Chapter 001

***JUST A...FRIEND?***

Flora's POV 

“I’ll go with the red lingerie, the extra spicy one, please,” I whispered, smiling at the saleswoman. “My boyfriend just got signed to the Hershey Bears… and red is his favorite color.” 

The saleswoman took the hanger without looking at me, eyes already drifting to the next person in line. “Will that be all?”

“Yes…well.” I leaned in a little. “He’s been working so hard for this. I can’t wait to see the look in his eyes when he sees it on me.”

She scanned the barcode, still not meeting my eyes. “Cash or card?”

“Cash.” I said and counted a few bills, placing it carefully on the counter. I took the black bag and walked out of the store, still smiling to myself.

I’d come straight from home in my work clothes—blazer, skirt, the usual—and now I was cutting it close. 

I was about to open the rideshare app when my phone buzzed.

Congratulations! Your booking is confirmed.

Cedar Lake Getaway – check-in next week. 

A soft laugh slipped out of me. I’d booked the little vacation house the second Sean told me he’d be back in L.A. after the match. 

I could already feel his arms around me again.

By the time the car dropped me at the company building I was still smiling.

“Morning, Flora!” James from reception called out, waving a coffee cup like a flag. “You look like someone who just won the lottery.”

“Something like that,” I called back, already turning toward the elevators.

“Hey, Morgan!” It was Selene from accounting, falling into step beside me for a few paces. “Save me a seat at lunch if you’re free. I need someone normal to complain to about the new interns.”

“Deal,” I said, and we parted with a quick wave.

I pulled out my phone. The Hershey Bears had just posted new photos of the team in their smoking hot jerseys.

“Sean. Sean. Sean. Where are you?” I kept scrolling until I paused at a familiar face.

Tyler Sinclair. Captain of the Hershey Bears team.

Urgh! Too much hype for real.

I was tired of seeing his face everywhere.

SWIPE! 

I scrolled quickly and my eyes gleamed the moment it landed on Sean.

God, he looked delicious! 

The jersey clung in all the right places, that half-smirk I knew by heart. 

I could almost feel the weight of his hands on my waist, the low sound he made against my neck when he pulled me closer. One more week, just one more week and I’d be in those arms again.

The door flew open.

“Where have you been, Flora?” Lucille burst in, eyes wide. “The new interns have been waiting for your opening speech for ten minutes.” Her gaze dropped to the black shopping bag clutched against my side. She raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. 

“Anyway—just thought you should know. Your Sean is on a live interview in the lunch room right now.”

I bolted fast before my mind could even catch up.

The lunch room was already packed when we got there, the big screen mounted on the wall glowing with the broadcast. I felt the shift the moment I walked in—heads turning, a few nudges, the recognition that I had gotten used to now.

“That's Flora Morgan, Sean Ferrars' girlfriend.”

I stood a little straighter, my heart pounding in excitement.

Sean was relaxed in his chair, one ankle crossed over his knee like he was made for this, and there—there— spinning lazily between his fingers, was the key fob, with the BMW logo catching the studio light.

My chest tightened with pride.

I had drained a full year's advance from my paycheck for that car. 

The look on his face when I handed him the keys on his twenty-fifth birthday was worth every single grain of mushy rice.

"So how does it feel?" The interviewer leaned forward, her lips stretching into a flirtatious smile. "Being the name everyone's saying right now?"

Sean smiled, his tongue reaching out, moistening his lips in that sexy way that made my heart flutter.

"Well..." He tilted his head slightly to face the camera. "It kinda feels good."

I could feel Lucille's gaze on me as I grinned widely.

The interview continued—stats, plays, the season ahead—and I let myself bask in it, in the warm glow of watching someone I loved exist at his best.

"Word around the rink is that there's a special someone. Someone by the name of Flo—"

I smiled before she could finish and turned back. Everyone was staring at me, probably waiting to clap or something as I maintained my stretched smile.

"Oh—Flora." Sean cut in, and something in his tone made the smile freeze on my face. "She's just a friend."

The bag slipped from my fingers and the red lingerie spilled out to the ground.

The room went quiet, as I felt the weight of every eye stare at me, eagerly waiting for me to give them a reaction.

“It's a joke…it's a joke…Sean jokes a lot.” I chuckled, and everyone nodded, chattering lively again as their gaze shifted back to the screen.

“Damn…she's delusional as hell,” someone muttered from the back and a few people laughed.

I turned around and focused on the screen.

That was a Sean joke—deadpan delivery, waiting for everyone to laugh. I knew his jokes. 

"Just a friend?" The interviewer raised an eyebrow. "Her social media page tells a pretty different story."

"Yeah…She just enjoys being all over me and all that shit." Sean shrugged, like he was talking about a problem he wished could be solved. "She's not my girlfriend."

The room was so silent I could hear the fluorescent light buzzing above my head.

Lucille's hand found my wrist. “Sean…that dirt bag.” She scoffed.

I didn't move. My eyes were locked on the screen, my palms shaking as my brain struggled to process what was happening. 

"As a matter of fact," Sean continued, and he was smiling now—that smile, the one he reserved only for me. "My girlfriend is actually here today."

A woman stepped onto the podium, looking like she just stepped out of a magazine. She was extremely beautiful, more beautiful than I could ever be.

Sean stood, wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her closer and kissed her in front of the cameras, in front of the whole world.

I felt every single eye in that lunch room turn towards my face, laughter erupting in stages.

I bowed my head. 

Lucille's grip on my wrist tightened, my heart racing so fast I thought it was about to blow up.

“Miss Morgan to the boardroom. Miss Morgan to the boardroom, please.”

The intercom called out just as I bent down to pick up the lingerie, as if whoever was behind it had seen my despair and decided to do something about it.

                            *******

My palms were shaking by the time I reached the boardroom door. I pressed them flat against my thighs, my eyes burning with tears that I was forcing back in.

I pushed the door open.

There were four people in the room: Mrs. Calloway from HR, two men I recognized from Legal but didn’t know by name, and a fourth person—Mr. Dan, the CFO—staring intently at me with his legs crossed.

The television on the boardroom wall was still running. Sean's voice filled the room before I could fully register anything else.

"—we've actually been dating for three months now," Sean said, his gaze fixed on her like she was shooting stars out of her ass.

Mrs. Calloway reached forward and clicked the television off without looking at it, like she had been waiting for me to hear exactly that much before she did.

"Miss Morgan." She said calmly, leaning forward in her seat. "Please, sit down.”

She paused for a moment till I finally settled down. 

"We've identified a significant transfer of funds." She opened the folder in front of her. 

"From the company account directly into yours." One of the men from Legal added, his tone flat.

Sean. That bastard. No… he wouldn’t. He couldn’t—

"Miss Morgan."

"MISS MORGAN."

Mrs. Calloway's voice cracked through my mind, snapping me back to reality. I blinked and suddenly the room was very bright and she was staring at me, her face stripped of emotions.

"As I was saying." She turned the folder around and slid it across the desk towards me. "You have been embezzling company funds, Miss Morgan, along with a Mr. Cooper."

Embezzling.

My heart skipped a beat as the words landed like a grenade.

"I —" My voice came out low. "Wait—what?"

"THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS." Mr Dan held my gaze without blinking. "Transferred into your account, with your signature on the document showing approval."

Thirty thousand dollars. The exact amount I collected as advance to gift Sean a car.

"That's—no." I shook my head, the fog burning off fast now, replaced by panic."No, that's not—It's not—"

"MISS MORGAN—" Mr Dan shouted.

"I don't know what Mr. Cooper told you, but I have never touched company funds. I would never—" My voice cracked, and I hated it. I hated that my eyes were filling up right now in front of this woman.

"The documentation is in front of you." Mrs. Calloway's voice didn't waver, not even slightly. "Your signature, your account. The evidence is there."

"The evidence is not—"

Mrs. Calloway’s eyes dropped to the red lace in my hand, then to the blank screen where Sean’s face had been. 

"Miss Morgan." She leaned forward, her gaze piercing right into my soul. "I need you to understand the position you are in right now. This is not a conversation." She paused for a moment. "You have three months to return the full sum of thirty thousand dollars to this company." Her eyes didn't move from mine. "And effective immediately —"

She closed the folder. "— your appointment is terminated."

“What are you going to do now, Morgan?” Mr Dan—the man who had spent the last year asking me to fuck him—said, his mouth stretching into a sly smile.