Chapter 2

Hoping there was still something left to save, I sat on the living room sofa, waiting for him.

He didn't walk through the door until past one in the morning. Seeing me awake, he paused and asked quietly, "Why aren't you in bed?"

I didn't answer. I just looked him straight in the eye. "Why didn't you answer my calls?"

"My phone was on silent."

He looked down to kick off his sneakers, avoiding my gaze. A sharp ache pierced my chest. "The CEO pulled me aside today. He said you're being way too hard on the intern. But from what I saw, you two seem..."

"Mandy," he interrupted, his tone freezing over. "Are you talking to me as my girlfriend right now? Or as my manager?"

His coldness left me speechless. The question "How do you really feel about her?" died in my throat.

The next morning, the alarm woke me up to an empty bed. Lucas had already left.

He hadn't even waited for me.

The moment I sat at my desk, my phone buzzed with an email from Chloe:

[Hi Mandy, I finished organizing the project files Lucas requested for this afternoon. Would you mind looking over them first?]

I took a deep breath, telling myself Chloe was a sweet girl who was probably just trying to keep healthy boundaries.

Then I opened the attachments.

Every document had two versions: Chloe's initial draft, and the one Lucas had revised.

My stomach churned with every page I scrolled through.

Lucas hadn't just corrected typos; he had left detailed, encouraging side-notes explaining the logic behind every change—exactly like he used to do with my college papers.

I knew better than anyone that Lucas was never a patient man.

At a client dinner that evening, I watched from across the room as our key client, Greg Miller, shoved a glass of whiskey toward Chloe for the third time.

"Come on, sweetheart, don't be rude," Miller drawled, his sweaty palm dangerously close to resting on her bare thigh. "Just take a sip."

Out of nowhere, Lucas appeared behind them, snatching the tumbler right out of Chloe's grip.

"Mr. Miller, she can't handle liquor. I'll drink it for her."

He downed the scotch in one gulp. The table fell silent for a heartbeat before someone laughed awkwardly to smooth things over.

"Look at that! Mr. Miller, only you could get him to drink. He normally never touches alcohol at these events!"

Miller’s face darkened before he slapped Lucas on the back with a dry chuckle. "Quite the white knight, aren't you?"

"She's an intern who barely knows how to format a spreadsheet. Dragging her out here is embarrassing enough," Lucas said bluntly, slamming the empty glass onto the table. He turned toward Chloe. "Why are you still sitting here? Did you finish the slide deck I asked for?"

Chloe caught on quickly and nodded frantically. "I'll go finish it right now!"

Lucas waved a dismissive hand, acting exasperated. "You don't need to attend these dinners anymore. Learn the basic workflows first."

Miller was right. Lucas truly was acting like a white knight.

Only he had abandoned me to go play hero for someone else.

"Mandy! Let's do a non-alcoholic toast over here!"