Chapter 4

After they were finished with me, Julius and Kenzie left, hand in hand. The guards released me, and I slid down the wall to the floor. No one came to help me. They just averted their eyes and went back to their desks, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.

I sat there for a long moment, the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. Then I slowly, painfully, got to my feet. I went to the executive washroom and cleaned my face. The woman in the mirror was a stranger. Her face was swollen and bruised, her eyes were hollow, but behind the pain, there was something new. Something hard and unbreakable.

I was about to leave when Julius's assistant, a nervous young man named David, stopped me. "Mrs. Carroll... Mr. Carroll said... he said you're not to leave the building."

I turned.

He wouldn't meet my eyes. "He wants you in the secondary office. He has a project for you."

I was dragged into a small, windowless office in the back, more of a storage closet than a workspace. Julius was waiting for me. He tossed a thick binder on the desk.

"Kenzie is pitching for the new museum contract," he said without preamble. "She needs a proposal. A brilliant one. You'll write it for her."

He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low, intimate growl. "This is your apology, Florence. For everything. You will make her look like a star. You will prove your loyalty. Do you understand?"

I looked at the binder, then at him. The air in the tiny room felt thick, contaminated by his presence.

"And what if I don't?" I asked, my voice a hoarse whisper.

"Then I'll make sure you never see Ava again," he said simply.

I felt a surge of nausea. But I nodded. "Fine."

"I knew you'd see it my way," he said, patting my bruised cheek. The gesture was meant to be possessive, but it felt like a snake slithering over my skin.

I spent the next three days locked in that room. I worked tirelessly, fueled by coffee and rage. I didn't sleep. The proposal I created was a work of art. Innovative, bold, technically flawless. It was the best work I had ever done.

But as I worked, I did something else. I used the high-level access Julius had granted me to delve deep into the company's servers. I copied everything. Every contract, every client list, every financial statement, every proprietary design algorithm. I downloaded the entire digital soul of Carroll & Whitehead onto a tiny, encrypted hard drive.

This proposal wasn't an apology. It was a Trojan horse.

On the fourth day, as I was putting the finishing touches on the presentation, the door to my office flew open. Julius stormed in, flanked by security and a handful of senior partners. His face was livid.

"You," he snarled, pointing a shaking finger at me. "What did you do?"

"I did what you asked," I said, my heart starting to pound. This wasn't part of my plan.

"Liar!" he roared. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the office, into the main workspace where everyone could see.

"This woman," he announced to the silent, watching staff, "is a traitor. She tried to sell our company secrets to our biggest competitor, Sterling Corp."

He held up a sheaf of printed emails. They were fakes, obviously, but they looked convincing.

"Luckily," he said, puffing out his chest, "I caught her in time. I have saved this company from her treachery."

He was framing me. He was using me as a scapegoat for some other failure, probably one of Kenzie's.

"As of this moment, Florence Whitehead is fired!" he bellowed. "And to make sure she understands the price of betrayal..."

He nodded to the guards. "Teach her a lesson."

They threw me to the floor. This time, there were no slaps. They had batons.

"No!" I screamed, trying to scramble away. "Julius, it's not true! You know it's not true!"

He watched, his face a cold, impassive mask, as the guards began to beat me. The first blow landed across my back, stealing my breath. The pain was sharp and blinding. Another across my legs. I curled into a ball, trying to protect my head.

They beat me until my skin was broken and my clothes were torn. They beat me until the world dissolved into a red haze of agony.

Just before I lost consciousness, I looked up and met Julius's eyes.

"You will regret this," I managed to choke out. "I swear to God, you will regret this for the rest of your life."

He just sneered.

I woke up in the hospital again. The same private medical wing. My father was sitting by my bed, his face like a thundercloud. He didn't say anything. He just held my hand.

I could hear voices from the hallway. Julius and Kenzie.

"It's all taken care of, darling," Julius was saying, his voice smooth and reassuring. "The leak was contained. I dealt with the traitor. It had nothing to do with you."

"But the Sterling contract..." Kenzie whimpered.

"It wasn't your fault. You are brilliant. Florence was jealous, so she sabotaged you. She's always been a vindictive bitch. I'm just glad I finally see her for what she is."

"Oh, Julius," Kenzie sighed. "You're so strong. You're my hero."

I closed my eyes and let a bitter smile touch my lips. He was letting me take the fall for her. Again.

A few minutes later, Julius walked into my room alone. He stood over my bed, looking down at my battered body.

"I'm a reasonable man, Florence," he said, his tone magnanimous, as if he were bestowing a great gift. "I'm willing to be merciful. All you have to do is sign a confession. Admit that you tried to sell company secrets. And publicly apologize to Kenzie for the stress you've caused her."

I opened my eyes. I looked at him, at this monster who had been my husband.

My voice was a raw, broken rasp, but my words were clear. "No."

He frowned. "Don't be a fool."

"I will not clean up her messes," I whispered. "I will not take the blame for your mistakes. And I will never, ever apologize to that woman." I met his gaze. "You deal with your own whore."

His face turned to stone. The civility vanished, replaced by pure, cold fury.

"You'll regret this," he hissed.

"No, Julius," I said, a strange calm settling over me. "You will."

He stared at me for a long moment, then turned on his heel and stormed out.

I watched him go. I looked at my broken body. I thought of the company secrets on my hard drive. I thought of my father's empire.

He thought he had all the power. He thought he had left me with nothing.

He had no idea. He was about to lose far, far more than he could ever imagine.