That was when Garrett walked in.
He saw me packing and his brow furrowed deep.
“Jocelyn, what are you doing?”
“You told me to clear out the office.” I didn't even look up.
His face tightened. He lowered his voice.：“I told you to move to one of the open desks for now! The client at Grandview specifically requested Leonora as their point of contact. She needs a proper office!”
“Do you really have to make this difficult right now?”
“Just be reasonable. Once the deal closes, I'll split the commission with you fifty-fifty. Isn't that enough?”
He was barely containing his anger, but the tone was pure condescension, like he was doing me a favor.
I placed the last framed photo into the cardboard box and looked up.
“Mr. Whitmore, the handoff checklist has been signed.”
“I don't want a cent of the commission.”
I picked up the box, stepped around him, and walked out.
“Jocelyn!”
He called after me. There was a thread of panic in his voice that he himself hadn't registered.
“Don't burn every bridge!”
I didn't stop.
I wasn't the one who'd been burning them.
On my last day, Garrett threw a celebration dinner at the five-star hotel across from the office to mark the Grandview Corporation deal. By all rights, all I had to do was stop by finance that afternoon to collect my final paycheck and leave.
But his secretary called and said Garrett was requiring my attendance at the dinner.
“Mr. Whitmore says this was your account. If you don't show, he'll take it as a personal slight.”
I looked at the suitcase I'd already packed. In the end, I changed into a simple blouse and jeans and went.
The ballroom was loud with clinking glasses and easy laughter.
Leonora was in a couture evening gown, drifting between clients with a champagne flute in her hand.
Garrett stood at her side, intercepting drinks on her behalf, his eyes soft with adoration.
“Jocelyn! You came dressed like that?”
Leonora had materialized beside me, her gaze sweeping over my white blouse and jeans with exaggerated surprise.
“I thought you weren't coming at all.”
She held a glass of red wine and clinked it lightly against mine.
“Director Wang from Grandview complimented my proposal. Garrett said he's buying me a car as a reward.”
She gave her wrist a little shake.
The gold bracelet struck the crystal glass with a bright, clear ring.
I lifted my gaze and let it settle on her face, cold and level.
“Good for you.”
My indifference set her off completely.
Her foot slipped. The entire glass of red wine landed squarely on my chest.
The white blouse soaked through in an instant, stained a spreading, ugly crimson.
“Oh no! I'm so sorry, Jocelyn! I didn't mean to!”
Her shriek turned every head in the room.
Garrett strode over and pulled Leonora behind him in one swift motion.
He glanced at the mess on my shirt, his brow knotted, his voice already laced with reproach.
“Jocelyn, I already let it slide that you showed up in casual clothes. Do you really have to cause a scene here too?”
He hadn't asked a single question. He'd already decided I was the one making trouble, picking a fight on purpose.
I stood, pulled a few napkins from the table, and blotted the wine stain off my blouse. My hands were steady.
“She poured her wine on me.” I stated the fact.
“Leonora didn't do it on purpose. Do you have to stand there acting like the victim?” Garrett's voice was clipped with impatience.
“It's a cheap blouse. I'll buy you ten of them.”
“Leonora's the one who closed the deal tonight. Can't you just be gracious about it?”
He kept Leonora shielded behind him, guarding her like I might so much as touch a hair on her head.
I looked at the man in front of me.
Through his expensive suit, I could still see the boy from five years ago, the one who'd pulled off his jacket in a downpour and wrapped it tight around my shoulders.
That boy had promised me once that even if the whole world turned against me, he'd be on my side.
Too bad that boy was long dead.
Killed off by status and ambition, buried under the weight of his own swelling arrogance.
The last hidden flicker of hope in my chest turned to ash.
“Forget the dry cleaning.”
I tossed the wine-soaked napkin onto the table.
“You know what, Garrett? You're right. It's just a cheap blouse.”
“Just like this relationship. Once it's ruined, it's ruined.”
I turned and grabbed my purse.
“Jocelyn! Where do you think you're going?” Garrett's voice cracked like a whip behind me.
He was so used to me caving that he assumed I was only walking away to make him chase me.
“Home.”
“You walk out that door, don't ever come back!” He hurled a wine glass. It shattered somewhere behind me.
“Fine.”
I walked out of the banquet hall without looking back.
I pulled out my phone, called a car, and headed straight for the train station.
This time, I meant it.
