? I just fired an ordinary employee with mediocre skills who liked to bypass her supervisor. How does that throw the company into chaos?"
She paused, her words laced with meaning as she shot back, "Or maybe she means something more to the company. Or to you?"
The line fell silent. Liam was at a loss for words.
After a few seconds, he finally spoke up. "She's a full-time employee at Limia Creations, under a signed contract. You can't just fire her on a whim. Doing this will only make the rest of the staff feel insecure."
Mia lowered her eyes and said offhandedly, "I gave her twice the standard severance. If that's not enough, I can throw in more."
"It's not about the money! Mia, when did you start throwing your weight around like this?" Liam shot back.
Throwing weight around? Wasn't he the one pulling rank?
"Oh?" Mia interrupted, her voice casual but provocative. "Suppose I really want her gone, what then? What would you do?"
Not waiting for Liam's reaction, she shut her phone off again. Silence returned to her world.Silence returned to her world.
She was making a bet.
She was betting on whether Liam's feelings for Gabriella were really worth him risking it all.
She was testing just how much their nine years together still mattered to him.
Mia pulled her coat tighter around herself and turned to head back to the hotel.
No matter how this bet played out, she knew that ever since she held that pregnancy test in her hand, something had broken inside her. There was no putting it back together.
Mia booked the earliest flight back home without telling anyone.
As soon as the plane landed, her phone went off.
It was a message from one of her loyal team members in the design department: [Ms. Steele, Mr. Reed is throwing a promotion party for Gabriella at the Marriott tonight...]
A promotion party? Mia scoffed inwardly. She didn't even stop by home to drop off her bags. She just got in a car and headed straight for the Marriott's private club downtown.
When she pushed open the door to the private room, Gabriella was there in a bold red bodycon dress, holding up a champagne glass with a playful sparkle in her eyes.
Liam stood right next to her, his arm thrown casually over the back of the sofa behind her.
"Thank you, Mr. Reed, and thank you to the company for your trust and this special promotion!" Gabriella said, her voice sweet and full of gratitude.
She swayed her hips as she looked at Liam. "I promise I'll give it my all as the new design director. I won't let you guys down!"
Design director? Mia blinked in disbelief. Liam had actually put a newly promoted employee of just three months on equal footing with her.
"Wow, such a big celebration and nobody thought to invite me?" Mia said, her tone icy and laced with sarcasm.
She didn't even raise her voice, but the whole room went dead silent.
When Liam saw her, a flicker of panic flashed across his face.
Gabriella's eyes widened in surprise, but a sly smirk quickly took over. "Ms. Steele? Back so soon? We didn't dare interrupt your little getaway."
All at once, memories of that pregnancy test, those indecent noises from the bathroom, and the flash of red in the video raced through Mia's mind.
Her composure shattered in an instant.
In one swift motion, she snatched the champagne glass from Gabriella's hand and hurled the drink straight into her face.
Gabriella let out an exaggerated scream. Champagne dripped down her hair, making her look utterly pathetic.
"Mia! What do you think you're doing?" Liam's face darkened. He darted forward, pulling Gabriella protectively behind him.He darted forward, pulling Gabriella protectively behind him.
With surprising tenderness, he fished a handkerchief from his suit pocket and carefully wiped the champagne from Gabriella's face.
"Are you alright, Gabi?" he murmured, his voice gentle.
He called her "Gabi." Such a sweet and intimate nickname.
Everyone was frozen, exchanging nervous glances, not even daring to breathe.
Liam shot Mia a glare, his tone icy. "Why didn't you tell me you were back? Why come here to make a scene? Do you want to embarrass me in front of others?"
"Embarrass?" Mia scoffed, her laugh dripping with sarcasm. "Liam, you think this is the only thing making us look ridiculous?"
"Shut up!" Liam snapped, cutting her off before she could say anything else. "Apologize to Gabi... Ms. Burke!"
"Apologize?" Mia scoffed, her laugh bitter and incredulous, as if she'd just heard the biggest joke in the world.
She pointed straight at the woman Liam was shielding. "Why should I apologize to her? She's the homewrecker, the other woman who barged into my relation..."