Chapter 3

Sebastian's expression hardened when he saw my employee badge.

"Cindy, what do you mean, 'she can have it'? That proposal was Laura's from the start. You're just giving her back what's hers!"

That was when I remembered.

When I first showed Sebastian the initial draft, he thought it was great and wanted Laura to take over right away. But Laura didn't want to put in the work, so she made excuses and turned it down.

Then, once I'd done everything, Sebastian replaced me and handed all my hard work over to Laura.

They wanted none of the work and all of the payoff. How convenient.

I scoffed. "Well, by that logic, I guess the head designer position belongs to Laura too. She's so talented, after all, and she graduated from a prestigious design school overseas. I should probably give that back to its rightful owner too."

With that, I placed my employee badge in Laura's hand.

A smug smile tugged at Laura's lips as she lowered her voice. "Cindy, I won. Your boyfriend, your proposal, and now even your job are mine."

The next second, she deliberately dropped my employee badge on the floor. Then she looked up at me with watery eyes, as if I'd frightened her.

Sebastian's expression darkened even further, and his voice turned icy. "If you don't want to give it to her, then don't. What's with the attitude?"

Before he could lose his temper, Laura quickly stepped in to play the peacemaker.

"Sebastian, don't be so hard on Cindy because of me. She has every right to be upset. I did take her proposal and steal her spotlight. It's just an employee badge. I can pick it up myself."

Laura started toward the badge in her sky-high heels. She had barely taken a few steps when she deliberately rolled her ankle and fell backward.

Just as she was about to fall, Sebastian shoved me aside and caught her in his arms.

His eyes softened as he looked down at her. "Laura, are you okay?"

Then he turned to me and said coldly, "Cindy, you pick it up. Laura's wearing heels, so it's hard for her to bend down."

I was wearing heels too. Worse, I'd fallen while rushing to the business dinner earlier. My knees were covered in bruises and scrapes, and they were still bleeding.

Anyone could see that I was hurt. Sebastian knew it too, yet he still expected me to pick up the badge for Laura. His gaze paused on my knees for a moment, but he said nothing.

He hadn't always been like this. Once, I'd gotten a tiny cut on my finger, and Sebastian had been beside himself with worry.

He insisted on taking me to the hospital to get it bandaged, then made me stay home and rest. He even cooked for me and fed me himself because he was afraid I might hurt my finger again.

But now he expected me to bend down and pick up a badge for Laura while I was injured?

I let out a humorless laugh. "I'm hurt. I can't pick it up."

Sebastian looked taken aback.

I used to go along with whatever he wanted because I loved him. But now that my feelings for him were gone, he was nothing but trash to me. I had no reason to keep putting up with him.

Neither of us backed down. In the end, Sebastian gave in, picked up the employee badge, and handed it to Laura.

Then he turned to me, his face dark. "I've let you get away with too much. That's why you think you can do whatever you want!"

A flicker of delight crossed Laura's eyes when she got the badge, but she still pretended to hesitate. "Cindy, are you mad? Maybe I should give you the head designer position back."

She said she would, but she made no move to return it. Instead, she just looked at me with tears in her eyes, clearly unwilling to give it up.

I smiled at her. "Why would I be mad? You graduated from a prestigious design school. Of course you deserve the best. Honestly, being head designer is beneath you."

Sebastian said, "Laura, you deserve the position. Besides, Cindy gave it up willingly. No one forced her."

Only then did Laura finally accept the position.