All Chapters of Her Only Exception: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Andrea's eyes snapped open and checked her phone. 7:37 AM.“Shit.”She'd overslept. Her first day at Crestview Holdings started at nine, and she was already behind. Her heart kicked hard against her ribs as she scrambled for her phone again, half hoping she'd misread the time. 7:37 AM. No mistake.Her stomach dropped. It was her first day at her new job and she was already messing it up. Andrea shoved her hands into her hair and dragged in a sharp breath, forcing herself not to spiral. Panic wouldn’t fix anything. She just needed to move. Fast. She threw off the bedcover and was out of bed in seconds. There was no time for her usual meditation or for her to ease into the morning like she preferred. She grabbed her phone, silenced the alarm, and went straight to the bathroom. The shower was quick, barely lasted five minutes. She dried off fast, pulled her hair into a neat bun, moved to her closet and selected the first professional outfit she saw; black pants and white blouse. Dress

Andrea had been staring at her computer screen for twenty minutes, and she still couldn't focus. Her desk was tucked in the corner of the analytics department, away from the windows. The setup was standard; just a monitor, keyboard, and small stack of training manuals HR had left for her. It was everything she needed to start her first day.But she couldn’t stop thinking about the encounter in the hallway.Who was he? Andrea shook her head and tried to force herself to focus on the training module in front of her. Someone approached her desk, she looked up. A man in his mid-forties stood there, arms crossed, wearing a perfectly pressed shirt and a smile that didn't reach his eyes."Andrea Collins?""Yes..that's me.""Robert Harrington. Senior manager for the analytics team." He didn't extend his hand, just nodded once, "Welcome to Crestview. I trust HR walked you through the basics?""Yes, sir.""Good. I'll send over your first assignment by the end of the day. We move fast here, kee

By Friday afternoon, Andrea was exhausted. She'd spent the entire week trying to understand the Hillcrest deal. Harrington had barely helped, just threw files at her and said "figure it out." She stayed late every night, analyzing data and trying not to drown.And through it all, she'd been avoiding Henry. She made sure to take the stairs instead of the elevator, leave her desk when he walked by and keep her head down in meetings to avoid his gaze. Now it was past six on Friday, and she just wanted to go home and rest. She grabbed her bag and headed for the elevators. The floor was mostly empty.Andrea pressed the button, her mind already on her apartment, a hot shower and her bed. The doors opened and Henry was inside. Their eyes met and for a moment neither of them moved. Henry's hand shot out, holding the door. "Getting in?"She should say no and wait for the next ride but Andrea was tired, bone-deep tired, and after all it was just an elevator ride. "Yeah," she said quietly, step

Monday morning hit Andrea like a freight train. She'd spent the entire weekend trying and failing not to think about the elevator incident and now she had to face him at work.Andrea arrived at 8:55 AM, clutching her coffee like a lifeline. She'd finished the Hillcrest analysis on Sunday night, printed it out, and left it on Henry's desk before anyone else arrived this morning. She wasn't giving him any excuse to fire her, she needs this job.She made her way to her desk, keeping her head down. Rachel was already there, scrolling through emails while Emily sat across from them, organizing a stack of files."Morning," Rachel said, glancing up with a smile. "You survived your first week.""Barely," Andrea muttered, dropping into her chair.Emily laughed. "It gets easier or you get numb to it. One of the two."Andrea was about to respond when Alex one of their team members appeared, practically vibrating with excitement."Did you guys hear?" he said, leaning against Rachel's desk.Rachel

Andrea couldn't sleep. She'd spent the whole night tossing and turning her mind replaying the email from HR over and over until the words were burned into her brain.By the time her alarm went off at 6 AM, Andrea was already awake and absolutely livid. She got dressed with sharp, angry movements; pulled her hair back into a sleek ponytail and applied her makeup perfectly because she'd be damned if she walked in there looking rattled.If Henry Moore wanted to play games, fine.She could play too.Andrea arrived at Crestview at 8:12 AM, her jaw set and her hands steady despite the fury simmering beneath her skin.When she walked past the analytics department, her old desk was already cleared. Everything was gone; her coffee mug, notebooks and even the small succulent Rachel had given her. All of it packed neatly into a cardboard box sitting on an empty chair. Like she'd never existed there at all.Rachel and Emily weren't in yet, but Alex was. He looked up as Andrea approached, his expr