Chapter 5

I stayed in the first-class lounge until nine in the morning and boarded my flight right on time.

I put on an eye mask and forced myself into a deep sleep.

A few hours later, the flight landed on the island.

I had been longing for the sun and sand here since I was twenty. But I had always been trapped in hockey arenas and endless stuffy boardrooms.

Countless planned trips had either been delayed because of the playoffs or completely ruined because Grayson wanted to throw a last-minute party.

Now, completely removed from all those toxic people and toxic drama, I felt like even breathing had become incredibly freeing.

The dull pain of a breakup and betrayal that I had imagined was quickly washed away by the crystal-clear turquoise waters.

I went snorkeling for a while, came back to the beach, and treated myself to a massive lobster feast.

Finally, holding a margarita, I unlocked my phone.

Missed calls and unread messages had completely jammed the screen. It made the phone freeze for two whole seconds before it could react.

The real estate agent was the first to send an update, accompanied by an "OK" emoji:

"Don't worry, Blair, the apartment is officially listed. That is a prime downtown location. I already have three clients booked for viewings today. It will definitely sell for top dollar by the end of the week."

Next were screens full of concern from my parents and friends outside the industry.

They had all seen the trending topics on Twitter that morning. Shocked, they all messaged to ask: "Blair, what is going on with the news about Grayson taking time off? Is he really quitting hockey?"

"He is a superstar in the league, right at his peak! Isn't taking a leave now absolutely crazy?"

"But you two have been dating for so many years, maybe it's time to settle down and have a baby. You've made enough money anyway, settling down for a quiet life is nice too."

Then, I clicked into the group chat named "Team Grayson."

The chat history was still stuck on last night. They were ruthlessly mocking me and egging Grayson on to quickly find a more obedient girl to take my place.

By this morning, however, the tone took a sharp turn. The legal department's inbox started flooding with official letters from brand partners demanding contract terminations and financial compensation.

The PR Director was the first to realize something was wrong. He frantically tagged me in the chat. "Blair, is that refund statement you posted on Twitter your entire PR plan for his leave of absence? Are you really hanging him out to dry?"

Right after, Ethan, the finance manager, jumped in:

"If this is just a PR stunt, we shouldn't actually refund the money, right? A lot of brands have already started contacting the company account for refunds. Are we paying them back or not?"

Seeing that I still hadn't appeared, the group finally panicked and started calling me on voice chat non-stop.

"Blair, why the fuck are you ghosting us? Do you really think you are the GM? If it weren't for Grayson's fame, who would willingly take orders from a woman like you!"

"We just made a few jokes in the chat, was it really necessary to pull a disappearing act? You're mixing personal feelings with business like this, and you call yourself a professional agent?"

"Where could she even go if she doesn't come back? She poured all these years into Grayson. Aside from desperately clinging to him, what other man would want such a bossy, boring woman?"

"Just ignore her. She is just playing hard to get to force us to cave. In a couple of days, Grayson just needs to snap his fingers, and she'll come crawling right back to clean up his mess."

They cursed for a while, but when they saw I truly hadn't replied a single word all day, they started to genuinely freak out.