His Regret Missed the Deadline

Like always, whenever Derrick Gladwin and Jenny Dlay were together, they went from grown adults to a couple of eight-year-olds.

Jenny and Celine had grown up together. Jenny was gorgeous, outgoing, and way easier to like.

Even someone as cold, distant as Derrick had warmed up to her after only three meetings.

He'd even bent the rules and hired Jenny as his personal assistant at the law firm, despite her only having a high school diploma.

Sometimes Celine wondered if Derrick would've married her if he'd met Jenny first.

One night, she finally asked.

Derrick paused, then pulled her trembling body closer. "She's your friend. That's the only reason I put up with her."

His eyes stayed on Celine. "No one can replace you. You're one of a kind."

Her heart had gone crazy.

After that, she forced herself to accept how close they were.

But now, their teasing sounded almost like flirting, and the tension between them kept building.

Celine alone stood frozen, shaking with humiliation.

She finally snapped and swung at Jenny. "Jenny! Are you freaking insane? Why were you hiding in my closet?!"

Derrick caught her wrist.

He chuckled. "Still got that much energy? Guess I didn't wear you out enough."

He gave a helpless sigh. "JenJen's just a little freak. She got curious.

"She wouldn't stop bugging me, so I let her watch for a minute. I knew you'd freak out, so I didn't tell you."

Celine's heart clenched.

"You let her?" Her voice came out hoarse. "Derrick, that was private. That was ours... How could you—"

"What's the big deal? Why are you being so uptight?" Jenny casually threw an arm around Celine's shoulders. "Cece, are you seriously mad?

"I only took a pic of your face. Nothing else showed."

Celine's eyes went red. She lunged for the phone. "You took pictures too?!"

Jenny ducked behind Derrick, laughing as she held the phone out of reach. "Your face was way too funny! I couldn't help it, so I sent it to everyone!"

Derrick lowered his gaze and stepped in front of Jenny.

Celine kept reaching for the phone, her knees slamming into the floor again and again.

But the glowing screen stayed out of reach behind Derrick's broad chest.

Her chest hurt so badly that tears burned her eyes.

Finally, Jenny ran out of breath from laughing and slumped against Derrick's back, breathless. "Okay, okay, I'm done..."

Derrick easily caught Celine's wrist when she reached again. "Enough. Don't be so petty."

Ignoring the sharp pain in her wrist, Celine yanked the phone away.

A group chat she'd never seen before popped up.

Owner: Derrick.

Admin: Jenny.

Everyone from the law firm was in it—even the janitors.

Everyone except her.

The hundred-person chat was flooded with her picture.

[Holy crap! Celine Clarkson acts like such an ice queen, but she's this wild in private?]

[I went through a whole box of tissues. That's insanely hot!]

Celine's fingers shook as she scrolled up.

Jenny showed off in the group chat every day.

She posted pics of the diamond necklace Derrick had put on her himself and bragged about the huge case he'd turned down just to go to a concert with her.

Everyone joked that Jenny was [the boss's girlfriend.]

Derrick had even replied:

[Only call her that in private. Don't let Celine find out. She takes everything personally. She'll cause a scene.]

Every word stung.

When tears slid down Celine's cheeks, Derrick frowned and wiped them away. "You know you're way too sensitive. We kept it from you just fine, but you had to snoop.

"Now you can't handle what you saw. So who are you putting on this whole show for?"

Jenny came over and clung to Celine's other arm. "Cece, don't cry. Ricky and I are just messing around.

"You and me? Best friends forever."

They each held one of her hands like they'd done it a thousand times.

Celine only felt cold.

With those two, she'd always be the third wheel.

"Let's get divorced. Then you two can do whatever you want. I'm done being part of this."