Chapter 2

Darren's face turned ashen. Just as he was about to speak, I flung the panties at him. "You're taking food to Mollie, aren't you? Then give this back to her."

Darren's face flushed with embarrassment as he realized what it was. "Mollie must've left it here after her shower the other day."

His explanation was weak, and I didn't want to hear it.

He didn't say another word. He walked over, tucked the blanket around me, and left with the lunchbox.

That night, Darren didn't come back.

I drove to the office alone.

As soon as I sat down at my desk to get started, my coworker next to me scooted her chair over and immediately started gossiping.

"Daniella, did you know? Mr. Griffith and his assistant, Mollie, are together now," she said.

Before I could even process what she said, she launched into a whole story.

"Someone saw Mr. Griffith and Mollie getting out of the same car this morning. When they got to the office entrance, Mollie twisted her ankle," she said.

"Mr. Griffith, who was right behind her, totally freaked out. He scooped her up and carried her straight to his office. They're still in there," she added.

I nodded absentmindedly, but I didn't catch a single word of what she said after that.

Darren and I had been together for four years, but hardly anyone knew about our relationship.

He never wanted people gossiping about office romances.

But when it came to Mollie, all his rules and boundaries went out the window.

I slumped over my desk, trying to pull myself together.

Just then, my phone rang again.

"Are you at work? Pick up a bottle of pain oil and bring it up. Mollie twisted her ankle," Darren said.

After a quick "yeah," I hung up and passed the message to another assistant in Darren's office, the one who knew about us.

The rest of the day, I just kept my head down and stayed busy, trying to hold it together.

By the time I wrapped up my last bit of work, it was already nine.

The whole floor was deserted, but I heard footsteps coming from the stairs.

I turned around and locked eyes with Darren, who was holding a jacket.

He put his jacket around me, his brow furrowed. "Why are you still here so late? I came to pick you up."

Suddenly, I felt a little out of it.

For four years, no matter how bad the weather got, Darren had never once come to pick me up.

Sometimes I'd act all cute and whiny, even cry a little, just to get him to come get me after work.

But he'd just get all annoyed and say, "Daniella, you're an adult. What can't you do by yourself? Why do you always have to bother me? It's so annoying."

After a brief silence, Darren pressed, "Done with work? Let's head out."

"Okay," I mumbled.

I slowly got up and trailed after Darren as we left the office.

When we got to the car, I went to open the front passenger door, but Darren put out his hand to stop me.

"There's something in the front seat. Just sit in the back," he said.

Daniella thought to herself, suddenly remembering a post Mollie had shown off on Instagram, saying only she could sit in the front seat of her boyfriend's car.

Now I got it. I quietly opened the back door and got in.

We were halfway down the road when Darren's phone started ringing.

He nodded at his phone on the seat. "Can you get that for me?"

I answered and hit speaker. Mollie's voice came through, sounding like she was about to cry. "Mr. Griffith, the power's out at my place. I'm really freaked out."

Mollie whimpered, "Can you come over and stay with me? I'm so scared being here alone."

Darren looked conflicted for a moment, then finally pulled the car over to the side of the road.

I quietly got out of the car, and for once, I saw a flash of guilt on Darren's face. "You head home first. I'll go see what's up with Mollie, and I'll try to be back early."

He didn't even wait for me to reply before hurrying off.

I gave a self-mocking laugh and caught a cab home.

When I got home, I shoved all my important things into a suitcase, leaving the rest scattered and ignored.

I was in the middle of packing when Darren suddenly burst in.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his brows knitting as he eyed my suitcase.

Honestly, I didn't expect him to come home tonight, so I made up an excuse on the spot. "The department's sending me on a business trip," I lied.

Darren nodded, sat down on the bed with his head lowered, looking visibly frustrated.

Instead of checking in on him like I usually did, I just turned and went to take a shower.

When I came out, Darren was already gone.

All that was left was a sticky note on the headboard: [I'm worried about Mollie being alone in this city, so I'm going to stay with her tonight. Tomorrow, I'll take you to that restaurant you've been wanting to go to.]

I arched my brow, crumpled up the note, and threw it in the trash.

The next morning, I went to the office, same as always.

Only this time, I was there to hand in my resignation.