第2章

I was still packing up my desk when there was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Chloe slipped in, wearing that fake-humble smile I’d come to despise.

“Victoria, I wanted to talk to you.”

I didn’t look up, just kept sorting my files. “What’s there to talk about?”

“About the two-million-dollar bonus.” She walked up to my desk, her face a mask of guilt. “Honestly, I feel like I don’t deserve it.”

My hands paused.

“What are you trying to say?”

“I think we should split it,” she said, her voice dripping with false sincerity. “A million for you, a million for me. It’s only fair.”

I finally looked up and met her eyes.

“Split it?”

“Yes. Fifty-fifty. One million each. It’s only fair.”

I put down the file in my hands, picked up my phone, and opened my banking app.

“Great. Wire it to me now.”

I turned the screen toward her, my account information displayed clearly.

Chloe’s smile faltered. For a split second.

“What… what are you talking about?”

“You said you wanted to split it. So let’s split it. One million dollars. Transfer it now.”

She dropped the act, a nasty laugh escaping her lips.

“An act? Of course it was an act, you idiot. You need to face reality. I won this case on my own merits, with my superior client management skills.”

She walked to the window, gesturing out at the San Francisco Bay.

“This office, by the way? It’s mine now, too. Preston already approved it.”

I stood up and walked toward her, one slow step at a time.

“Your merits?” My voice was pure ice. “You mean putting my memos in a new font?”

Chloe’s face twitched.

“Or dressing up my research with flashier charts?” I kept advancing. “Or maybe passing off the key precedents I found as your own brilliant discovery?”

“That’s a lie—”

“A lie?” I scoffed. “Chloe, you don’t even have the basic rules of discovery straight, and you have the nerve to talk to me about ‘merits’?”

Her face was beet red.

“I… that was an oversight—”

“An oversight?” I cut her off. “Remember that analysis of Baxter v. Tech Industries? The one you cited to the client? You got the year of the ruling wrong.”

“That was—”

“And the procedural points in the Morrison case? Your logic in the memo was a complete mess. If I hadn’t caught it and fixed it, our entire argument would have collapsed.”

Chloe opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

I walked back to my desk and pulled open a drawer.

“Since you’re so confident,” I said, pulling out a folder, “how about I submit your ‘work’ and my original strategy notes to the California State Bar?”

“We can let them do a peer review. We’ll see whose ‘merits’ hold up.”

The color drained from Chloe’s face.

“You… you can’t do that…”

“Why not?” I stared at her. “You said you won it on your merits. What are you afraid of?”

“I… I…” She stammered, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Suddenly, her eyes darted to the picture frame on my desk.

The photo of my father and me.

He was in his judge’s robes, and I was in my lawyer’s suit, standing on the courthouse steps.

“You know, Victoria?” she said, suddenly changing the subject, her voice dripping with venom. “Some people just live in the past, thinking they’re better than everyone.”

Her eyes landed on the photo. A nasty little smile played on her lips. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the frame flying.

It shattered against the marble floor.

Glass shards scattered.

She didn’t stop. She lifted her foot and ground her expensive Italian leather shoe into the photo.

My vision went red.

That photo was one of the few things I had left of my father.

“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry, Victoria,” Chloe said with a fake gasp, but her face was alight with triumph. “I didn’t see it there.”

My whole body was shaking. A white-hot rage surged through me.

I slapped her. Hard.

The crack of my hand against her cheek echoed in the silent office.

Chloe clutched her cheek, a flash of fear in her eyes.

“Get. Out.” I pointed to the door, my voice a low growl. “Get out of my office. Now!”

Just then, the door was thrown open.

“Victoria, what the hell is wrong with you?”