Chapter 5

Lily, my three-year-old daughter. Every morning when I left, she was still asleep, and by the time I got home, she was already in bed. For three straight days, the only interaction I had with her was a quick kiss on her forehead before I walked out the door.

"I’ll be home early tomorrow, I promise," I said, my voice a little thick.

"Don't push yourself too hard. She needs her mom."

"I know."

After hanging up, I leaned back and closed my eyes.

By the time I reached home, Lily was already asleep.

The nanny told me she had waited up for two hours, holding her coloring book on the couch until she couldn't keep her eyes open. She insisted on waiting for mommy to color the cat with her.

I walked softly into her room, watching her sleep with her tiny fist still clutching a crayon. A bit of drool was on her cheek.

Her coloring book was lying by her pillow. On the open page, there was a horribly lopsided drawing of a cat, with two words scribbled next to it: "Mommy Cat".

I sat by her bed for five minutes.

Then, my phone buzzed again.

Brooke was still posting in the Snapchat group, like she was on some kind of upper.

"Chloe Miller, you better not show your face tomorrow! If you do, I’ll personally throw you out! This company doesn't tolerate thieves!"

I didn't reply.

I locked my phone, climbed into bed, and closed my eyes.

Tomorrow was going to be fun.

The next morning at eight-thirty, I was sitting in the Starbucks right below our office building, sipping a latte while watching the security feed on my phone.

The Starbucks was owned by a subsidiary of our company. The manager knew me, so he always gave me an extra shot of espresso for free.

On the screen, Audrey, our HR Director, was walking through the front lobby with two corporate lawyers, right on time.

Upstairs, Marcus, our department manager, was probably sipping his morning tea, thinking about what to get for lunch, when his office door was thrown open.

"Come in," Marcus’s voice carried through the microphone, sounding full of himself.

Audrey walked in and dropped a folder onto his desk.

"Marcus, this is to inform you that effective immediately, Brooke Davis is terminated. This is a direct order from corporate, signed by Mr. Miller himself."

On screen, Marcus jumped up so fast he knocked his tea over, soaking a stack of files.

"What?! Terminated?!" Marcus’s chair banged against the cabinet behind him. "What did she even do?"

Audrey pointed at the paperwork, her face completely expressionless.

"She committed a severe breach of company policy during her contract—specifically, malicious harassment and defamation of a colleague, causing severe reputational damage to the company. It’s in black and white, right there in the employee handbook she signed."

She pulled a second document from her briefcase. "Additionally, the Legal Department has officially filed a lawsuit against Brooke Davis on behalf of Chloe Miller. This is a copy of the legal notice. Hand it to her when she arrives."

Marcus’s face turned white as a sheet, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Chloe Miller? She’s just a entry-level clerk. How does she have the corporate Legal Department fighting her battles?!"

Audrey leaned in, lowering her voice. "Marcus, let me give you a heads-up. Chloe Miller is the only daughter of Arthur Miller. Our CEO. He personally called me about this. You might want to tread very carefully."