I Don’t Need Your Hollow Love

My mind was made up. I was about to leave when I heard my mother Diane's voice.

"Olivia, don't go thinking we're setting Jenny up. I'm her mother; I would never hurt her. It's just that you're far more capable than she is. She doesn't deserve a position that high."

At her words, a stab of pain went through my chest.

I had already known, but hearing it from my own mother's mouth was still impossible to swallow.

Through the glass I could see Diane eagerly brewing coffee, carrying over plate after plate of desserts.

"Olivia, these are the finest coffee beans Jamaica has to offer. I remember they're your favorite. And black truffle chocolate to go with them."

The words sounded utterly foreign to me, because she had never once said them to me.

She never even asked whether I'd had dinner, yet she remembered someone else's tastes down to the last detail.

My beloved younger brother, Adam Carter, was giving Allen a thumbs-up.

"Now that's a man fit to lead the pack. Allen, the way you treat Olivia moves even me. You're what a good man should be!"

Allen's scheme had destroyed my career and gotten me banished from the pack.

And now my own family stood on the other side.

I followed Allen's tender gaze, trying to understand what was so special about Olivia that everyone around me was willing to hurt me for her.

But when I saw the long-haired woman seated in the middle of the sofa, it felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in my head.

It was her: Olivia Hale, the woman who had joined the company the same time I had.

We worked in different departments, but our paths still crossed.

Last month she'd rallied the whole company to freeze me out, costing me my shot at Employee of the Year. The title went to her instead.

But there was no one I could tell. Five years of hard work at that company had all gone to waste.

The injustice of it choked me. In an argument with her, I lost control; my claws scratched her arm, and for that they docked my bonus and my entire month's pay.

My coworkers all kept their distance after that. When I told Diane, she raged at the unfairness of it on my behalf.

Now she was brewing this woman's coffee herself.

Adam had nearly stormed the company to settle the score for me.

Yet here he was singing Olivia's praises, practically groveling.

And my mate Allen pulled Olivia into his arms in front of everyone and said gently, "This is no less than you deserve. Don't feel bad about any of it."

Pain slammed into my chest like a sledgehammer, and every ounce of strength drained out of me.

For a moment my vision actually went dark, and I nearly fainted.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a message. It was from Allen's rival company.

"Ms. Carter, after deliberation, the board has decided to appoint you vice president of AM Corporation."

"As requested, your flight is booked for tomorrow. Please report on time for your first day."

Reading the message, I found the whole thing absurd.

After losing Employee of the Year, I had been so angry that I accepted the headhunter's invitation.

Afterward I half regretted it, afraid Allen would be furious if he found out.

I never imagined he had been planning to drive me out all along, even at the cost of destroying my name.

I couldn't stand to watch them laughing together in that living room for another second. I turned to leave, but the mansion's front door swung open from the inside.

"Jenny, you're here too? I'm so happy you came to celebrate my promotion!"