Chapter 3
That afternoon, I showed up outside Michael's office building, carrying another identical gift box.
The receptionist recognized me and greeted me warmly. "Emily, here to see Mr. Grant?"
I smiled and nodded, heading straight inside.
As I passed by the break room, I overheard a few female colleagues whispering to each other.
"Hey, did you guys see the bracelet Sophie's wearing today? Isn't that a Van Cleef & Arpels?" one whispered.
"No way, that's gotta be a knockoff. She's just an intern. There's no way she could afford the real deal," another chimed in.
"You never know, though. She must have some tricks up her sleeve to have Mr. Grant so head over heels for her," a third voice added.
"Seriously? Doesn't Mr. Grant have a wife? I've seen her. She's absolutely stunning," another whispered.
"What's the use of being pretty? No matter how stunning she is, she can't compete with someone young and knows how to act cute. I heard Mr. Grant even took her out shopping yesterday and bought her something—" someone exclaimed.
Their conversation came to an abrupt halt.
They saw me.
Embarrassment flickered across their faces, and they quickly dispersed.
Keeping a straight face, I walked up to Michael Grant's office. The door was open.
He wasn't there, but Sophie was lounging in his chair, snapping selfies and murmuring to herself, "Mr. Grant is so sweet. He even got me a surprise."
She had on a pink dress today, and a four-leaf clover bracelet dangled from her wrist, glinting under the lights, but it looked cheap.
She was so caught up in her little photo session that she didn't even notice me.
I leaned against the doorframe, giving her a cold look.
After she finished her little selfie session and set her phone down, looking all pleased with herself, she glanced up. Only to lock eyes with me, my stare cold as ice.
She shot up from the chair, her eyes instantly welling up, on the verge of tears.
"E-Emily," Sophie stammered, her voice trembling as she scrambled to her feet, clearly panicked, her gaze flickering nervously toward the doorway.
"Enjoying yourself?" I walked in and set the gift box down on the desk. "Mr. Grant's chair must feel a lot nicer than your little dump of a desk, huh?"
"I-I was just helping tidy up since he wasn't here." She went pale, her voice shaky and on the verge of tears, looking like she'd just been terribly wronged. "Emily, are you misunderstanding something?"
"Tidy up?" I sneered. "Is that how you do it, by parking yourself in his chair?"
I was done with the small talk and got straight to the point.
"A few days ago, it seemed like someone broke into my house," Emily said.
Sophie's pupils shrank instantly, panic flickering across her face.
I said slowly, drawing out my words. "Some stuff went missing, nothing worth much though. But there were two handprints on the mirror, and someone else's used hand cream in the trash. Weird, huh?"
I stared straight at her. "That hand cream? Smelled just like you."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sophie's voice cracked, tears threatening to spill. "Emily, did you get the wrong idea?"
"Wrong idea?" I grabbed the gift box off the desk and shoved it into her arms. "Here, the present your precious Mr. Grant gave you somehow ended up at my house. Thought I'd do you a favor and bring it over myself."
Sophie clutched the box like it was a hot potato.
"So, what's inside? Want to open it up and see?" I gave her an innocent smile. "Or do you already have one just like this at home?"