“What’s going on here?”


    Jace’s voice sliced through the air, icy andmanding.


    Gone was the shameless guy who’d been messing with me back at OceanixCorp.


    People always said women could switch their attitudes in a snap, but guys? They were no different.


    The head of security, still looking freaked out from whatever went down earlier, rushed over and


    exined everything, his voice shaky.


    Jace’s gaze locked onto Hayden. “So, all of this is because of Mr. Hart’s personal grudge?”


    I could already tell Jace was gonna twist this toe after Hayden, and I had a bad feeling about it.


    But Hayden didn’t even flinch. Jace’s lips curled into this smug, mocking smile. “That right, Mr.


    Hart?” “Yeah,” Hayden said.


    Jace bent down, picking up a broken piece of debris from the ground. “So, how do you think we


    should handle this?”


    “What do you want?” Hayden clearly saw through Jace’s intentions.


    I stayed quiet. Saying anything now would only make things worse.


    If it weren’t for me, Jace wouldn’t have made such a big deal out of this. He probably would’ve


    defended Hayden.


    After all, this was happening on RiverwaveCorp’s turf, and those thugs were wrecking the


    company’s amusement park. The whole ‘you don’t mess with someone’s property thing definitelyText ? owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    applied. These thugs causing a scene? It was a straight–up hit on Jace’s pride.


    Jace tossed the broken piece aside and brushed his hands off, like he was wiping away something


    disgusting. “You’ve got personal issues to handle, so it’s probably best you focus on that. Wayne will


    be taking over here until you’ve sorted everything out.”


    I was stunned. Jace was basically kicking Hayden off the project.


    The lighting setup was almost finished, so whether Hayden stayed or not wouldn’t make much of a


    difference. Jace knew that. This wasn’t about the work it was like throwing him away after he’d


    served his purpose.


    Suddenly, my stomach dropped. What if those guys from earlier were sent by Jace, just so he’d


    have an excuse to get Hayden fired?


    “I don’t work for you, Mr. Johnston,” Hayden said, standing his ground. “You don’t get to decide if I


    stay or go.”


    Jace smirked, totally smug. “Oh yeah? Wanna bet?”


    He whipped out his phone, and I knew exactly what he was doing–calling Hayden’s boss, trying to


    get him kicked off the project.


    I jump


    1. in. “ Johnston, isn’t it a little reckless to make a decision without getting the full story? Plus…” I


    hesitated, then pushed forward, “I mean, sure, the lighting’s almost done, but are you really


    sure it’s gonna turn out the way you want without Mr. Hart?”


    Just then, Wayne came rushing over, probably after hearing themotion.


    I saw my opening and went for it. “Wayne, Mr. Johnston’s thinking about letting Mr. Hart go and


    having. you finish up the lighting. You think you’re ready for that?” I tossed the challenge right at


    him.


    Okay, not my most ethical move. But I was counting on Wayne backing me up.


    Wayne’s face shifted, just for a second, before he turned to Jace. “There’s still the system test after


    the lighting. It’d be smarter if Mr. Hart stayed on until the final inspection.”


    Jace’s smirk vanished. He shot Wayne a death re, clearly pissed that his own brother wasn’t


    backing him up.


    But Jace had already made up his mind. He wasn’t about to let it go. Cold and businesslike, he


    looked at Wayne and said, “If you’re dead set on keeping him, we’re not even making it to the final


    test. The whole amusement park’s gonna get wrecked by then.”