The room went very quiet.
Cole tilted his head back and laughed. "You want to break up with me?"
I nodded. I turned to Vivian. "And you. As of this moment, we are not friends."
Cole sneered. "Who do you think you are? You think people are lining up to be your friend?"
I did not answer him. I watched Vivian. The corner of her mouth tugged up, smug, despite the tears.
After ten years, she still did not know who I actually was.
When I had met her, she had been a girl from the mountains on a financial-aid scholarship. The wealth gap would have made her uncomfortable, so I had never mentioned my family.
I had planned to tell her in time. I had planned to buy her a small place she liked.
I was glad I never had.
I held my ground. Cole grabbed Vivian's wrist and turned for the door.
"Selena, I am the GM of Hartline Mall. After the holiday, corporate is giving me equity in the branch. You broke up with me, don't come back."
I let out a cold laugh. "Aren't you suspended?"
He froze.
He had not thought I would know. He fumbled. "That's temporary. After a stampede, corporate has to do something for optics. You don't understand."
Vivian turned wide eyes on me. "Selena, are you breaking up with him because he's been suspended? You're so… so shallow."
Cole's face darkened. "Selena, so you're a gold-digger after all."
"You wait. Tomorrow's hearing is just a formality. The minute they reinstate me, you'll be sorry."
I watched his back disappear down the hallway. I finally let out a breath.
Equity? My father had floated that for him because he was my boyfriend. Without me, there was no equity.
After they left, I pulled up the floor surveillance from the night of the stampede. The corner where the foam cannon had been triggered was a blind spot for the mall cameras. I could not see who had operated it.
That was not a problem.
I forwarded the comms earpiece audio to Daniel Pierce, my attorney.
The next morning, I rolled my wheelchair to the meeting room.
Vivian was there too.
Pierce leaned in and lowered his voice.
"She's here as a witness for him. She's claiming the stampede was caused by insufficient on-site staffing."
I almost laughed.
Cole was trying to clear himself, but he did not realize this only made the mall more liable. As GM, he wouldn't escape responsibility anyway.
And I knew better than anyone. The staffing that night had already exceeded industry standards.
I was not going to let Cole and Vivian smear the company or push the blame onto innocent staff.
I signaled my assistant to push me forward.
The next second, Cole stepped in front of us.
He looked at me with clear disgust, then smiled. "You said you wanted to break up, and now you've followed me to the office anyway."
"Selena, don't you have any shame?"
