Chapter 14

The next morning came by faster than Hailey could have imagined; she worked and barely slept. Each time she does, she sees herself going back to the time she was murdered. 

When she eventually woke up, she was drenched in sweat and was breathing heavily.

Reluctantly, she dragged herself out of bed, got ready for work, and tried her best to shake everything off. 

~~~~

By midday, the chatter from the office was starting to die down as everyone was preparing to go out for lunch. 

Iris had been giving Hailey some weird looks all morning but had never gone to approach her, not even when the situation pushed her to. 

Carter walked past Iris’s desk; they both exchanged subtle greetings before he finally stopped at Hailey's desk.

“Hey babe,” Carter greeted as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. Hailey only responded with a smile as she turned to face him properly.

Iris's head snapped up a little; her eyes were fixed on her system, but her ears were listening closely to what Carter was going to say next.

“Are you going to the cafeteria for lunch?” Hailey asked with a smile, tucking a strand of hair that was threatening to fall as she casually adjusted her eyeglasses.

“I want to treat you to something special; it's a surprise,” Carter answered as he leaned down and whispered something in Hailey's ear, but she only smiled in response.

The other colleagues that were present were giving them both knowing glances.

“Iris, do you mind coming along?” Hailey asked out of the blue. Iris felt startled for a second; even Carter looked surprised. For days now they've both been acting weird; it was only right he was surprised.

“Is that actually okay…. I thought you were mad at me.” Iris blinked as she stuttered.

Hailey walked up to her, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said, “I'm sorry for my behavior these past few days. Can we go back to how we were before?” She asked softly.

Iris parted her lips, but nothing came out; she was shocked. They've both been friends since childhood, and she had never seen Hailey behave the way she had these past few days.

“I can never be mad at you, Hailey; you know I love you,” Iris smiled, “and yes, I'd love to get lunch with you,” she added.

Hailey nodded as she turned towards Carter, he had a relieved look on his face. Things had been so awkward, and he was glad everything had gone back to the way it was.

~~~~

At the restaurant just a few blocks away from the office, Hailey sat beside Carter while Iris was seated in front of them. 

After a few minutes of arriving, Hailey had quietly waited for Carter to order the dishes while Iris tried to involve her in things that had been going on in her life. 

“You won't believe how it ended; it was so awful I felt highly sorry for the young man,” Iris said with a dramatic eye roll, and Carter chuckled.

When the food finally arrived, Hailey stared at the table before her; these were all Iris’s favorite dishes and not even a single one of hers—so much for surprises.

She picked up her phone; as she stared at it, an idea suddenly struck her, and she gasped loudly. “Oh my goodness, I forgot to submit a report to Mr. Hart,” she said as she picked up her bag and her phone without even waiting for their response.

“You guys should finish up without me,” she said hurriedly as she hung her bag.

“Do you—” Iris tried asking, but Hailey was already making her way to the exit.

“I guess it’s just you and me,” Carter said softly as he turned to face Iris. She bit on her lower lip shyly; her face was already turning pink. Carter laughed at her reaction.

Outside the glass door of the restaurant, Hailey had turned back to look through it. Carter and Iris were getting along quite well; a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She had a feeling this would be going her way.

She started walking back to the office on foot since it was just a few miles away when she stopped at the front of a shopping mall; the scarf on the mannequin looked so pretty she didn't know when she walked into the mall.

“Welcome, ma.” A lady approached her the moment she stepped in. “Is there anything I can get you?” she added, pointing towards the inside of the mall, but Hailey's eyes didn't leave the mannequin.

“How much is that?” she asked, pointing at the scarf.

“It's one thousand dollars, ma’am,” the lady responded.

Hailey flinches at the amount of the scarf; that was her grocery shopping for a month. Hailey smiled instead, trying to mask the disappointment she was feeling.

“I think I'll come back another time,” she said with a forced smile, and the lady nodded.

Hailey turned to leave when she bumped into a lady, she instantly recognized the scent of the perfume and lifted her head in surprise.

“Oh my God, Hailey!” Mira squeaked in excitement as she pulled her into a hug. Beside Mira was Ryan.

At this point, Hailey believed they were in a relationship, she bowed slightly to Ryan, and he responded with a hum before he left the two ladies alone, going inside the mall.

“Did you also come out to shop too, “Mira?” asked Hailey, and Hailey nodded.

“Oh no, not really. I admired the scarf from the outside and had come in to see how much it's worth,” Hailey said.

“Oh,” Mira mouthed, “why aren’t you buying it then? You have very nice eyes for stuff.” She turned to the direction the mannequin was. 

“Uh. It was a bit out of my budget.” Hailey laughed awkwardly, and Mira nodded. 

“Do you mind joining us shopping?” Mira asked with a pout, “I actually dragged him from the office,” she added in a whisper only for Hailey to hear. 

Hailey couldn't help it, Mira’s energy was contagious, and she even found herself smiling too. 

“Pleaseeeee.” Iris blinked with a pout.

“I'm sorry,” Hailey only said with a smile, and Mira's face dropped briefly before her smile returned.

“Just so you know, you are in debt,” Mira said with a playful frown before waving Hailey goodbye.

Hailey smiled; as she reached towards the mall's exit, she turned back to look at the two of them. The way Ryan was smiling and the way Mira was placing some girls' dresses on Ryan—it was too obvious.

Trevor’s attention was entirely on Mira with every movement, every expression, and even the tiniest reaction. It didn’t feel forced or pretended. It felt natural instead.

Hailey exhaled softly. “Yeah… they’re definitely together,” she murmured to herself.

Shaking off the thought, she was about to turn to leave when Ryan's eyes locked with hers; feeling a bit startled, she hurriedly left the mall.

Hailey stepped into the office, only to walk into a storm she didn’t see coming.

Mr. Hart was standing in the middle of the open workspace, waving Hailey's file in his hand, his voice loud enough to shake the building.

“Who submitted this?” He barked like he didn't know already. “Who wrote this absolute mess?” 

Everyone froze, the office went completely still. All eyes turned to Hailey instantly, as if the universe couldn’t wait to humiliate her.

Hart turned slowly, and his eyes locked on hers, and he smiled a condescending smile.

“There she is,” he said, raising the report as if it were a piece of trash. “Our star employee.”

Her cheek turned red.

“Sir…”

“Is this supposed to be a report? “Because it looks like a child scribbled random numbers on a piece of paper,” he interrupted.

Hailey clenched her fists. She had worked on that report until two in the morning when she couldn't sleep. She double-checked every number multiple times.

And one thing was certain, she knew Mr. Hart hadn’t even opened it. He thrived on humiliation. Especially hers.

“Sir,” Hailey said carefully, maintaining her composure, “you haven’t gone through it yet. If you just…”

“Oh? ” He chuckled mockingly. “Are you saying I am wrong? ”

Someone gasped at the question, they all knew how selfish, incompetent, and inconsiderate he was, but no one had tried fighting against him.

“No,” Hailey said, trying to breathe steadily. “I’m saying we can review it together. If there’s a mistake, I’ll fix it.”

Hart stepped closer, invading her personal space. “You think I have time to babysit your incompetence? ”

That was the final straw, if there was anybody who was incompetent, then it was Mr. Hart, not her. Hailey bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted metal.

This was the thing she had always tolerated, both now and in the future, all because she got married to her nightmare, Carter, and he had quit working.

But today… after the sleepless night… after Carter… after the way she had been killed due to how soft she had been… something inside her cracked.

“With all due respect, sir,” Hailey said, her voice steady, “you can’t call the report ‘trash’ when you haven’t even read it.”

The entire office gasped. Mr. Hart’s face darkened instantly.

“What did you just say to me? ”

“You heard me,” Hailey replied calmly. “Discipline is one thing. But humiliating your employees for sport is another. If there’s a mistake, tell me. Professionally. Don’t shout across the office just because you can.”

Hart’s jaw clenched so tightly the veins on his forehead pulsed. He stepped forward, but Hailey didn't even flinch or move. She stood eye-to-eye with him as if daring him to do his worst.

Mr. Hart opened his mouth, but nothing came out; all eyes were on him, and there was no way he could justify himself since he never really went through the files.

“I’ll wait for your review, Mr. Hart,” she said deliberately, and with that, she turned and walked back to her desk, her eyes fixed on her system like she hadn't just left everyone speechless.