The moment those words left her mouth, dozens of eyes locked onto me—burning with contempt and righteous fury.
"Beat her to death! Blood for blood."
"Yeah, don't let her off. Someone died, and she's walking around perfectly fine."
"If it were me, I'd break her hands…"
Curses piled on from every direction, but I couldn't make out the words anymore. My ears just buzzed, like a swarm of bees had crawled inside my skull.
Katherine's lips curled into a smug sneer as the crowd rallied behind her.
I knew exactly why she hated me this much. That day, I hadn't just rejected Kayla—I'd rejected her too. And she'd been waiting to make me pay ever since.
But everyone at the company worked themselves to the bone. Who among us wasn't busy from dawn to midnight, grinding through overtime just for a shot at a promotion or a raise?
How could I let two people who'd never put in a day's real work steal slots from those who actually earned them? And the one who spread those rumors wasn't me—it was Katherine herself.
Now she was using Kayla's fake death to get her revenge.
"Are you deaf, or are you already dying? Lick my shoes clean, and maybe I'll let you leave."
I'd barely managed to catch my breath. The second I tried to push myself up, Katherine's palm cracked across my face again, snapping my head to the side.
"Katherine Fox, that's enough!"
"Kayla wasn't killed because Dani hit her with a car. If you people hadn't pressured her to use connections for that promotion, none of this would've happened."
Luna Delgado shoved through the crowd and pushed Katherine back.
"Dani, are you okay?" She crouched beside me, her voice tight with worry. "Is your stomach acting up again? I'm taking you to the hospital right now."
But before Luna could lift me onto her back, Katherine waved people over to surround us.
Elliot sat in the shadows, frowning as he watched—but he never stepped forward. Not once.
Kayla sauntered over and settled beside him, draping her arm across his shoulders.
"Elliot, don't get worked up. Katherine knows what she's doing. She won't beat Daniela to death or cripple her." She smiled. "If she'd really wanted to use deadly force, Daniela wouldn't still be moving, right?"
At that, Elliot's expression softened. He raised his wineglass and clinked it against Kayla's.
"I figured you wouldn't go that far. I only want you to scare her a little—teach her a lesson. I can't actually bear to see her get hurt."
"Of course." Kayla's smile widened. "Since this is the last time we're teaching her a lesson, help me with one final act, okay?"
Elliot drained his glass, set it down, and wheeled himself toward me—letting his friend push the chair.
"Daniela Simmons." His voice dripped with disgust. "So instead of staying home to take care of me, you snuck out here to fool around with some pretty boy."
"People told me you were partying with guys at the bar. I didn't believe them. But here you are." His jaw tightened. "Do you even have a conscience? Are you hoping I'll just die faster?"
I wanted to climb off Luna's back and face him. Tell him the truth.
But I couldn't summon any strength at all. So this was what it felt like when life slipped away—this helpless, clawing desperation.
"Brother-in-law, don't say that about Dani!" Luna's voice cracked. "She didn't come here to party. She took a temp job to earn extra money for your treatment. You've got it all wrong."
Katherine let out a sharp laugh. "Daniela Simmons? Working a bar job? She's way too proud for that. Who'd believe such a ridiculous lie?"
"Exactly. You get caught red-handed, and suddenly it's 'I was just here to work.'"
