Chapter 4

Michelle grew more animated as she went on. "Isn't it obvious? She has connections. Her advisor is friends with the company owner, and that's how she got her foot in the door in the first place.

"And you all keep saying she's so talented. I don't see what's so special about her. She just happened to come in first on the hiring assessment, and ever since then, everyone's acted like she can do no wrong.

"It's not like she has a great personality either. Ethan's been sick of her for a long time. He's always telling me—"

I couldn't take it anymore. I kicked the lab door open.

Everyone inside jumped and immediately scattered.

Michelle clearly hadn't expected me to come back. For a moment, she looked like she'd been caught red-handed.

I swallowed my anger and walked straight up to her. "Go on. Why'd you stop?"

She seemed to realize there was no point trying to talk her way out of it. She simply scoffed, sounding smug. "Why should I keep talking just because you tell me to? I'm not going to. What are you going to do, fire me?"

I curled my fingers into fists.

Michelle looked even more pleased with herself. "What? You want to hit me now? Sara, maybe no one's told you, but if you so much as lay a finger on me, Ethan might just break up with you."

The smugness in her voice finally pushed me over the edge. I raised my hand, but before I could bring it down, someone caught my wrist in a crushing grip.

I spun around. Ethan was standing right behind me. He had just told me he was too busy to talk, yet here he was.

"Sara, what do you think you're doing? You know company policy forbids fighting. Are you trying to lose your job?"

For a moment, relief washed over me. I quickly told him everything Michelle had just said to provoke me.

Ethan and I had been together for years. As unreasonable as he could be sometimes, he had always trusted me. He'd even trusted me with the PIN to his bank card. So I thought he would believe me.

Instead, the moment I finished, he turned to Michelle. "Is that true, Michelle?"

His voice was gentle, nothing like the way he had spoken to me.

Michelle quickly shook her head, sounding hurt. "Of course not. Sara's your girlfriend, and she's my supervisor. How could I ever treat her like that?"

After she finished, Ethan gave me a hard, questioning look, as if waiting to hear what excuse I'd come up with next.

Something inside me shattered.

Lately, Ethan had been breaking the very rules he once insisted we follow, all for Michelle. He had completely disregarded the boundaries we had agreed to keep between work and our relationship.

I was angry, but I kept telling myself he only treated Michelle differently because he felt sorry for her. Deep down, I still believed I was the one he loved.

But now, I found myself wondering if I really meant anything to him at all.

Still, I tried one last time and pointed to the coworkers nearby. "If you don't believe me, ask them. They all saw what happened."

Before any of them could answer, Ethan scoffed. "What's the point? You're their supervisor. Of course they're not going to say anything that makes you look bad."

A chill settled over me.

For days, people had been spreading rumors about me, accusing me of abusing my position for personal gain. Even I had heard them.

So had Ethan really not heard any of it, or did he just not care? Or was he deliberately using that as an excuse to cover for Michelle?

Either way, it didn't matter anymore.

As I watched Ethan go over to check on Michelle, I let out a bitter laugh. "If you don't even trust me anymore, then let's break up."

I didn't wait for anyone to react. The moment I said it, I turned and walked away.

Ethan came after me almost immediately. He called my name several times, but I ignored him.

Then he caught up to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind, his voice trembling. "Sara, all I did was say a few things, and now you want to break up with me? How can you say something so hurtful?"

Still furious, I immediately pulled free of his arms. "You don't love me anymore. What's the point of staying together?"