Chapter 2

Then, ignoring my struggles, she pulled me straight into the living room. The moment everyone saw me, the smiles vanished from their faces.

She handed me a slice of cake, still smiling away.

"I thought you were still holding a grudge after you lost Employee of the Year and hit me. Looks like I was overthinking it."

"Since you're here, that means you've forgiven me. How about dinner tonight to celebrate properly?"

If I hadn't known she was the one who'd quietly turned the entire staff against me, that fake smile might actually have fooled me.

But before I could say a word, a cup of scalding coffee was flung in my face.

"Jenny! You are completely out of control. Now you have the nerve to hit people?!"

Diane was the one who had thrown it.

"When the debt collectors showed up at my door and I asked you for money, you refused. Olivia drove them off and even gave me money. Did you know that? And now you repay her by attacking the woman who saved me!" Her mouth opened and closed, spilling accusation after accusation, but my mind had gone blank. I could not connect this person with my mother.

Then Adam turned a look of pure hatred on me. "Jenny, this is on you. Coworkers are supposed to get along. How could you hit her? When I came to see you at the restaurant where you worked, a bunch of thugs cornered me, and Olivia was the one who called the police. Today is Olivia's promotion celebration. Fine, don't congratulate her, but did you have to come make trouble? Your coworkers don't shun you for nothing. There really is something wrong with you."

I clenched my fists, nails digging deep into my palms.

The hurts I had once poured out to him had, of all things, become the blade she drove into my heart.

"Adam! I'm your sister. Is that any way to talk to me?"

Allen shot me a cold glare.

"Jenny, you took kickbacks from clients, falsified invoices, and carried on with male clients. Of course you lost Employee of the Year."

"I can't keep a mate with no morals, and the company can't make someone like you vice president. What right do you have to feel wronged?"

"If she misses this promotion, Olivia will be crushed. She could fall into depression. Would it kill you to show a little empathy?"

They demanded empathy from me without once considering what I was going through.

I gave that company five years. I worked until midnight every day and spent my weekends entertaining clients.

It left me with a stomach condition, chronic dry eye, and neck problems that caused frequent dizzy spells.

As for the good deeds my mother and brother kept crediting to Olivia, I was the one who had done them.

When the thugs cornered Adam, I couldn't leave my post at the restaurant, so I quietly called the police.

Olivia just happened to be passing by, and he simply assumed she was the one who'd helped.

As for Diane, she had never been able to quit gambling, and I'd hardened my heart to stay out of it.

But when I saw her too terrified of the debt collectors to go home, I caved after all.

I didn't want her thinking the money came easily, so I asked Olivia to pass it along for me. I never dreamed she would claim it as her own.

I did all of it, and I was still the one standing here accused.

Rage burned through my chest. I smashed the coffee cup and swept everything off the table onto the floor.

"Enough!" I roared. Then I told them the whole truth, wanting them to see Olivia for who she really was.

But when I finished, everyone stared at me with cold, appraising doubt.

No one believed a word.

"Jenny." Allen pulled Olivia behind him, as if afraid I might hurt her.

"I never knew you were this kind of person. You hit Olivia because you wanted to take Employee of the Year from her, and now you're smearing her and taking credit for everything she did. You have no idea how disappointed I am."

"You'd better remember your place. You are a werewolf without a wolf. I don't hold that against you, and you should be grateful instead of getting ideas above your station."

"The board has already finalized Olivia's promotion. It cannot be changed. Stop taking your anger out on her."

Every sentence out of Allen's mouth drove the pain in deeper.

I had done nothing, yet for another woman he pinned every crime on me, as if determined I would never get back up.

He seemed to have forgotten how, in my first year at the company, when I worked past midnight, he'd felt so sorry that I had missed dinner that he brought me all kinds of food and fed me bite by bite.

He had promised that the first chance at a raise or promotion would be mine, so I wouldn't have to work so hard anymore.

I pulled myself out of the memory and looked Allen in the eye. "Then tell me, why were you holding her? Allen, you are my mate. We were bound as mates before the Moon Goddess. Have you forgotten? While you're accusing me, can you swear your own hands are clean?"

The last words tore out of me in a shout, my voice hoarse and ugly; even I found it pathetic. "So now everything is my fault, and she's blameless? She knew you were my mate and still kept crossing lines with you. Doesn't that make her shameless too? Does someone like that deserve a promotion? Does she deserve to walk away with everything that was rightfully mine?"

A sharp crack rang out, and my face snapped to the side. The rest of my words died in my throat.

Again, it was my mother.

"Jenny! Stop assuming everyone is as rotten as you are. We may not have much status, but at least we have dignity. We don't do wrong, refuse to admit it, and blame everyone else the way you do! Allen is the Alpha of this pack. How could he ever do anything as sordid as what you're suggesting? It was one hug. What's the big deal?"