"Go ahead and smash whatever you want. If it makes you feel better."
"When you're done, sign the agreement."
Ferdinand turned to leave.
I grabbed the nearest thing I could reach and hurled it at him. The ashtray shattered on the floor right in front of his feet.
"Ferdinand! What did you promise me?"
Normally, I prided myself on being unshakable. The sky could fall and my expression wouldn't change.
But now, over a man, I'd completely lost control.
My eyes were red-rimmed, my voice raw as I demanded answers.
"You swore to me. You swore that after that night, you were done with Mabel."
"Then why is she pregnant?"
"Why are you trying to force me to sign this agreement for a woman who should mean nothing to you?"
Ferdinand's brow furrowed.
"Georgette, are you done throwing your tantrum?"
"I told you, I was going to cut things off with her for good. But then the accident happened."
"She's pregnant."
That was all he said.
That night, they hadn't used any protection.
But he didn't know.
That night, I'd been searching everywhere for him. I'd called him all night long.
There had been reports of a man in a car accident on Silverbridge Avenue. The description of the victim—his clothes, his car, every detail—matched Ferdinand.
I'd been out of my mind with panic. I drove straight to the scene, only to be blocked by the barricade and unable to get through.
I called Ferdinand one hundred and nine times. Every single one went unanswered.
His phone sat on a couch somewhere, ringing over and over.
While the two of them burned through the night together.
It wasn't until dawn, when I was sitting outside the police station with dark circles carved under my eyes, that I finally received Ferdinand's reply. Casual. Offhand.
"Fell asleep last night. Sorry."
And at almost the same moment his text came through, so did a video from Mabel James, the intern.
"So sorry, Ms. Pruitt."
"Someone slipped something into my drink last night, and I slept till noon. My back's still killing me..."
"My boyfriend told me to take the day off."
And there, in the background of her video, clear as day, was Ferdinand's face.
That was the moment it hit me. Like lightning splitting me open from the inside.
I went straight to the office and slapped Mabel across the face. Twice.
"'Wanting to meet more people and learn new things'? Seducing my fiancé was the real reason you wanted to attend that gala, wasn't it?"
Mabel staggered from the blows, clutching her cheek, tears streaming down in a portrait of wounded innocence.
"Ms. Pruitt, how can you accuse me like this?"
"Someone drugged me that night. I was a victim too... Mr. Gilbert just saw how much I was suffering and happened to help me, that's all."
"Ms. Pruitt, you're a woman too. Don't you have any empathy at all?"
She sobbed and wailed that she couldn't bear to stay at the company anymore. That to defend her innocence and dignity, she'd rather throw herself off the building.
And Ferdinand walked in on the scene at exactly that moment.
His expression went cold. He pulled Mabel behind him, shielding her, then turned on me with a voice like a blade.
"Georgette, what have you become?"
"You're the CEO of this company. You're bullying a young intern in front of the entire staff. Can you live with yourself?"
"I told you—that night, I was the one who chose to help Mabel."
Three simple sentences.
They confirmed every rumor that had been swirling.
And they turned me into the laughingstock of the entire company.
In that moment, I was utterly shattered. And yet I laughed.
"Ferdinand Gilbert. You really are something."
That same day, in a fury, I canceled every partnership between the Pruitt family and the Gilberts.
When I got home, my father was already waiting. He tore into me the second I walked through the door.
"Georgette Pruitt, look at what you've done!"
