Chapter 2

Megan Taylor shoved the door open and stormed in, tossing her bag onto the floor. She was fuming. "You know what, don't even waste your time worrying about Emily Stone. She asked the manager for some time off a few days ago to go traveling.

"She's probably long gone by now. Can you believe it? The lab catches on fire and she still takes off on vacation, leaving us here to deal with all the crap."

Jenna gently tugged at Megan's sleeve and whispered, "Megan, stop. Don't say that in front of Leonard."

"Why can't we talk about it? Just because she's the boss's wife, we're not supposed to say anything?" Megan muttered under her breath.

She glanced at Leonard and, when he didn't react, got a little louder. "You know, Mr. Nash, you're so good to Jenna.

"Everyone at the office has been saying the way you rescued her was like something straight out of a romance drama. You two are perfect for each other."

I could see Leonard relax, but he still didn't say a word. Hard to tell what was going through his head.

To me, though, his silence said everything. And Jenna? When she heard Megan call them a perfect match, her face turned bright red, and the look in her eyes got even more intense.

After a long pause, Leonard finally spoke, "Did she really take leave to go on vacation? Why didn't HR tell me?"

"Mr. Nash, Emily just throws her weight around here because she's your wife. HR doesn't know what to do with her.

"She told them to keep their mouths shut, so of course nothing ever made it back to you," Megan said, pretending to feel bad for HR and spinning the story.

I could barely breathe. My whole body was shaking. Ever since I started at this company, Megan has had it out for me for no reason, always looking for ways to make my life harder.

"Go tell HR to fire Emily. If she comes back raising hell, just say it was my call," Leonard said, his voice icy and merciless.

His cold words echoed in my ears, and my gaze snapped to him. He actually believed such a sloppy lie. It cut so deep.

"Alright, I won't keep you two. I'll go let HR know right away," Megan said, a hint of triumph on her face. She shot Jenna a wink, said her goodbyes, and slipped out of the hospital room.

After a phone call, Leonard came back and said, "Jenna, we're flying out tonight. Your mother said she misses you."

"I don't think it's a good idea. With everything going on at the company, I feel awful asking you to come with me. Mom worries too much and tends to blow things out of proportion.

"It's really just my old health problem acting up again. Honestly, I shouldn't have even told her," Jenna said, sounding embarrassed.

"Vivian's supposed to worry. Well, your father was my professor. I promised him I'd take care of you. Nobody saw that accident coming. I already had PR handle a statement and kept things under wraps. People wouldn't panic.

"The lab needs time to recover anyway, so I happen to be free to take you to see Vivian," Leonard replied.

*****

A week before the accident, Leonard and I got into a blowout fight.

He totally forgot my birthday and went to look after Jenna in the hospital. He didn't come back until two days after my birthday had passed.

He didn't even bother to explain himself. He just acted like I was invisible, went straight to our room to change, and then got dressed for work.

All the emotions I had been holding back finally exploded. I stood in front of him, trying hard not to cry, and told him how much his actions had hurt me.

I poured my heart out, but he just stared at me coldly, not saying a word.

Eventually, my voice gave out and I broke down sobbing.

Leonard had been completely silent up until that point, but now he finally let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Emily, what makes you think you could ever compare to her? You're so manipulative.

"Honestly, I regret ever meeting you. You can't handle it anymore? Fine, let's get a divorce."

He shot me a look filled with pure hatred, then brushed off the spot on his clothes where I had touched him. The door slammed behind him as he left.

I froze in shock, my legs giving out as I dropped to the floor. Manipulative? That was how he sees me? So I was so worthless to him and never good enough next to Jenna.

So when the fire broke out, he completely ignored me and went straight to save his beloved Jenna, getting her out without a second thought.

We were both working in the lab that morning, and he saw me there. But he just took Megan's word for it without even bothering to check. To him, I never really mattered.