Chapter 5

For the first time, Sabrina wondered if she had ever truly known the man standing before her.

Finn stepped closer, his voice softened.

“Can we please put this aside right now and focus on what actually matters? Clara needs urgent surgery. Who do you think is going to pay those bills, Sabrina? You think Mr. Smith is going to spend a single dollar on a girl who doesn't carry his last name? She's an Anderson. The second you're not a Smith, his wallet stays shut. Come with me to the registry and everything else gets handled the moment we sign our marriage certificate.”

She felt something twist violently inside her, "Are you trying to blackmail me right now? Or gaslight me? Because I genuinely can't tell anymore."

"I'm trying to make this easy for you." He reached for her hand and she pulled it back before he could touch her. "Your stepfather already erased your name from that company you work so hard to build. You think you have options right now? I'm the only option standing in front of you.”

Sabrina clenched her fist hard, fighting the urge to hit him as hard as she wanted. For four years, she had loved a stranger.

A manipulative man who saw her desperation as an opportunity.

A man willing to use her dying sister as a bargaining chip.

“I’ve never seen you this desperate, Finn. Tell me, if marriage was out of the picture, will you be loving enough to help with the bills? Or you're simply doing this because there's a benefit for you?” Sabrina asked sternly.

Finn was speechless and that gave Sabrina the answer she needed.

“You're nothing but a self-centred bum. So we are clear, I'd rather beg on the streets than become your wife."

She knew the moment she steps into that registry with him, he'd find out they were still married and that will be a nightmare for her.

Finn's expression darkened. "We will both benefit from this marriage. You can't survive without my help!"

"Watch me."

Without another glance, Sabrina turned and walked away.

Behind her, Finn's voice echoed through the corridor, his voice edged with something between desperation and threat. "You'll regret this if she dies. The registry's open whenever you decide to come to your senses."

As he watched her disappear, his phone rang.

His expression immediately darkened the moment Elvira’s name appeared on the screen.

The second he answered, his patience snapped. "Listen woman, you've jeopardized my plans with your desperation and stupidity.”

“Baby, did I do something wrong?” Elvira sounded confused.

Finn's jaw tightened, "First, get rid of whatever's growing in your stomach. I'm not responsible for it, and I never will be. Second, stay the hell away from me.” His voice came out cold and devoid of warmth, “If you come near me again, I'll have a restraining order or I'll make you disappear from this town. Try me.”

Sabrina was barely out of the hospital gate when her phone rang again. Her father's name lit up the screen.

She answered on the second ring. "Dad."

"Sabrina. Come to my office. Right now.” His voice was unusually serious.

"Dad, I need your help." Her voice cracked despite every effort to keep it together. He might just be her last option right now.

"I need yours too." His tone left no room for negotiation. "But I can't help you if you won't help me first."

The line went dead before she could respond.

Harold's office always felt colder than the rest of the building, like the air conditioning was set specifically to remind whoever stood across from his desk exactly how small they were. She felt as though she were standing in a stranger's territory instead of the company she had helped build.

"We have a slight problem." Harold didn't look up from the papers in front of him right away, which somehow made it worse. "As you know, Vector officially becomes VP today.”

The words still stung.

“He's supposed to lead the contract renewal presentation this afternoon as one of our most important partners is scheduled to renew a major contract today but had to leave unexpectedly. He's back in the building, but he's refusing to let Vector run the presentation. He's insisting on the previous VP." Harold finally looked at her. "You."

Sabrina let out a short, disbelieving laugh. The irony was almost amusing. "If Vector steals something that belongs to me, isn't it only fair that he's the one who has to own up to it?"

"That's the problem, Sabrina." Harold's voice stayed level, unbothered, "This man is one of our most important partners. If he doesn't get you, specifically, he's threatening to walk. Completely. No renewal, no contract, nothing. Smith Holdings loses him entirely."

Of course this was why she had suddenly become useful again. She felt something hot rise up her throat. "So that's all I am to you? A gum you chew up and spit out exactly when it benefits you? You strip my title, hand it to your son, and now you want to use me anyway because it's convenient?" Her eyes turned red, and she hated that it did. "Dad. How could you do this to me?"

He didn't flinch. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands like a man who only negotiated business.

"I have a deal for you. A good one, if you actually think about it." He slid a folder across the desk without breaking eye contact. "I'll settle Clara's hospital bills. All of it, the surgery, the recovery, everything. In exchange, you go unpaid for two and a half years. You'll still work here, officially as Vector's secretary, and that unpaid salary will be what I'll give you for your sister's treatment. That way, you stay close to the business. And you make sure Vector actually learns what he needs to know to run this place."

Sabrina's heart completely sank to the bottom, those words making her head spiral. She stared at him, waiting for the part where he admitted he was joking, then her vision slowly blurred.

"You want me to go from Vice President," she said slowly, her voice almost trembling like saying it out loud might make it less true, "to Vector's secretary. For two and a half years. Unpaid?"

From leading board meetings to taking instructions?

"I’m giving you a solution. I want you to help your sister." His tone didn't shift an inch. "Everything else is just paperwork."

He pushed the folder closer. "My signature's already there. Once the presentation is done and the contract is signed, you sign this, and Clara gets the surgery she needs before the estimated time."

Her hands were trembling as she opened the folder, scanning words that blurred together until one clause near the bottom slowed her down enough to actually read it. She went back over it twice, certain she'd misunderstood.

Employee agrees that any future reinstatement to an executive position within Smith Holdings or its affiliates is subject to unanimous board approval, requiring sign-off from all current acting officers, including but not limited to the Vice President.

The Vice President. Vector.

He wasn't just taking her title and her income. He was making sure that even if she clawed her way back from this, she'd need Vector's permission to ever rise again. He was building a cage and asking her to lock herself inside it.