Chapter 3

The next day, I went to the office.

Andrew was particular about every detail of his daily life.

And we had so little time alone.

I wanted an excuse to be closer to him.

So I applied to be his executive assistant.

Andrew looked down on me, but my coworkers treated me well.

I owed it to them to hand off my work properly instead of walking out.

The second I walked into the office, I saw her.

It was Elena, a face I knew all too well.

She was sitting in my chair like she owned it, flipping through a proposal I'd prepared.

"You must be Luna. My brother talks about you all the time.

"So nice to finally meet you."

Her smile was sweet, but the malice in her eyes gave her away.

Andrew glanced my way too, his tone as contemptuous as ever.

"Done with your tantrum?"

He gestured carelessly toward a corner of the open office.

"Elena's interning here.

"Given how poorly you've been performing lately, your desk is moving over there."

Elena put on her sweet, innocent act and gave me a helpless shrug.

"Sorry, Luna. I guess you'll have to put up with it."

She sounded apologetic, but she couldn't hide the amusement in her eyes.

The desk faced the restroom. No one had ever sat there, and the whole office used it as a place to dump junk.

Even though I'd convinced myself to let go, it still stung.

"Andrew, what gives you the right to move my desk whenever you feel like it?"

"I'm your boss."

He looked up, his expression icy.

"You were never qualified for this position in the first place.

"I made an exception when I promoted you to be my assistant.

"Luna, you're not some rich girl. You can't afford to be that precious."

Elena twisted the hem of her shirt, acting timid.

But the look she gave me was pure contempt.

When her gaze swept over my stomach, it lingered for a second.

Then Elena forced out a couple of tears.

"If Luna doesn't want to, I don't mind sitting there.

"I'm sure she's delicate too. She probably can't handle any discomfort."

Andrew gave her an indulgent look.

"Don't be silly. Your health isn't great, and you're sensitive to smells.

"Luna isn't like you. She came from nothing, after all. She can handle anything."

Andrew and I were both Ivy League graduates.

My GPA was every bit as high as his, and I'd won at least as many awards.

But because I'd always given in to him, he'd lost sight of that. At work and at home, he treated me like I was less than him.

"I quit."

When I said it, Andrew didn't even bother to look up.

"Luna, I already told you these little games are pointless."

He looked me up and down.

"If you quit this job, how are you going to pay off your student loans? How are you going to cover your living expenses?

"You're not some rich girl. You can't afford to throw fits like this.

"I can put up with it once, but you can't keep testing my patience forever."

To prove my father wrong, I'd made up a story about my background before I got close to Andrew.

A poor girl from a working-class family.

We had the same education and did the same work.

But in Andrew's eyes, I was beneath him.

My father was right. Andrew only cared about what people could do for him.