Chapter 5

When Charlie reached for her chest, Holly finally snapped. She grabbed a bottle from the table and brought it down hard on the back of his head.

The blow landed with a sharp crack, sending Charlie staggering. He reached back to feel his head, then stared at the blood on his hand.

"Holly! Are you out of your fucking mind?" he roared.

He raised his hand to slap her, but Holly caught his wrist and twisted it back, her expression unchanged.

As Charlie howled in pain, Holly said quietly but firmly, "Yeah, I am. I quit."

She shoved his hand away, pushed open the door, and walked out. She went home and slept until the following afternoon.

When she woke up, she found missed calls from worried coworkers, HR, and Vincent. She ignored Vincent's calls and called Sara Whitfield in HR back instead.

"Sara, what do I need to do to resign?" Holly asked hoarsely.

Sara sounded surprised. "Resign? Holly, why? I was calling to find out why you didn't come in today."

Holly hadn't expected that. Charlie was too petty to let what she'd done to him the night before go. She'd been sure he would've fired her by now.

But Sara didn't seem to know anything about what had happened.

"Did Charlie come in today?" Holly asked cautiously.

Sara immediately lowered her voice. "You haven't heard? Mr. Garland's in serious trouble! Corporate sent out a notice overnight. He's been fired."

Holly was stunned.

Whoever had done this had managed to silence everyone in that private room and get a store manager fired overnight. Only Vincent had that kind of influence.

After a moment's hesitation, Holly sent him a text. "Thank you."

His reply came almost immediately. "For what?"

She thought for a moment before typing, "For taking care of Charlie."

To Holly's surprise, Vincent called her. But when she answered, it was Tiffany's angry voice on the other end.

"Holly, have you no shame? Vincent's made it clear he wants nothing to do with you anymore. Why can't you just leave him alone?"

Holly was quiet for a moment before answering. "I'm not bothering him. He helped me out of a difficult situation, and I just wanted to thank him."

For a moment, Tiffany didn't know what to say.

After a long pause, she said through clenched teeth, "Cut the act, Holly. You just can't stand losing a rich guy like Vincent. Well, you're not getting him back. I'll make sure of it."

Holly hadn't taken Tiffany's threat seriously at first. But when she arrived at the mall the next day, she noticed people giving her strange looks.

She figured word had gotten around about her hitting Charlie with a bottle.

Then Sara called her into the office. Her expression was grim as she turned her laptop toward Holly, revealing a compromising photo on the screen.

Sara pointed to the woman in the picture. Only half her face was visible, but the beauty mark near the corner of her eye was unmistakable.

"Holly... is that you?" Sara asked hesitantly.

Holly felt a chill run through her.

Six months earlier, Vincent had insisted on getting intimate with her in his car, and a paparazzo had secretly taken a photo of them.

Vincent had paid a fortune to get his hands on the photo and kept it on his phone.

She'd asked him to delete it, but he'd only said, "Holly, if you ever try to leave me, I'll make sure everyone sees you like this."

Now that Vincent had found someone else, he didn't care if she left him. There was no reason for him to leak the photo himself.

But Tiffany could unlock his phone whenever she wanted and even answer his messages for him. She had to be the one behind it.

Sara sighed when she saw how pale Holly had become.

"Someone emailed that photo to a bunch of our coworkers, and now everyone's talking about it. We've decided to put you on leave for the time being. Go home, and we'll let you know when we have an update."

Holly knew the photo would only spread further, and more strangers would see her that way. Even her colleagues at the police station might come across it.

Her reputation was ruined. She couldn't stay in Velmora any longer.

At least the Vesper Gala was coming up early next month. Once she'd finished her assignment, she'd request a transfer and leave Velmora for good.