Chapter 2

I retreated to a quiet corner of the ballroom, trying to steady my breathing as the humiliation burned through me. Emily. He had called me Emily. After everything we'd built together, I was just another faceless employee to him in public. The champagne in my glass trembled with my hand, and I downed it in one desperate gulp, hoping the alcohol might dull the ache spreading through my chest.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. A text message from Amanda Hayes. My stomach clenched at the sight of her name on my screen.

"Victoria, I'm so sorry about what happened. Marcus was completely out of line. Meet me in the executive restroom on the mezzanine level? I have some feedback about his speech you might want to hear."

I stared at the message, suspicion flickering through me. Amanda Hayes had never shown me anything but thinly veiled contempt. Why the sudden concern? Still, curiosity and a desperate need to understand what was happening with Marcus overrode my caution.

Before I could respond, I glimpsed Amanda across the room, huddled with Chloe Evans and two other women from the sales team in a secluded corner of the lounge. Their heads were bent together, Amanda's perfectly manicured hand gesturing emphatically as she spoke, her voice too low to hear over the music. Something about their posture—predatory, conspiratorial—sent a chill down my spine.

Chloe glanced up, catching my eye for a brief moment before quickly looking away, guilt flashing across her features. Amanda followed her gaze, and when she saw me watching, her expression transformed into a smile so artificial it might have been painted on.

She lifted her phone, pointedly looking at it and then back at me, mouthing "Did you get my message?"

I nodded hesitantly, and she beckoned me with a subtle tilt of her head before turning back to her group. Their conversation resumed with renewed intensity, punctuated by occasional glances in my direction.

Every instinct warned me to walk away. But the need to understand what game Amanda was playing—and how it involved Marcus—propelled me forward. I set down my empty glass and made my way to the mezzanine level, each step feeling like a surrender to forces I couldn't quite name.

The executive restroom was a testament to luxury—marble countertops, fresh orchids in crystal vases, and soft, flattering lighting that made even the most exhausted executive look refreshed. I pushed open the heavy door, half-expecting to find it empty, Amanda's message nothing but a cruel joke.

Instead, I found Amanda, Chloe, and the two other saleswomen waiting for me. They were arranged in a loose semicircle, their postures casual but somehow blocking the path back to the door.

"Victoria!" Amanda's voice dripped with false warmth. "I'm so glad you came. That was quite a scene downstairs."

"It was nothing," I said carefully, watching their faces. "Just a misunderstanding."

Chloe stepped forward, her expression a mask of concern that didn't reach her eyes. "It didn't look like nothing. The way Marcus spoke to you... it was awful."

"We've all noticed how he treats you," one of the other women added, her voice soft with manufactured sympathy. "It's not right."

"He works so hard," I found myself saying automatically, the defense of Marcus as instinctive as breathing. "He's under a lot of pressure."

"Of course he is," Amanda agreed, moving closer. Her perfume—expensive and overwhelming—filled my nostrils. "And you deserve so much better than to be treated like some nameless intern."

She reached out, her fingers brushing my arm in a gesture that might have seemed comforting if not for the cold calculation in her eyes. Behind her, Chloe shifted uncomfortably, her gaze darting between Amanda and me.

"We thought maybe we could help," Amanda continued, her smile sharpening into something predatory. "After all, we women need to stick together in this business, don't we?"

The door clicked shut behind me with a finality that sent a surge of adrenaline through my veins. I was suddenly, acutely aware that I had walked straight into a trap of my own making.