Chapter 3

Victor got to his feet. "Get some rest. As soon as you're discharged, come straight to the office."

"Of course, Mr. Vaughn. Thanks for coming by. I won't get up to see you out," I said.

Once Victor and Bruce were gone, Tasha immediately leaned in to study my face.

"Lindsay, this looks awful! I was so worried about you that I barely slept last night!"

Her eyes welled up with tears, but the performance was so overdone that she looked like the lead in a bad soap opera.

A comment popped up.

"Give it a rest, Tasha. You stayed up all night counting your livestream tips."

I gave her a weak smile. "I'm fine. It's just an allergic reaction. Thanks for stepping in on such short notice last night."

Tasha sat down beside my bed. I caught the calculating flicker in her eyes before she asked, "Lindsay, did you ever drink that beauty tonic I gave you?

"I've been wondering whether there was something in it that triggered your allergy. I'd feel terrible if I caused this…"

This was a test.

She wanted to know whether I'd actually drunk whatever she'd put in that bottle.

"I took one sip and knew something wasn't right. Maybe one of the ingredients just didn't agree with me."

I sighed. "Forget it. I'm not blaming you. I've always been prone to allergies."

After a moment, I continued, "I checked the numbers from last night's stream. For someone who's still new, you did really well. I'll probably need you to keep covering for me for a while."

Satisfaction flashed through Tasha's eyes, though she quickly masked it with concern.

"Don't worry about anything, Lindsay. I've got things covered at work, so you just focus on getting better. I'll let you rest."

The moment she left, more comments appeared.

"Tasha walked out of the hospital practically humming. She's heading straight back to the office to get ready for another stream."

"Victor and Tasha are both being nice because they want something from her. At this point, they're convinced Lindsay won't be back on camera anytime soon."

"Victor's moving on to Plan B."

"If Lindsay can't stream, he'll just forge her electronic signature and sign that contract addendum himself."

Forge my electronic signature? How dare he!

I watched Tasha disappear down the doorway, my fingers slowly tightening around the blanket.

I was discharged three days later, and by then I'd made up my mind.

Those foxes had no shortage of dirty tricks. There was no way I could keep dodging them forever. Instead of waiting for their next move, I needed to make one of my own.

So, after leaving the hospital, I didn't return to the company right away. I went to have my contract formally notarized instead.

Before that, the comments had given me one crucial piece of information.

"There's an escape clause buried in Section 31 of Lindsay's original contract."

"If the company engages in illegal or criminal activity, the contract is automatically void, and Lindsay owes no termination penalty."

"Legal copied it from a standard template years ago and forgot to delete it. Victor doesn't even know it's there."

Section 31.

I'd gone home, pulled out the original contract, and read through it word for word until I found the clause. There it was in black and white, complete with the company's official seal.

I had a notarized copy made of the original contract and stored three encrypted digital copies in separate places.

Before heading back to work, I reapplied some makeup to my face so I would still look as though I hadn't fully recovered.

It was 3:00 pm when I reached the front desk.

The moment Gavin saw me, he stood and said, "Lindsay, Mr. Vaughn said to go straight to his office as soon as you got back."

I nodded and pushed open the door to Victor's office.

He was sitting behind his desk with a laptop open in front of him. Beside him was a man I'd never seen before, with a buzz cut, a scar across his neck, and a menacing air he made no effort to hide.

The comments immediately went wild.

"Holy shit! That's Larry Stevens, the loan sharks' enforcer!"

"He's here to give Victor his final ultimatum. If the money isn't laundered within three days, Victor's dead meat."

"Larry just told Victor that if his star streamer keeps refusing to cooperate, Victor should give him her home address and he'll go get her himself."

I stopped in the doorway as cold sweat broke out across my back.

Victor stiffened when he saw me, but a smile quickly appeared on his face.

"Lindsay, you're back. Are you feeling better? This is a friend of mine. We're discussing a business deal."

Larry looked me up and down as though he were sizing up something he might buy.

"So, this is your star streamer?" he drawled. "Pretty little thing."

My stomach turned, but I kept my mouth shut.

Victor immediately stood, clearly eager to get me out of there. "Go back to your desk for now. I'll come find you later."

I turned and left.

As the office door closed behind me, my hands started to shake, but I forced myself to calm down.