As for why the cat he gave me was so scrawny and weak—I'd figured it out. He gave the best kitten to Lily, and she picked the runt of the litter to pass off as my "gift."
How ridiculous.
I thought Cheese was a symbol of our love. But somewhere I didn't know about, he had another kitten with Lily.
Named Salad.
I hung up and blocked Alex on everything.
The next morning, I went to work as usual. Something felt off the moment I walked in.
Lynn, who always had the latest gossip, filled me in: the company was cracking down on office romances. Anyone caught could be transferred or pressured to resign. The news had everyone on edge.
Linda, who knew about me and Alex, whispered, "You two should keep a low profile for a while."
I nodded, stood up, and walked into his office.
He was clearly stressed about the same thing. The second he saw me, he yanked the blinds shut like a guilty man.
"Why would you just walk into my office like this? Haven't you heard they're investigating?"
He was treating this like a crisis.
I ignored him and asked where Lily was.
He cut me off.
"Because you didn't bring Cheese over last night, Lily's cat died."
"Her depression flared up. I stayed at her place the whole night."
I'd already moved out of our apartment by then. I hadn't even known he didn't come home.
Before, hearing that might've made me lose it.
Now? I felt nothing.
Seeing my lack of reaction, he rubbed his temples.
"If you came to ask why I didn't come home, you could've just texted. It's a sensitive time. We need to be careful." He emphasized it again.
I cut him off.
"You don't need to explain. That's not why I'm here."
"Last week, I assigned Lily a proposal. She still hasn't turned it in."
His expression soured. "Didn't I just tell you? Salad died. Her depression flared up. I gave her a few days off."
"Then have her send me the proposal when she has a moment. I need it."
"Can you stop being difficult? Lily told me you've been using your position to give her attitude. I didn't believe her—until now."
"She can't give you the proposal. You're her mentor. If it's that urgent, do it yourself."
I laughed coldly. "Haven't I done plenty of her proposals already? Not this time."
Alex went to college on a scholarship from Lily's dad. As his girlfriend, I'd always been grateful for that.
So when he used his position to hire Lily, I looked the other way.
To avoid suspicion, he assigned her to my team. I didn't refuse—I mentored her wholeheartedly.
And now, apparently, that was "targeting" her.
"If she can't turn it in, I'll mark her internship evaluation as 'unqualified.'"
I was going by the book.
Alex looked at me with utter disappointment.
"Serena, people aren't made of iron. Everyone gets sick."
"Remember when you first started working? You had a stomachache and were too scared to ask for time off."
"Or is it because you got rained on once, now you want to rip away Lily's umbrella too?"
I ignored him and walked out.
But he called after me.
"Serena—I have to say, management sometimes has pretty good taste."
"Between you and me…" Alex paused.
"Someone as clueless as you really isn't cut out to be a leader."
I stopped walking.
A while back, he and I had teamed up to land a major project. Rumors were flying around the company that one of us would get promoted.
"Serena, I know the truth hurts, but I have to tell you." He raised his eyebrows. "The promotion's already mine. Mr. Norris gave me a heads-up."
"Since you don't want to manage Lily, once I'm promoted, I'll take her under my wing. Make her full-time, too."
