Chapter 3

At nine the next morning, I headed for the elevator with my personal files and the handoff paperwork in a folder.

As I passed the lounge, Faye's newly promoted assistant, Brianna, came toward me with two other people.

"Look, it's Cora, the chief expert who's never lost a case.

"I heard you were trying to use this to force Jared to marry you. Instead, the four of them are staying in Nova City with Faye, and you're the only one getting exiled to a war zone."

"Exiled? Please. She lost a power struggle and took herself out of the game."

The other two chimed in.

Brianna lifted her chin, her eyes landing on the folder in my hand.

"You look awfully nervous. You didn't make secret copies of a bunch of company data, did you?"

She reached out to grab it.

I pressed my hand against hers, stopping her, and held her gaze.

"Let go."

"Why are you being so aggressive?" She raised her voice on purpose, and other employees turned to look. "Faye was right. You think you're irreplaceable just because you've known the four founders longer."

The people next to her jumped right in.

"Too bad they're protecting Faye now."

"Somebody signed her life away and nobody even came to see her off. That's hilarious."

I looked up toward the other end of the hallway.

Jared and the others had just come out of the conference room. Grant was looking over Faye's new business card, Ray was reviewing her schedule with her on a tablet, and Nash was carrying a bagel he'd bought her downstairs.

Jared saw me too.

But all he did was frown a little. He didn't come over.

At industry summits, if a competitor dared make a joke about my background, Jared would pressure them until they apologized in public.

Now a few new employees had cornered me and were mocking me, and he just stood there watching.

Faye jogged over.

"Guys, don't. Cora's just under a lot of pressure. She's in a bad mood."

Brianna snorted.

"Faye, you're too nice. She's jealous that you got the best resources. She won't even let you touch a few old files, and you're still sticking up for her?"

Faye's eyes filled with tears.

Jared finally came over. He walked right past me and pulled Faye behind him.

"Cora, if you have a problem with the company's decision, take it up with us. Don't embarrass Faye in public."

Before I could say anything, Brianna yanked my folder, and her elbow "accidentally" knocked over a cup of scalding black coffee beside her.

Coffee splashed down my front and dripped from my silk blouse.

The lounge broke into muffled laughter.

"Oops, sorry. My hand slipped."

I pulled out a tissue and slowly wiped the stain off my arm.

Jared looked at me, irritated.

"If your clothes are dirty, go home and change. Don't cause a scene at the office."

They called humiliating me in public a slip of the hand.

I'd just stood there, and somehow I was the one causing a scene.

I didn't look at them again. I took my folder, turned, and walked into the elevator.

A few hours later, I'd just finished packing when the electronic lock on my door suddenly beeped.

The four men walked in with Faye.

They'd always known the code to my apartment.

"Where's Faye's new badge?"

Nash got straight to the point, his voice accusing. "She was wearing it this morning, and when she left work it was gone."

I leaned against the wall in the entryway.

"So?"

Ray's face was cold.

"You're the only one who touched her today. Who else would hide it to make her look bad?"

Then he walked right past me into the bedroom and pulled open my desk drawer.

The others spread out too, digging through the couch cushions and the bar.

Ever since we were kids, they'd walked into my room without knocking.

I used to see it as a sign of trust and closeness.

Only now did I understand: they'd always assumed they could walk all over every part of my life.

Nash opened my closet and found it almost empty, just a few old clothes left.

"Why'd you clear out your clothes?"

My chest tightened. I couldn't let them find out I was leaving.

Grant glanced at the suitcase propped in the corner, his tone cool and dismissive.

"Why else? To scare us."

Ray snorted.

"Cora, how old are you? Still pulling grade-school stunts like this?"

They all laughed.

Not one of them guessed I was about to disappear from their lives.

That was fine. If anything, I was relieved.

Jared's eyes skimmed over the agreement on my desk, its cover stamped DAYAKA: HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION. He didn't even care enough to flip it open. He just shoved it under a pile of scrap paper.

"The Dayaka project doesn't even start until next month. Where would you go today? Save your energy."

Right then, Faye pulled a shiny new silver badge out of her own coat pocket.

"Found it..."

She'd put it in the wrong place herself.

Faye flushed.

"Cora, I'm sorry. I got it wrong about you."

Jared turned and ruffled her hair.

"As long as you found it. Don't beat yourself up."

Even with the truth staring them in the face, none of them thought they owed me an apology.

Then Faye's eyes landed on my computer screen, still lit up on the desk.

My personal hard drive was plugged into the computer. An open folder showed scans of the business plans the five of us had stayed up all night writing in the garage and rough videos of our first strategy sessions.

"So the originals are all here." Her eyes lit up, and she looked up at Jared. "Can I show these at the gala?"

"No."

I stepped over and turned off the monitor.

Tears started welling up in Faye's eyes.

Nash immediately stepped in front of me.

"She just wants to borrow some material, Cora. Didn't you agree yesterday to clean up the data for her?"

"I changed my mind."

Faye tugged gently at Jared's cuff, her voice catching.

"Do you think I don't deserve to be part of your past because I joined later?"

"What do you think?" I shot back coldly.

Jared's face darkened. He shoved me aside, turned the monitor back on, and grabbed the mouse.

"She just wants to show a few public files. Don't be so petty, Cora. If you don't want to be in them, just delete yourself."

"Jared, don't touch my computer."

He ignored me and selected every file with my name on it, along with the original business plans.

I reached out to stop him, but Ray grabbed my wrist from the side.

"It's just some crappy photos and a few lines of text. Can you stop being so selfish?"

The next second, Jared permanently deleted them.

The progress bar raced across the screen to the end.

The first line of code I'd written in the garage, the giddy photo from when I landed our first big client, the recording of Jared solemnly promising the camera that year, "Cora will always be the brains behind our team"...

He'd fed all of it into the shredder himself.

"There. Happy now?"

Jared let go of the mouse and made his announcement, cold as ice.

"From now on, the company's history won't have any of this useless old junk in it. And it won't have you."

Then they swept out of my apartment with their arms around Faye.

Jared probably just wanted to put me in my place.

What he didn't know was that in a few hours, those words would come true.

The phone in my jacket pocket suddenly buzzed.

It was the final instruction from Reyes.

"Military transport arrives in two hours."

I grabbed the handle of the suitcase in the corner.

Ten years of a bond that had seemed unbreakable, and in the end, it all fit in a single 28-inch suitcase.