Demi nodded. “Oh, yeah. My brain’s basically an amusement park. Full of rides and these pretty
lights.”
Sheughed and squeezed me tighter. “And guess what? You’re in there too.”
This girl could charm anyone.
We got to the spot where the ident went down. Hayden climbed up to check out the damage,
scribbling in his notebook as he went.
“We lost two sets of lights. Each set had twenty–two bulbs, with, like, thirteen different colors,”
Hayden said, scanning the broken lights before ncing at the crane off in the distance.
Finally, Hayden turned to Demi. “Call your superior and get him over here. We need to figure out
who’s responsible for this mess and check the damages.”
Demi blinked in surprise. “Oh, right!” She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Wayne.
It wasn’t long before Wayne showed up. When he spotted me, he froze for a second, obviously not
expecting me. But after a beat, he smirked. “Rea, doing an early inspection?”
His tone had a slight edge to it–he knew I wasn’t in charge anymore.
I knew Wayne wasn’t trying to be mean–just teasing–so I gave him a small smile. “Nope, just here
to see Hayden.”
As soon as I said that, I caught a flicker of something in Wayne’s eyes, but he quickly shifted his
attention to Hayden. “The contractor already told me about the ident.”
That was his way of telling Hayden to drop it.
I nced at Hayden, but his expression stayed cool and professional, like he wasn’t even fazed. “If
they’ve admitted fault, they’ll cover the damages. I’ll handle the recements and send you the
invoice.”
Hayden wasn’t ying into Wayne’s attempt to smooth things over or let it slide.
Wayne, who was usually easygoing, looked a little irritated. “This is on me. I should’ve managed
things better. I’ll take responsibility.”
He was clearly using his position to try and get Hayden to back off.
But Hayden wasn’t having any of it. “Then the invoice is yours.”
Wayne’s face darkened, and I had to bite my lip to keep fromughing.
Hayden was totally going off–script. It was clear he wasn’t following the usual corporate ybook
either.
The two of them stood there, just a step apart, locked in this quiet standoff.
Even Derni felt the tension. She nudged me, nervously clutching my sleeve.
? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.
I stayed quiet. No matter whose side I took, someone was going to get hurt. Plus, I had a feeling
this whole showdown had something to do with me, so keeping my mouth shut seemed like the
safest bet. “What invoice?” Jace’s voice cut through the air as he stepped in.
What was a standoff between two just turned into a three–way standoff.
The tension spiked, and Demi squeezed my arm, whispering, “Keira…” her voice shaky.
Before she could say anything else, Jace zeroed in on her. “Ms. Young, why don’t you fill me in?”
Demi stiffened, clutching my arm like a lifeline. “Umm.”
“Just tell the truth,” I urged, giving her a gentle nudge.
She shot me a nervous nce but finally stepped forward, giving a shaky yet straightforward
rundown of what happened.
After she finished, Jace turned to Hayden. “You don’t need to deal with this anymore. I’ll take it up
your boss.”
with
Hayden didn’t back down, his tone firm. “Right now, I’m the one in charge. If I say there’s
compensation, then there’s gonna bepensation.”
Jace’s eyes narrowed, a mocking smile ying at his lips. “And if I say I’m in charge? Mr. Hart, are
you nning to walk away from this job, or just quit?”
It was a trap. Jace was cornering Hayden, using his pride against him.
Hayden, being the straight–up, no–BS type, wasn’t equipped for this kind of maniptive game–
especially not against Jace, who was way more calcting, or Wayne, who had the same ruthless
streak running through his veins.
Watching them gang up on Hayden like that, after all thete nights and hard work he’d put into this
project, made my stomach turn. It felt like Jace was just setting him up to fail. It wasn’t just unfair–it
was straight–up bullying.
I couldn’t stay quiet anymore. I stepped forward, ready to speak up.