Chapter 1

Suzanne's POV

When I went to the bathroom to treat the burn on my hand, I saw a message my best friend, Capri Leigh, had sent half an hour earlier.

[Suzie, don't overthink what they're saying in the group chat. They just love to tease. Don't take it seriously.]

I dried my hands and replied. [I know.]

Julian Locke, my boyfriend, had also messaged me a minute earlier.

[I was only doing that to avoid suspicion. Don't read too much into it.]

I stared at the message, and a strange heaviness settled in my chest.

In my three years at the company, I had lost count of how many times it had happened.

At team events, dinners, or meetings, there was always a department manager, Capri, or some other employee next to Julian. It was never me.

Even when I had a chance to stand beside him, he would switch places with someone else to avoid suspicion. He'd even ignore me whenever I looked at him and brush off everything I said.

My coworkers noticed how distant he was with me, and they treated me like an outsider for it.

I put my phone away without replying to Julian.

When I returned, everyone was still eating and chatting like nothing had happened.

The blister on my hand still throbbed, reminding me of the decision I had made to leave Julian.

When dinner ended, my coworkers nudged Capri toward Julian.

"Mr. Locke, there's a hurricane warning tonight, and all the rideshare apps are packed. It's not safe for Capri to go home alone. Could you give her a ride?"

Julian didn't refuse. "Sure. I'm headed toward the harbor district. Is anyone else going that way?"

He said it casually, but his eyes stayed fixed on me.

My throat tightened.

Three years ago, a strange man tailed me after work. I had been afraid of walking home alone at night ever since.

After Julian found out, he picked me up from work every day.

I started to speak. "I'm going—"

"I'll drive the rest." Another coworker cut me off. He stepped in front of me before I could finish. "Mr. Locke, you should take Capri home."

Julian stared at me briefly before looking away.

He turned and nodded. "Thanks."

Then he drove off.

When my coworker heard my address, he looked at me awkwardly. "Suzanne, why didn't you say you were headed toward the harbor district too?

"It's already 1:00 am. Taking you home and then going back to my place would take forever. Why don't you get a cab? There aren't many cars out, but one will show up if you wait."

I silently opened the rideshare app. The estimated wait was 53 minutes.

Messages started coming into the group chat from coworkers saying they had made it home safely.

I didn't know who had brought it up first, but someone said, "Don't you guys think she's always trying to get close to Mr. Locke? Doesn't she realize how much he dislikes her?"

"Exactly! If Mr. Locke hadn't called Capri over, she would've sat next to him."

"Also, when Mr. Locke asked if anyone else was headed the same way, wasn't it obvious he wanted some time alone with Capri?

"He was only asking to be polite. I guess someone took it too seriously."

Capri gave a vague reply. "Don't say that. Mr. Locke's just looking out for me because I'm new."

That only made my coworkers go even further.

"When another new employee dropped all her files after getting chewed out by her team leader, Mr. Locke walked right past her without helping."

"Besides, the fact that Mr. Locke didn't deny it says everything. You know what that means!"

Reading those messages, I felt nothing but numbness.

Capri had joined the company because she had heard I was being picked on. She said she wanted to be there for me.

Now she was everyone's favorite. All I got from her was a few halfhearted words telling me not to overthink it. She insisted that the rest didn't mean any harm.

When my coworkers started spreading rumors that Capri and Julian were dating, Julian only told me to focus on improving myself. He said I should stop wasting my time on things that didn't matter.

It was just something trivial to him.

Maybe only someone who didn't care about me would see my feelings as unimportant.

The night wind felt cold against my face.

I left the group chat and submitted my resignation.

If I'd already decided to leave Julian, there was no reason to keep hurting myself.