Chapter 4

"Ruby, I nearly died," I said, my tone low and flat, without any inflection.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, followed by Ruby's scoffing laugh.

"Enough already. Stop playing the victim. That trick gets old when you overuse it.

"There's a meeting at 2:00 pm. If you're not there, I'll deduct your year-end bonus."

I calmly hung up the phone. No anger, no making a scene. Then, I called the moving company and told them to be at the house at 2:00 pm on the dot.

…

I went back to the office, but it wasn't to help Emmett with his proposal. No, it was to wait for the real show to begin.

Today was the signing ceremony for a multinational project, one that was very important to the company.

When I walked into the conference room, Emmett was smugly presenting his so-called "accomplishments"—a data report that he had altered on his own. To show off his capabilities, he'd lowered several cost items, making the profit margins appear sky-high.

But that was illegal and would inevitably lead to a cash flow rupture down the line.

Martin Lidell, the representative from the investment side and a shrewd old fox, noticed this right away.

"Ms. Carrington, these numbers are off, aren't they? This looks like potential fraud," Martin said, slamming the folder down hard on the table.

Ruby froze. She hadn't even looked at the report because she trusted Emmett completely. She turned to him in a panic.

Meanwhile, Emmett had turned pale and was shooting a pleading look in my direction.

"It… It was Mr. Keaton who told me to make the changes!" Emmett said, suddenly pointing at me. "He said newbies need to make a splash and that numbers have to look impressive so investors will sign.

"Bruno, I didn't dare disobey you! How could you put the company at risk like this?"

Ruby, as if seizing a lifeline, whirled on me and roared, "Bruno Keaton! Why would you do this? Just because I've been a little indifferent to you lately, you decide to toy with the company's future? You're actually so jealous of an intern that you'd destroy my hard work?"

She called me a lunatic in front of all the executives and accused me of being twisted and malicious. She was trying to dump all the blame on me to protect Emmett.

I stared at the two of them, clearly colluding against me, and found the whole thing absurd.

"Ruby, every edit to this report is logged on the cloud server. It only takes one check to see exactly who did it," I calmly refuted.

However, that only enraged the already out-of-control Ruby even further. She grabbed the glass ashtray from the table, intending to smash it to vent, but she used too much force, and the ashtray arced through the air, flying straight toward my face.

I instinctively raised my hand to block it.

A loud crash sounded, and searing pain exploded across the back of my right hand.

The ashtray shattered. Razor-sharp glass shards embedded deep into my flesh. Blood gushed out instantly, soaking the white documents on the table.

I came from a design background—these hands were my life.

Ruby froze. A flash of panic crossed her eyes as she stared at my bloodied hand. But she quickly hardened her expression again and waved her hand irritably.

"It was just an accident. Who told you to block it? Stop acting so dramatic."

Emmett seized the chance to fan the flames. "Bruno, even though your hand is injured, you still have to compensate for the losses."

Ruby nodded. "I'll freeze your dividend shares to cover this hole. Also, I'm suing you for embezzlement. You can wait to receive a letter from my lawyer."

I stared at the gaping wound on the back of my hand, blood dripping onto the floor in bright, spreading blooms.

A burst of laughter escaped me.

With my left hand, I pulled a blue folder from my bag.

"Ruby, this contains evidence of your tax evasion over the past two years and the transaction records of you embezzling company funds to buy a house for Emmett.

"This hand—I'll consider it payment for the seven years we spent together.

"From this moment on, you're the one who owes me."