Chapter 4

But compared with Ethan, Sophie had been making a lot more noise.

Megan spilled all the gossip she'd heard to me.

"Guess what? Sophie's going around calling herself Ethan's girlfriend at the office," Megan said.

I poured myself a glass of warm water and leaned back on the couch.

"Give me the details," I said.

Megan said, "Admin told me Sophie asked the front desk to deactivate your VIP pass last Thursday. When asked for Mr. Howard's authorization, she said you two had broken up and asked if he really had to handle it."

I ran my finger around the rim of my glass. "Did they really deactivate it?"

"Yeah, they did. The new girl at the front desk didn't want to mess with Sophie, so she went ahead and did it."

"Anything else?"

"And get this." Megan lowered her voice. "She was in the break room talking trash with a few coworkers, saying, 'Some people just can't keep a man. If you can't, you should know when to leave with some dignity. Hanging on is pathetic.'"

My grip on the glass tightened.

My knuckles turned white.

It wasn't the words themselves that got to me.

It was because if Sophie dared to say something like that, it meant she had the confidence to back it up.

And that confidence? It all came from Ethan never once setting the record straight about any of those rumors at the office.

"There's one more thing," her tone shifted, she sounded really careful now.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This morning, Sophie dropped a pic in the department group chat, a bouquet of those pricey blue roses. The caption was, 'Thanks for the flowers, Mr. Howard. I'm so happy.'"

"Did Ethan really send them?"

"Not sure. But once she posted it, that's all people needed. Now the whole office is buzzing, everyone's saying Ethan's already making a move on Sophie since you two broke up."

I set my glass down.

I got up and wandered over to the window.

I pulled the curtain back just a bit.

In the distance, the lights of Howard Tower glared through the night, harsh and bright.

"Megan," I said.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"That Third Quarter project between Prism Consulting and Howard Enterprises, I told you to pause it earlier."

"Yeah, it's still on hold."

"It's not on hold anymore." My voice was flat. "It's terminated."

"What?"

"Shut down every single project with Howard Enterprises. Make it official, send out the notice today."

There was a five-second silence on the other end.

"Julia, are you serious? If Prism Consulting pulls out of the Tropic Alliance Project, Howard Enterprises, " Megan started.

"I know," I cut her off.

"Then why?"

"This isn't about being petty."

I turned and headed to my desk, opening up my laptop.

I explained, "I own 12% of Howard Enterprises. I bought those shares under my own name before the engagement, and they had nothing to do with the engagement. Now that the engagement is off, I have no reason to hold onto them.

"Contact the trust company tomorrow and transfer all of them."

"Oh my god, Julia, are you, " Megan started.

"I'm not done yet," I cut her off.

I opened an encrypted folder.

Inside were backups of all the consulting reports I'd put together for Howard Enterprises over the last three years.

"All business data, analysis models, and client networks tied to Howard Enterprises, lock them down and keep everything separate. Starting today, Prism Consulting and Howard Enterprises are completely independent, no connections at all," I added.

Megan took a deep breath on the other end of the line.

"Julia, are you really, " Megan started.

"I'm cutting my losses," I said.

I closed the folder.

"He made me just another player in his game. Well, let him see what losing me really costs," I said.