Chapter 2

Early the next morning, I went to Simmons Corp.

As a board director of the company, I had my own office, of course.

I just didn't come in often, so the staff barely recognized me.

"Who's that?"

"That's one of the owners of the company. She's the president's wife!"

"So pretty. I heard the president only made it this far because of her."

Somewhere in the murmuring crowd, one woman gave a quiet little sneer.

I picked her face out of the group at once.

"Maya Matthews."

Called out by name, Maya couldn't hide her panic.

She turned her head away on reflex.

I didn't give her the chance to dodge.

"Come to my office."

She bit down and, unwilling as she was, followed me in.

Maya stood in front of the desk, not daring to look me in the eye.

"Take it off."

"Take what off?"

I lifted my chin.

"The ring. Take it off."

Maya's hand went straight to the ring, covering it.

It was the other one from the pair on Fergus's hand.

She stiffened her neck.

"Ms. James, you may run everything under the sun, but you don't get to run what jewelry an employee wears."

I leaned back in the chair and looked at her coldly.

"That ring is a limited edition, only one pair made in the whole world. Fergus bought it with my account. So how did it end up on your hand?"

"Unless… you stole it?"

Maya flushed red.

"No… I didn't."

"Then how did you get it?"

"Mr. Simmons gave it to me."

"Oh?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"You're no relation to him, and you're not exactly an important employee. He gave you a wedding ring worth a million dollars?"

"Face it, you stole it. An amount like that could put you away for decades."

"I did not!"

Maya's voice shot up, and she decided to stop pretending altogether.

She stared at me in open defiance.

"That's right, Ms. James. I'm the roommate he shared a bed with, the one he confessed to in public. Fergus gave me this ring. Happy now?"

Then she kept going.

"Fergus and I slept in the same bed for a whole year. We fell asleep in each other's arms night after night. He said my arms were the warmest place in the world."

"And we kissed by accident plenty of times. I was his first woman. So he thinks about me, he misses me, he gives me a ring. So what? What's the problem?"

I nodded.

"The ring stays. You can get out."

"What?"

I stood, folded my arms, and let my voice go cool and clear.

"That ring is marital property between me and my husband. You want to keep it? Fine. Pay me back five hundred thousand."

"Also, you're fired."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like the look of you."

I waved a hand, and my people came in.

"The subpoena for the five hundred thousand will reach you soon. Don't bother packing. Leave now. The severance won't be short."

As I finished, my secretary came in and handed Maya a cardboard box.

"Ms. Matthews, all your things are here. You can go."

"No, I'm not going!"

But it wasn't up to her.

She was hauled out and thrown from the building, and when she tried to crawl back in, her face-scan access had already been cut.

The staff pointed and whispered, unable to understand why I'd come all this way just to fire one low-level employee.

I brushed off my hands and was about to leave when I saw Maya, disheveled, walk back into the company.

Her face glowed with triumph, but her voice came out wounded.

"Mr. Simmons, it was Ms. James. She fired me."

A long stride, and Fergus came out from behind her.

His face was full of fury.

"Maya has done nothing wrong. She works hard and does her job well. Cancel the dismissal. Get back to your desk."

"Yes, sir!"

Maya answered brightly and skipped past me, knocking her shoulder into mine on the way.

"No. Fire her."

"Keep her."

"Fire her."

"Keep her."

The whole staff went silent, not daring to breathe in the standoff between us.

"And if I say she has to go today?"

I held Fergus's eyes, hard.

The next instant, a slap cracked through the air.

A brutal force knocked me to the floor.

Fergus's voice was ice.

"That's my answer."

"Ah!"

Maya's startled cry came from behind me.

Fergus rushed straight over.

"I twisted my ankle. It hurts so much."

Maya's wounded voice rose up.

Without a word, Fergus scooped her up in his arms.

His long legs carried him past me, and without looking back once, he walked out of the building holding Maya.

Around me, the staff broke into chatter.

Just then my phone buzzed with a text.

An unknown number.

I knew at a glance it was Maya.

"Ms. James probably still has no idea. Mr. Simmons has slept in the same bed as me all these years."

"He says he can only fall asleep next to me."

"Every single night he spent in a bed with you, he lay awake tossing and turning."

I held my cheek and slowly got to my feet.

My cheek was burning.

But my voice was cold.

"Simmons Corp. You really don't want it anymore."