Chapter 3

Before we crossed the terminal to Rhonda's office, I stressed it one more time.

"I'm not a flight attendant. I'm the captain. Nobody else can fly this mission. If something goes wrong, you two won't be the only ones who take the fall."

But Rhonda and Jessie exchanged a look and both burst out laughing.

"Don't tell me you're waiting for your boss to get off his plane and save you. Dream on! I can't believe you'd even tell a lie like that!

"I've been a flight attendant for years, and I've never seen a single female captain in commercial aviation, let alone one as young as you."

Rhonda nodded, her face full of contempt. "I never heard about any female captain being transferred here, either!

"You are the captain? Can you even do it right? It'd be a miracle if you didn't cause a disaster. Stop pretending!"

I didn't say anything else.

Before my temporary transfer, Victor had thanked my mentor over and over again. My mentor was Derek Olson, the chief commander and Cory's father.

At the time, my mentor had patted Victor on the shoulder. "She's an elite pilot who's been working on the front lines, and she's my best student. Sending her to your commercial airline is a bit of a waste of her talent, but I know you're temporarily expanding your routes and need her for emergencies.

"Once you've handled the urgent stuff, send her back to us as soon as possible. You have no idea; we can't do without her for a single day around here. The sooner, the better."

Then my mentor turned to Cory. "And you get your butt over there with her! Be her assistant! While you're at it, learn a thing or two from her, and see what a real prodigy looks like!"

Cory grumbled about it at the time.

But when it came to packing his bags, he was lightning fast.

"Cher, come eat over here! Sit next to me!"

On our first day after the transfer, he waved cheerfully at me in the cafeteria.

But I kept my distance to avoid any gossip.

He was too high-profile. With his reputation as the prodigy captain from a family of aviators, he and I just didn't seem to fit together.

Looking back now, I couldn't help wondering. If I'd gone and sat with him that day, would I have been spared this whole undeserved disaster?

Coworkers and passengers turned to stare.

Countless eyes burned my cheeks red.

Some people even took out their phones and started filming.

"I heard she's a flight attendant and a homewrecker! Intimate photos of her and her boss have been going viral at her company all morning!"

"Wow, she's got guts. I have to post this."

"She looks so young. Who knew she'd be so shameless? Ugh!"

I kept my head down low.

Ever since I was little, I'd stood on countless stages to accept awards while countless people watched me.

But never like this.

"Mommy!"

A little girl holding a Boeing 747 model pointed at me. "Mommy, Mommy, look! That's my favorite ace pilot! Cher Robertson!"

The atmosphere turned strange.

Jessie gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Sweetie, you've got the wrong person.

"This is just a flight attendant with questionable morals.

"Besides, why do you have to be a pilot? Wouldn't you rather be a pretty flight attendant like me?"

That was the first time I'd ever felt such genuine fury.

She could target me all she wanted, but she had no right to crush anyone else's dreams.

In the office, Rhonda and Jessie barely discussed it before hastily deciding to fire me.

It was laughable.

People who weren't even authorized to look at my file thought they had the authority to fire me?

"Fine!" Jessie sneered. "Then open your eyes wide and watch whether this head flight attendant has the authority to fire a contract flight attendant like you!"

The walkie-talkie on Jessie's hip crackled to life.

The voice said the VIP flight was about to depart, but the flight crew still hadn't all arrived, and asked whether to activate the backup Plan B.

That meant an emergency switch to a different airport to make sure the flight wouldn't arrive at its destination later than scheduled.

Jessie gave me a mocking look.

Then she raised the walkie-talkie and responded, "Don't worry. I'm in the lounge right now. The plane can take off as scheduled. I'm on my way."

She had no idea she'd just thrown away her last chance.