The next day, the company called me back for a meeting.
Leah texted me over and over, telling me to wear a proper suit.
When I got back, my coworkers took one look at me and started whispering.
"Director Gilbert's back!"
"I heard today's the day he gets promoted to VP. That's why they told him he had to come in."
"Director Gilbert's got the chops. That seat's his by right, nobody's arguing with that…"
"But do you know why Ms. Harding suddenly wants to promote him?"
"I do. Because Ms. Harding and Supervisor Delgado played that prank on his mother at the wedding and scared her to death. And then, the crazier part, Ms. Harding slept with Supervisor Delgado too. Cheated on Director Gilbert."
The moment the words were out, every head turned to stare at me, the looks either pity or mockery.
Feeling sorry for me, and laughing at me at the same time, that I'd swallow a grudge like that for money.
Nobody knew what was going through my head as I walked in, carrying a humiliation I'd never felt before.
I reached my office, pulled the door open, and went straight in.
I started gathering up the things that belonged to me. I was halfway through when someone came in to tell me to head over for the meeting.
Every employee, every shareholder, they'd all been there for a while. I was the only one missing.
Leah looked at me, then parted her lips to speak.
"Everyone, the reason I called you all here today is that I have something big to announce."
"The position of VP has been vacant for a long time. It's time we found someone with the ability, the record, and the shoulders to carry it."
The words had barely landed before everyone turned, all at once, to look at me. In their minds, I was the only one with what it took to sit in that chair.
Leah smiled. "I have someone excellent in mind. That person is…!"
She looked right at me, her eyes urging me, firm, to stand.
I hesitated, then made up my mind and got to my feet. And in the next second—
"That person is Barnaby Delgado!!!"
"Let's give him a round of applause!"
The moment she said it, the whole room burst out laughing at me.
"So it wasn't Cedric after all. Then what was he standing up so sure of himself for?"
"Hahaha, I'm dying here."
I'd fought and bled for this company all that time, only to end up sewing the wedding dress for Barnaby.
And she'd made a spectacle of me in front of everyone, until I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.
Barnaby stood up. As he passed me, he deliberately ground his foot down onto my dress shoe.
He spoke in a voice only the two of us could hear.
"You idiot. Your mother getting played by me wasn't enough, you got played too."
"Leah lost at cards. She had no choice but to help me prank you."
Watching him walk away, my heart burned with rage.
I turned and left without a word.
Leah kept talking to Barnaby, but she watched my retreating back, uneasy, the fear still in her.
She wanted to come after me, but Barnaby stopped her on purpose.
I'd known all along that the VP promotion wasn't as simple as it looked.
I set my resignation letter on the desk, then picked up my phone and made a few calls.
I told them I'd left the Hardings, and that from now on everything to do with the Hardings had nothing to do with me.
Then I blocked and deleted every way Leah had to reach me.
I picked up my things and walked out of the Hardings without looking back.
