Chapter 3

"Avery, Cascade Media just pulled the plug on you."

Mr. Davis delivered the news on Wednesday morning. Before I could even sit down, he snatched the project folder off my desk.

"Pulled the plug? Who said that?"

"Their director called yesterday afternoon. He said your communication was terrible and demanded a new account manager."

"Did Mr. Brooks call you directly?"

"No, he called Chloe. She relayed it to me."

Chloe again. The calls always went through Chloe.

"Mr. Davis, can I call Mr. Brooks directly to clarify this?"

"No need. The client’s message was loud and clear. Chloe will take over the account for now."

With that, he turned and walked away.

I opened my phone and pulled up Mr. Brooks' contact info.

Our last text was from three days ago.

He had sent a data feedback form, ending with: "Great job, Avery. The strategy is solid."

I sent a message: "Mr. Brooks, regarding the change in account managers, do you have a few minutes for a quick call?"

The moment I hit send, a red exclamation mark appeared next to my message.

The man who had praised my work three days ago had blocked me without a single word of explanation.

I slammed my phone face down on the desk. I knew this was a coordinated hit, but without solid proof, I had to keep my cool.

At lunchtime, I went to the breakroom to get some water.

Three coworkers were crowded around the microwave. The second I walked in, their voices instantly dropped to whispers.

"...Yeah, I heard the embezzlement thing is pretty serious..."

"Shh, shut up."

Carter walked past me with his lunchbox. His eyes never met mine as he brushed right past.

The other two quickly scattered, leaving me alone with the humming microwave and a half-heated lunchbox that belonged to god-knows-who.

When I got back to my desk, I noticed my drawer had been tampered with.

The files inside had been shuffled. The pink sticky note Chloe wrote to me was gone.

My flash drive was missing too.

The flash drive containing the expense screenshots, which I had left right next to my keyboard this morning, was gone.

I booted up my computer.

The screenshots on my desktop were gone. Even the recycle bin had been emptied.

The security camera over our section had been "awaiting repairs" for three months.

I remembered Chloe posting in the group chat back then: "We're all family here, why do we even need cameras?"

At 5:00 PM, Chloe walked back into the office, carrying a large bakery bag.

"Hey guys! I took a baking class and brought some homemade chocolate chip cookies! Grab one!"

She distributed them to everyone. When she reached my desk, she dropped the bag in front of me.

"Avery, I saved the biggest one for you. Don't be polite!"

She hadn't said a single negative thing about me in public all afternoon.

Yet, every single person who walked past my cubicle quickly looked away.

Some killers don't need knives or broken bottles.

They just trap you in a world where everyone believes them, and slowly suffocate you.

At 6:00 PM, I was waiting for the bus outside the office building.

Harper walked up and stood beside me.

She stared straight ahead and spoke quietly.

"Did you know Mr. Davis’s wife is Chloe's cousin?"

I tilted my head. "How did you find out?"

"At last year's annual gala, his wife came to pick him up. Chloe ran up and called her 'cousin.' There were two hundred people in the lobby, but I was standing at the exact angle to hear it."

The bus pulled up, and the doors opened.

As she stepped on, she turned back. "You can't bring her down, Avery. Don't waste your breath."