Chapter 4

The people gathered by the entrance turned around all at once, their eyes falling on me.

Every single one of them froze.

Julian turned at the sound of my voice, the smirk on his lips extinguished.

“What are you doing here?”

He strode toward me with rapid, aggressive steps, his face dampening into a harsh glare.

“Emma, how could you come to the office without filing a prior report? What’s this nonsense?

“I’ve been far too lenient with you, a mistake on my part. You can forget your quarterly performance bonus.”

I didn’t offer a word in response. I simply handed him a stack of attendance sheets.

The divorce agreement was slipped right in between them.

Without so much as glancing at the pages, he scribbled his signature across them in a matter of seconds.

Only after I retrieved the document did I look at him with unbothered composure.

“Go ahead. Dock it.”

Under my unnervingly calm gaze, Julian felt a sudden tremor of unease, which instantly flared into indignant anger.

“It was nothing more than a joke between friends! Can’t you show a little bit of grace?

“Besides, you heard them—this kinda thing is standard practice in our circle.”

Before I could open my mouth, Hannah clutched at my sleeve, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“It’s all my fault, please don’t blame it on Mr. Ferguson. I was the one who jumped on him.”

I knitted my brows.

Why was the woman breaking into tears when I hadn’t said a single word to her?

“I just came to—”

Hannah dropped to her knees on the marble floor, letting out a dramatic sob:

“Please forgive him! I’m not after anything. I just wanna stay by his side. Please don’t fire me!”

The surrounding onlookers were filled with pity for her and utter disgust toward me.

I instinctively tried to yank my arm out of her grip.

Yet before I could exert any force, Hannah suddenly let out a sharp scream, rolling wildly down the steps and striking her head hard against the solid tile below.

Drops of dark blood dripped from her temple, running down toward her eye.

“Ah! My head!”

Curling into a ball while clutching her forehead, she gasped in agony:

“Julian… my face is ruined…”

Before I could process what had just happened, Julian shoved me aside with brutal force, roaring in my face:

“Emma, have you lost your mind?

“She was apologizing. Why would you do that?”

I stared at him in utter disbelief.

“Have you gone blind, or deaf?

“I hadn’t said or done a thing! It was the two of you who were screaming at me all along.”

Fury burst across Julian’s face.

“You crossed the line today. Your salary for the entire second half of the year is revoked.

“And I won’t be coming home. Spend time alone to do some self-reflection.”

With that, he scooped up Hannah from the floor and rushed her into his car.

The engine roared as the car sped off, disappearing in an instant.

I was left standing alone on the empty pavement.

The scrapes on my palms stung. The pain radiated along my nerves through my entire body, sending me trembling.

I let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.

Just now was the man I had insisted on marrying, disobeying my grandfather in doing so, and whose bizarre style of life I had given in to.

Well, it was for the best. Our unequal dynamic should have ended long ago.

I walked into the coffee shop right next door.

Daniel was already waiting there. The very first thing he noticed was the bleeding scrape on my hand.

His brows knitted at once as he called the server over to fetch some adhesive bandages.

Watching the man bending over to tend to my wound, I couldn’t help but let out a self-mocking scoff.

Grandpa, my judgment had never come close to matching yours.

As per corporate regulations, the man I married too had a three-year probation period in my heart.

Now, his performance had fallen tragically short of the standard.

It was only natural to end this chapter and move on to the next.

In truth, Julian had known in his heart of heart, that Hannah had staged the fall.

But I couldn’t be allowed to challenge his boundaries time and time again.

Rules once established could never be broken.

At the thought of this, he pressed his lips into a tight line and sent me a text:

“Have you realized your mistake?”

No reply came.

Three hours passed, and still there was no reply.

A sudden wave of panic washed over Julian as he sensed something was slipping away, out of his control.

Just then, a news headline suddenly flashed across his phone screen:

“Heir and Heiress Daniel Sinclair and Emma Miller to Betroth on March 18.”