Chapter 4

Hearing my words, Wrenley looked embarrassed and tried to explain. "That's not what I meant. You've got it all wrong."

I turned my head away, my gaze falling on the spent fireworks scattered across the ground.

Seeing this, she pulled me aside and lowered her voice. "This is all part of my plan. I wasn't actually setting off fireworks with him. I've practically finished putting him in his place. He won't pick fights with you anymore.

"But you still need to wait for two more days. Two days from now, I promise I won't disappoint you. Just trust me!"

After saying that, she gave me that same confident look, her eyes filled with conviction. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't going to believe her anymore.

I replied coldly, "Do your words even mean anything anymore?"

She clearly hadn't expected me to talk back. A look of surprise crossed her face. Still, she quickly recovered and shoved a set of car keys into my hand.

With a stern expression, she said, "I'm doing all this for your sake, and you still have the nerve to question me? If I weren't trying to get even on your behalf, would I have to spend every day running around and exhausting myself? Just look at how sunburned I've gotten!"

As she spoke, she pointed to her noticeably tanned arm, presenting it as proof of all her hard work.

I glanced at her arm without saying a word.

She was indeed more tanned, but that was because she'd gone surfing with Martin at the beach a few days earlier.

When I remained silent, she paused before continuing, "Whether you believe me or not, I'm seeing this plan through to the end. Now, take Martin's car to the dealership for servicing, then pick up the custom cake from the bakery. I've already called them. I'll send you the address in a bit."

Just then, Martin's voice rang out from behind us, calling for her. She immediately turned to leave.

I stopped her, wanting to bring up my resignation and our breakup. I hadn't even gotten the words out when she impatiently cut me off.

"Whatever it is, we can talk about it later. Right now, the most important thing is getting the tasks I've assigned you done!"

Seeing the icy look in her eyes, I knew she was angry. She'd always been like this. Whenever I refused to do as she said, she'd give me that exact expression.

And if I continued to resist, she'd say I was acting out of line against the rules she set and have me whipped 20 times. She wouldn't stop until I gave in.

After everything she'd done for Martin, how could any of that be considered discipline or punishment? It was clearly a reward. She was the only one who refused to admit she was playing favorites and stubbornly continued convincing herself otherwise.

I glanced at the car keys in my hand. Somehow, my heart didn't hurt quite as much anymore.

Originally, Wrenley had said she wanted to use this supercar as the lead car in our wedding procession. But the moment Martin had casually complimented how cool it looked, she'd given it to him without a second thought. She'd disregarded my objections before swiftly accusing me of being petty and selfish.

After I returned with the cake, her expression, which had remained sour all evening, finally softened a little. Before I could bring up breaking up, the butler, Terry Grant, summoned her away.

Martin, however, looked at me with undisguised contempt. "What's with that crappy urn you've been carrying around all this time? Don't tell me it's for your sick mother? Are you planning to use that pathetic thing to play the victim and get some attention?

"Bowen, even I can see through your lousy acting. Do you think you can fool Wrenley? Beat it and dream on!"

His words were followed by a burst of laughter from everyone around us. Several of my coworkers were standing beside him. They immediately joined in.

"Exactly! With your pathetic circumstances, how dare you compete with Mr. Chapman for Ms. Quale's attention? If I were you, I'd be so ashamed I'd want to crawl into a hole."

"Get that damn thing out of here! It's an eyesore! Take it away. Otherwise, don't blame us for smashing it to pieces!"

Listening to these familiar faces hurl such cruel words at me, I couldn't help but feel absolutely disappointed. Back when I was still the team leader, these people had followed me around every day, insisting we were all one big family.

But the moment I was stripped of my position, they were the first to distance themselves from me. They'd switched sides almost right away and started sucking up to Martin instead.