At the company's Christmas Eve party, someone spiked my Shirley Temple with whiskey.
The problem was, I had just taken metronidazole.
The doctors fought tooth and nail to pull me back from the brink of death.
However, my husband, Cole, chose to protect the culprit—the intern he was having an affair with.
"Let's just let this go. Claire, can't you be the bigger person and forgive her? She didn't do it on purpose."
I had no intention of letting it go.
But Cole cut me off with a frown. "That's enough! She just graduated. Do you have to blow this out of proportion? Will you only be satisfied once you've ruined her life?"
Watching my husband shield her, my heart shattered, piece by piece.
"Then you two deserve each other."
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1
"What's that supposed to mean? Claire, can't you stop being so petty?"
I had just pulled through, and Cole was already wasting no time blaming me.
"As the CEO, what's wrong with caring for my subordinate? Why do you insist on making this into something it’s not?"
"You ruined our Christmas Eve party!"
My words seemed to strike a nerve, and Cole raised his voice defensively.
I sneered. "Oh? You're certainly devoted to taking care of her. More than you care about your own wife. When I collapsed at the party, you were the first one to shrink away, weren't you?"
My words made him freeze. His voice softened, a poor attempt to mask his fury.
"Claire, I know you're upset. I'll punish Chloe for what she did and make it up to you. But calling the police is absolutely unnecessary. She just graduated…"
"How do you plan to punish her?" Having just cheated death, I felt as if I was seeing things clearly for the first time. I rubbed my temples and cut him off.
After a brief silence, Cole muttered, "I'll dock her pay for three days."
"I almost died, and you're docking her pay for three days?" A bitter laugh almost escaped my lips.
"Enough! She didn't do it on purpose. She just graduated, Claire. She has no money, rent to pay, bills piling up... This is a harsh punishment for her! How is she supposed to make ends meet?"
Cole's face was a thundercloud. All he wanted was for me to drop it, but I had no interest in wasting another word on him. I took out my phone, ready to call the police.
"She just graduated? As long as she's an adult, she's responsible for her actions."
Just as I was about to dial, Cole snatched my phone away. "Do you have to ruin someone's future?" he snarled. "She's just a kid, what does she know?"
"Let the police figure it out. She knew exactly what she was doing."
I frowned, reaching for my phone.
The tension in the room crackled.
Neither of us was willing to back down.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just then, a soft knock came from the door. It swung open, and Chloe stood there, clutching a bouquet of flowers.
Tears welled in her eyes, and her shoulders trembled as she crept into the room.
When her gaze met mine, she lowered her head. "I'm so, so sorry, Claire. This is all my fault. I'm truly sorry."
"Chloe, come, sit down."
The moment Cole saw Chloe, he rushed to her side, guiding her to a chair.
He took the bouquet from her and patted her shoulder. "You shouldn't have. Claire's fine. Why are you crying? Don't be scared."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Harrison, for causing you so much trouble."
As the words left her mouth, her eyes reddened. She looked like a lost, terrified child, and Cole's expression softened into one of pure sympathy.
As her eyes swam with tears, she glanced up at me. A flash of triumph flickered in her gaze.
I scowled, about to tell her to drop the act, but in the next second, she sank to her knees by my bedside.
"I'm sorry, Claire," she cried. "I didn't know you'd taken metronidazole. I just swapped your drink for an alcoholic one to liven things up. I really didn't mean to hurt you."
"Chloe, what are you doing? Get up!"
Cole was stunned. He lunged forward, trying to pull her up from the floor.
When he turned and saw the icy resolve on my face, he roared, "You still don't believe her? Claire, how did I never see how heartless you are?"
"Forgive her. Now. Stop being so difficult! Get up, Chloe. I don't want to see you like this."
Chloe remained kneeling, her face a mess of tears, silently begging for my forgiveness. A sharp pain lanced through my head, and I couldn't bear to watch another second of her pathetic performance.
Seeing I was unmoved, Cole stalked over to my bed. "Claire, you're being impossible!"
The sharp crack of his hand against my cheek echoed in the silent room. A searing pain flared across my right cheek.
In that one moment, any lingering hope I had for us shattered into dust.