4: 4
Before the end of the day, Ada came back to the office, all bright smiles.
"Jean, about the London project. I want to draft the contract myself, hands-on, you know?"
"You don't mind, do you?"
"No."
The next morning, the moment I reached my desk, I heard the whispering.
"The amount on the contract is way off..."
"The company must've lost a few million..."
"Who did this?"
Ada stood at the door of Justin's office, her eyes rimmed red.
"Jean, this is the contract you handled yesterday?"
I walked over and glanced down at it.
The amount field had been changed.
"I didn't write that."
"Ada said she handed it off for you to review."
"She insisted on doing it herself and only asked me to look it over at the end. I flagged the formatting problems, but I'm sure the amount was correct."
Ada's tears fell, her voice trembling.
"Jean, I know you resent me for taking your spot in the competition... but you really didn't have to do this..."
"No matter how much you hate me, you can't gamble with the company's interests. You know exactly how much Mr. Gilbert has poured into this place."
Justin came out of his office, his eyes settling on me.
"You reviewed the contract?"
"Yes, but I checked it carefully. I only changed the formatting."
"She says you changed the amount."
"She says it and you believe her? Justin, I've fought for this company for six years. Have I ever made a mistake this basic?"
Everything went quiet.
Justin looked at me, his eyes without warmth.
"Jean, you're suspended."
He paused. His voice wasn't loud, but the whole corridor heard it.
"From today, the company takes a neutral stance on your entire record here."
"Every result you've submitted, every project you contributed to, wiped to zero."
"Because in this position, you're not professional enough."
Not professional enough.
He compressed six years into one phrase and threw it in my face.
Those emails sent in the small hours, those nights I stayed late nursing the new hires through their work, those moments after a project closed when he nodded in a meeting and said, "Good work."
None of it counted anymore.
He said zero, and it was zero.
"And you should count yourself lucky you didn't win the promotion. The company would never let someone who lets emotion rule them run things."
I stared at him, my throat working.
I wanted to speak, but the words jammed there, and no sound would come out.
The murmuring rose around me from every direction.
"Who does she think she is to Mr. Gilbert, changing a contract like that..."
"She doesn't actually think he'd cover for her, does she? Thinks sleeping with the boss means she can do whatever she wants?"
"One more thing. I'll make this clear." He added another line.
"There is nothing between me and Jean Fox."
He turned and looked at the crowd.
"All the gossip in this company stops here."
Everyone fell silent.
Justin took Ada's hand and led her out.
He held her by the wrist, and she leaned in against his side.
"Don't be scared. I've got you. Don't let something this small ruin your mood for London."
I watched his back as he walked slowly away, and suddenly this man felt impossibly far from me.
So far it was as though we'd never known each other at all.
That evening, I packed up the things at my desk.
When I reached the company's front entrance, I saw Ada's post on her feed.
In the photo, she was in the airport departure lounge, Justin's back visible in the distance.
The caption: 【Setting off with Mr. Gilbert. The future looks bright.】
Right after that, a message from Justin popped up.
【Going to London on business. Back Wednesday. There are some things we need to talk through.】
I stared at that message.
Talk through what?
The 58 he gave me?
The million-dollar necklace he gave Ada?
Or how he told the whole company there was nothing between us?
I blocked him on my phone and closed the chat.
The night wind blew over me as I carried the cardboard box toward the subway station.
By the day he came back, there was no Jean Fox left in this city.
