Chapter 6
The guest room was on the first floor, right next to the kitchen, but tucked away from everyone else.
I wheeled my suitcase in, with Chloe trailing behind, looking like she wanted to say something but held back. "Vivian, do you want me to change the bedding for you?"
"No, thanks," I replied.
The guest room was rarely used, and the air carried a faint scent of camphor.
The bed was small, but it was way more comfortable than the folding bed I'd been sleeping on upstairs in the overseas warehouse.
I hung a few clothes in the closet and set my toolbox on the desk.
As I finished, the door swung open from the outside.
Andrew was standing in the doorway. He didn't bother to knock. "Step outside."
I glanced at him. "Is something wrong?"
"Dad's waiting for you in the study," he replied.
I glanced at the time.
It was 11:17 PM.
The Shea family never cared if it was day or night when it came to dealing with me.
If Stella cried, they'd call a family meeting in the middle of the night.
When I was overseas with a fever of 104 ℉, my assistant called home, but Victoria said, "Vivian's always been healthy. She'll be fine."
Well, I didn't die, so I guessed that meant it wasn't a big deal.
I followed Andrew upstairs.
As we passed the second floor, I noticed the door to my old room was already shut.
After the name plaque was taken down, there were two tiny screw holes left on the door.
Stella was standing inside, peeking at me through the crack in the door.
When she saw me looking her way, she quickly shut the door. Click. She locked it.
I looked away.
It was her room now. Naturally, she'd keep it locked.
In the study, my father was sitting in the middle of the sofa.
Victoria was sitting off to the side, her eyes rimmed with red.
Lucas was there, too. He hadn't left yet.
Stella wasn't there. Maybe she'd gotten more than she could handle tonight and needed some time to process it all.
Charles pointed to the sofa across from him. "Sit."
I sat down. "Go ahead."
Charles frowned. "What's with that attitude?"
I tried to sound more polite. "What do you want to talk about?"
His expression softened a bit. "What you did at the party today was way out of line."
"Yeah," I admitted quickly.
Charles was caught off guard, and his lecture was stuck halfway.
Andrew's voice was cold. "If you knew you were wrong, why did you have to air it all out in front of everyone?"
"You all told me to explain," I replied.
"We told you to protect the Shea family's reputation."
"I didn't yell at anyone or cause a fuss."
"You call that not making a scene?" Andrew laughed sarcastically. "You told everyone right in front of all the guests that the family made you give up the engagement."
"Wasn't it?" I shot back.
"Vivian," Lucas cut in suddenly. "Nothing's been decided at all."
I turned to him. "The ring's still with Stella."
"I'll have her give it back to you."
"I don't want it."
His face fell.
Charles raised his hand to cut us off. "Let's put the engagement aside for now. The party tonight's been canceled, and I'll have someone handle the gossip.
"Stella's not in a good place right now, so don't bring up the engagement for the time being."
I nodded. "Okay."
Charles stared at me, probably thinking I agreed too easily. "And one more thing. Stella's about to start an internship at the company. She's studying art management and is into jewelry design. When you're back at work, let her tag along with you."
Finally, we were getting to the real deal.
I opened my handbag, pulled out a document, and slid it across the table. "Perfect timing."
"What's this?" Andrew asked, picking it up.
He glanced at it, and his face changed. "A resignation letter?"
Victoria whipped her head around. "Vivian, you're quitting?"
"Yeah," I replied.
Andrew flipped to the last page. The signature date was three months ago. "You've been planning to quit for three months?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" he demanded.
"I sent an email."
"I never got it."
"I sent it to the CEO's office, HR, and the Legal Department."
Andrew's face turned grim. "They didn't approve it."
"The contract's expired. No approval needed," I replied.
My contract with the overseas branch had expired after a year.
When he sent me over there, I bet he never considered this possibility.
After all, in his mind, it didn't matter where he dumped me. I'd always end up crawling back to Shea Group.
I joined the company at eighteen and became the head of design by twenty-two.
Half of Shea Group's flagship lines from the past three years were designed by me.
They were so used to me being part of the Shea family, they figured my talent was theirs by default.
Andrew tossed the resignation letter back onto the table. "No way. You just got back, and you're not in the right headspace. We'll talk about this later."
"It's already official," I said.
"Vivian," Andrew snapped.
"Andrew," I looked him straight in the eye. "Are you stopping me from leaving as the CEO of Shea Group, or do you want me to stay because we're family?"
Andrew was caught off guard.
I waited, giving him a moment.
He stayed silent.