When I walked through the office lobby, everything felt too perfect—polished floors, quiet voices, a place that pretended problems didn’t exist.
Mark stood waiting near the front desk.
“They pulled the reimbursement reports,” he told me. “Hotel bookings, wellness claims, expensive gifts.”
I swallowed. “All tied to Alyssa?”
“They traced everything back to her vendor profile,” Mark said grimly.
“Texts too?”
“Oh yeah,” he replied. “Expense reports, vendor records, his company phone history. HR has it all.”
He nodded toward the glass conference room.
Inside, Cole was pacing, gesturing with his hands like he was pitching something. HR sat across from him without expression. Darren, the CEO, looked worn out. A VP I’d only seen at holiday parties sat quietly watching like a judge.
Then the door swung open.
Alyssa stormed inside, ponytail swinging, phone in her hand, already raising her voice. She didn’t even knock.
“What is she doing?” I whispered.
“Making it worse,” Mark muttered. “She’s furious they’re dragging her name into this.”
HR lifted a hand to quiet her, but Alyssa talked straight over it.
Someone slid a manila folder across the table toward Cole.
He stopped mid-sentence.
His entire posture collapsed, like the air had been knocked out of him.
**
About twenty minutes later, the door opened again. Cole stepped into the hallway—and froze when he saw me.
“Paige,” he said softly.
I didn’t move.
He walked toward me. “This isn’t what it looks like, honey.”
“I’m not doing this in front of strangers. You’ve done enough of that already.”
Mark snorted quietly behind me.
“You said you’d send money,” I told him. “I want it in writing. Then maybe you’ll finally learn how to live without hiding behind a paycheck and lies.”
His jaw tightened. “Paige—”
“No.” I lifted a hand. “You don’t get to say my name like we’re still a team.”
Behind him, Alyssa scoffed. “Oh my gosh.”
I turned to face her. She looked ready to explode—eyes narrowed, lips parting to speak.
Before she could, a woman in a navy blazer stepped into the hallway.
“Alyssa,” she said calmly, her voice cold as ice. “Your contract is terminated effective immediately. Legal will contact you. Do not return to this building.”
Alyssa blinked. “You’re kidding, Deborah. I work here.”
“This is not a discussion,” Deborah replied. The hallway went silent.
Cole turned toward her. “You can’t just fire her like that—”
“We can,” Deborah said evenly. “And we are.”
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