Chapter 1
It took me the entire night of coaxing to finally persuade Patrick Chapman, who had always been notoriously low-profile, to agree to a televised interview.
Yet the next morning, my colleague Sophie Rogers beat everyone to it and announced the news of Patrick's upcoming interview before it even aired.
Under the teasing and cheering of our coworkers, she suddenly turned shy and said, almost coyly, that she was going to marry Patrick soon.
I lowered my eyes and checked my phone. The screen lit up at just the right moment.
It was Patrick's message: [Mom just called. After my business trip, let's go home for dinner together.]
I looked back up at Sophie's face, flushed with a faint, embarrassed smile.
And for the first time, a quiet question formed in my mind.
If she were Mrs. Chapman, then what exactly was I?
*****
"Sophie, with the kind of connections you've got and still keeping it low-key, even a hundred Clarissa Holloways couldn't compare to you," one of my coworkers teased.
"Seriously. With Mr. Chapman in your corner, who in this company would dare not show you respect?" another added.
Sophie Rogers just shrugged it off, looking all nonchalant, but with a hint of helplessness.
She said, "Alright, enough already. I never wanted to make this public. I didn't want people gossiping, saying I only made it because of Patrick.
"Patrick really is great, and he's so good to me. I never wanted to rely on any man. I make it on my own."
She paused, with a hint of resignation in her voice.
"This promotion was totally unexpected. He knew the interview was crucial for my promotion, so he just stepped in to help me. I couldn't even stop him if I wanted to. Seriously, what could I do?" she said.
As soon as I walked into the office, I saw a bunch of people crowding around Sophie, buzzing about something.
When she saw me come in, Sophie lifted her hand in slow motion, making sure everyone noticed the ring on her finger.
"Ugh, it's driving me crazy. I keep telling him I'll only think about marriage after I land the editor-in-chief job, but he just used this interview as a chance to pop the question. Such a control freak, seriously," she grumbled.
Annabell Sullivan's eyes lit up as she leaned in, fixated on the ring.
"Oh, my god. Sophie, this ring is insane. Emma, come check this out. Isn't this the Desert Heart that Mr. Chapman dropped a fortune on in the news a while back?" she exclaimed.
The crowd instantly erupted, everyone crowding around to shower her with compliments and try to win her favor.
"Sophie, when you make it big, don't forget about us, alright?" one of the girls joked.
I frowned, glancing at the ring on Sophie's finger.
Patrick had indeed bought the Desert Heart a while back.
But he didn't have it made into a ring. He turned it into a necklace, which was now quietly hanging around my neck.
Looked like someone scammed her.
Just as I was debating whether to give her a heads-up, Sophie spotted me standing there, zoning out at the doorway.
Her gaze slid slowly over my face, and her smile widened, a hint of triumph in her eyes.
She said, "Oh, Clarissa, sorry about this, but it looks like the promotion is all mine this time.
"I told Patrick I wanted fair competition, no special treatment, but he just wouldn't listen. He insisted on helping me out, and honestly, what could I do?"
She patted my shoulder, her voice growing even more gentle. "But Clarissa, don't lose heart. You've always been capable, and I believe if you keep at it, you'll get promoted in no time.
"After all, not everyone gets to be as lucky as I am, having Patrick's favor."
Her words sounded soft, but the pride in her eyes was impossible to miss.
Seeing I stayed quiet, she edged a little closer and whispered, "Clarissa, you're not mad, are you?
"But think about it. You've had all the perks for years, always getting what you wanted. Back then, whether it was teachers playing favorites or classmates fawning over you, everything was always about you.
"Now that I'm finally getting a little of what I deserve through my own hard work, is that really so hard for you to accept?"
Her words set off a firestorm.
Everyone suddenly got excited, gossiping and asking about the drama between Sophie and me.
"Oh, it's really nothing," Sophie replied.
She paused, looking a bit reluctant, as if she was only saying this because everyone was pressing her.
She continued, "Back in college, Clarissa was gorgeous and super popular. Professors and counselors just adored her. They'd call her into their offices, and she'd end up spending hours in there."
As soon as she said that, the vibe in the room shifted.
Sophie went on, "Clarissa was a total star in college—every contest, every scholarship, if she was in, she'd win.
"Even the guys—seriously, no matter how wild they got, Clarissa just had to say one thing, and they'd go silent.
"Seriously, our dorm was packed with gifts from guys who liked her. There was no room left. But Clarissa wasn't the type to string anyone along; she never touched any of their stuff."