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Before dawn, I woke up again. After a quick shower, I noticed a text from Hayden reminding me to
grab the breakfast he’d left outside my door.
He never asked why I didn’t eat thest one, but he still kept making it for me anyway.
I didn’t want to waste his effort this time, so I ate the breakfast and headed to work.
When I got there, the ce was still empty since I was early. I sketched out my n for the day,
looked over everyone’s recent work, and realized I still had some time to kill before the day officially
started.
I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through social media. I mean, yeah, it’s a total time–
suck, but I don’t have many friends these days. At least this way, I can keep up with their lives, even
if we don’t really talk anymore. It was kind of nice to see how they were doing.
Steve posted about some billiards tournament he entered. Lena, the superstar OB–GYN, posted
about delivering another baby–she tracks every single one she helps bring into the world. The total
so far? 5,566
Five thousand, five hundred and sixty–six babies. Without her posts, I bet even she’d lose count.
I liked her post and threw in a thumbs–up emoji, then kept scrolling. That’s when I saw his post.
Jace.
He’d written: [For the rest of my life, I will take care of you both]
It was paired with a cartoon of a mom and a baby.
My chest tightened. I knew exactly what that meant.
He’d epted Tanya.
He posted it in the middle of the night, and there were already a ton of likes andments. People
who didn’t know we’d broken up were even congratting me and Jace, like we were still a thing.
I let out a bitterugh and left my ownment: [Congrats, wishing you guys all the best.]
As soon as I hit post button, I closed the app and tossed my phone aside. No way was I scrolling
anymore..
I just stared nkly at myputer screen. My mind felt… empty.
It didn’t exactly hurt. It was more like this heavy, sinking feeling that I couldn’t quite describe.
Then my phone rang, snapping me out of it. Ron’s name popped up on the screen, and I nced
toward his office. He wasn’t in yet.
I answered. “Mr. Shane?”
“Hey, Ms. Kay, don’te into the office for the next couple of days.” His voice was all groggy, like
he was still half–asleep.
I figured he was probably still lying in bed.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
“Don’t read into it. There’s nothing weird going on, I just think you’ve been working too hardtely,
so I’m giving you a couple of paid days off,” Ron said.
? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.
Working too hard?
Have I, though?
I’d been taking more days off than actually workingtely. Was he trying to hint at something?
“Mr. Shane, I’ll try to take fewer days off from now on,” said, wanting to make sure I wasn’t giving
the wrong impression.
He quickly cut in, “You’re overthinking this. I’m not hinting at anything. I’m seriously just giving you a
break. You know, at ourpany, we like to take care of our best employees–especially someone
like you.”
Yeah, right. I was not some naive girl who’d fall for a cheap line like that.
Remembering how things had gone down thest few times, I cut to the chase. “Is this another
order from the big boss?”
Ron sputtered, coughing a bit before answering, “You think the big boss has that kind of time?”
He denied it, but getting random time off still felt off.
“Ms. Kay, this is an official notice. You’re on leave. If you don’t take it, you’ll be defying orders, and
that’ll mean a pay cut,” Ron said, pulling the whole boss card on me.
In all my years working, this was a first–getting a “break” like this.
Since I’d already handled everything for the day and two days off wouldn’t screw anything up, I just
said, ” Alright.
After hanging up, I found the department supervisor, walked him through my ns, pointed out a
few things he should keep an eye on, and told him to keep everything on track.
Then I headed out.
Once I got in my car, I sent Steve a text: [Hey, can you dig up some info on the owner of
OceanixCorp? It’s thepany I’m working for.]