Chapter 3

Just as I was about to speak, Krystal sashayed into Caleb' s office, a file in her hand. She didn' t even glance at me.

"Caleb, darling," she purred, placing a hand on his arm. "I' ve finalized the new performance improvement plan policy. It' s important we have a clear, zero-tolerance approach to underperformance, especially now."

Her eyes flickered to me, a glint of triumph in them. "Wouldn' t want anyone holding the team back."

She smiled sweetly, a saccharine, poisonous expression. "Brooke, I' m sure you understand. It' s for the good of the company. We just can' t have people taking unscheduled time off, claiming they 'fainted.' It sets a bad precedent."

"A precedent?" I repeated, my voice dangerously low. "I fainted because I' m carrying your boss' s child, a fact I was trying to keep private. A fact that is now protected under labor laws you clearly know nothing about."

"According to company records, you missed a critical pre-meeting this morning without notification," Krystal said, her tone shifting to one of cold formality. "That' s a clear violation. Caleb and I had to make a disciplinary decision."

"You' re disciplining me for a medical emergency?" I laughed, a harsh, broken sound. "For fainting from morning sickness? My God, the audacity."

I looked straight at Caleb, ignoring her. "You can' t be serious. Tell me you are not letting this... intern... talk to me this way."

"I' m the founder of this company!" I said, my voice rising. "My name is on the original incorporation papers. I wrote the core algorithm that Apex is investing fifty million dollars in. This 'new policy' is not only ridiculous, it' s illegal."

Krystal' s face crumpled. She turned to Caleb, her lower lip trembling. "Caleb... she' s yelling at me. I was just trying to do my job."

Caleb' s face hardened. He stepped in front of Krystal, shielding her as if I were some kind of monster.

"Enough, Brooke," he snapped.

He looked me right in the eye, his own cold and empty. "This was my decision. Krystal is right. We need to be a well-oiled machine, and frankly, you haven' t been pulling your weight for weeks."

My jaw dropped. "Not pulling my weight? I' ve been working twenty-hour days, I single-handedly secured the final pitch with Apex while you were out 'networking' with her!"

"Your performance has been slipping," he said, his voice like ice. "The team has been covering for you. You' re emotional, you' re distracted. This morning was the last straw."

He took a breath, puffing out his chest. "We' re putting you on a mandatory leave of absence. For your own good. We' ll handle the Apex signing."

He wanted me to apologize. He actually stood there, after ripping my life' s work away from me, and expected me to beg.

My gaze drifted from his face, a face I had loved for a decade, to the corner of his desk. And that' s when I saw it. Tucked behind his monitor, almost out of sight, was a tube of expensive, bright red lipstick.

I recognized it immediately. It was the same shade Krystal was wearing right now. The same shade I had seen smeared on Caleb' s shirt collar last week, which he had blamed on a clumsy hug from a client.

The pieces of the puzzle, the ones I had been willfully ignoring for months, slammed into place with nauseating clarity. The late nights, the 'business dinners,' his sudden obsession with his phone.

It was all a lie. All of it.

A bitter, hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest. The absurdity of it all was suffocating. Ten years of love and labor, erased for a cheap affair and a tube of lipstick.

There was nothing left to say. The man I knew was gone, replaced by this hollow-eyed stranger.

I straightened my shoulders, the shock crystallizing into a cold, hard resolve.

"You' re right, Caleb," I said, my voice calm and clear. "I am leaving."

I looked from his stunned face to Krystal' s smug one.

"But you' re mistaken about one thing. This isn' t a leave of absence. This is a buyout. You will pay me my full share of the company, valued at the post-Apex funding price."

I took a step closer, my voice dropping to a whisper he couldn' t ignore. "You have twenty-four hours to wire the money, or my lawyer will be in touch. And by the way, the intellectual property for the core algorithm? It' s patented. In my name. Only."

I watched the color drain from his face. Krystal' s smug smile faltered.

"Have fun closing that deal without the product," I said, turning my back on them.

I walked out of his office, out of the executive wing, and didn' t look back.

The first thing I did when I got outside was pull out my phone. My fingers flew across the screen, dialing a number I never thought I would call.