Chapter 2

Early the next morning, I went to Simmons Corp.

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

But I rarely came in, so the staff didn't really know my face.

"Who's that?"

"That's one of the owners of the company. He's the president's husband!"

"He's gorgeous. I heard the whole reason the president made it big is thanks to Mr. James."

Somewhere in that murmuring, one man let out a quiet sneer.

I found his face in the crowd right away.

"Chad Matthews."

Called out by name, Chad couldn't hide the panic.

He turned his head away on instinct.

I didn't give him room to dodge.

"Come to my office."

He gritted his teeth and followed me in, dragging his feet.

He stood in front of the desk, not daring to meet my eyes.

"Take it off."

"What?"

I lifted my chin.

"The ring. Take it off."

Chad's hand shot to cover the ring at once.

It was the other half of the pair on Pamela's finger.

He stiffened his neck.

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

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

"That ring is from G. Limited to one pair worldwide. Pamela bought it on my account. So how did it end up on your hand?"

"Unless... you stole it?"

His face flushed red.

"No... I didn't."

"Then where did it come from?"

"Ms. Simmons gave it to me."

"Oh?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"You're no relation to her, you're not even an important employee. And she gave you a wedding ring worth a million dollars?"

"You stole it, that's what happened. An amount like that could put you away for decades."

"I did not!"

Chad's voice climbed, and then he just gave up all pretense.

He looked at me, taunting.

"Fine, Mr. James. I'm the roommate Ms. Simmons confessed her feelings for in public, the one who shared a bed with her. This ring is exactly what Pamela gave me. Are you satisfied?"

He kept going.

"Pamela and I slept in the same bed for a whole year. Countless nights we fell asleep in each other's arms. She said my arms were the warmest place there was."

"We even kissed a lot of times by accident. I was her first man, so she thinks about me, she misses me, she gave me a ring. So what? What's the problem?"

I nodded.

"Leave the ring. You can get out."

"What?"

I stood, crossed my arms, and kept my voice cool.

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

"And one more thing. You're fired."

"Why?"

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

I waved a hand, and my people came in.

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

At that, my secretary came in and handed Chad a cardboard box.

"Mr. Matthews, everything of yours is in here. You can go."

"No, I'm not going!"

But it wasn't up to him.

He was hauled out and thrown from the building, and when he tried to crawl his way back, the facial recognition had already stopped letting him in.

The staff pointed and whispered, not understanding why I'd come all the way here just to fire one low-level employee.

I brushed off my hands, about to leave, when I saw a disheveled Chad walk back into the building.

His face was glowing with satisfaction, but his voice came out oddly wronged.

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

Heels clicked closer, and Pamela stepped out from behind him.

Her face was full of fury.

"Chad hasn't done anything wrong. He works hard and takes it seriously. Cancel the dismissal. Get back to your desk."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Chad answered brightly, walked past me with his head high and chest out, and knocked his shoulder into mine on the way.

"No. Fired."

"He stays."

"Fired."

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

"And if I say he has to leave today?"

I held Pamela's eyes, hard.

The next instant, a slap cracked through the air.

The side of my face burned in a rush.

Pamela's voice was ice.

"That's my answer."

"Ow."

Chad's yelp came from behind me.

Pamela hurried straight over to him.

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

Chad's wounded voice again.

Without a word, Pamela helped him up.

The two of them pressed close together, not a gap between them.

Those long legs passed right by me, and without a single look back she helped Chad out of the building.

The staff around me broke into whispers.

Just then my phone buzzed with a text.

An unknown number.

I knew at a glance it was Chad.

"Guess Mr. James still doesn't know. Ms. Simmons has slept in the same bed as me all these years."

"She says she can only fall asleep next to me."

"Every night she spent in a bed with you, she couldn't sleep a wink."

I covered my face and slowly got to my feet.

My cheek was scalding.

But my voice was cold.

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