Chapter 3

His grip was brutal, and he shook me until the room spun.

The wound on my arm slammed into the doorframe, and the pain shot through me.

I hissed in a sharp breath.

"Let go of me!"

"No! Not until you agree!"

He was like a madman.

Just then, a figure stepped in front of me.

It was Howard.

He was dressed in casual clothes, a medical kit in one hand.

He must have come to change my dressing.

Howard seized Phil's wrist, and with the smallest pressure forced him to let go of me.

"Sir, please let go of this woman."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a force that left no room for argument.

Phil looked at him, froze for a second, then rage flared in his eyes.

"Who the hell are you? This is between us. Get lost!"

"I'm her doctor." Howard shielded me behind him. "And she doesn't look like she wants to talk to you."

"Doctor?" Phil sneered. "Looks to me like it's more than a doctor and a patient. Kayla, you don't waste time, do you? Lined up the next one already?"

His words cut like knives.

I was shaking with fury.

"Phil, you bastard!"

"I'm the bastard?" He jabbed a finger at Howard. "You're dumping me for some pretty boy? What were our ten years worth?"

I couldn't believe those words had come out of his mouth.

Howard's face darkened too.

"Sir, watch your mouth."

"I need you to teach me?" Phil lost it completely and swung a fist straight at Howard.

I screamed.

Howard reacted fast, twisted aside, and in the same motion locked Phil's arm behind his back.

Clean, no wasted movement.

Phil struggled, still spitting filth.

"Kayla, it's for him, isn't it? Tell me!"

I looked at how crazed he was, and all I felt was that he was a stranger, and pathetic.

"Yes."

I spoke. My voice wasn't loud, but it reached his ears clearly.

"I did it for him, all right? Now you can get lost."

Phil went still.

He stared at me in disbelief, his eyes completely shattered.

Howard glanced back at me too, something complicated in his look.

I ignored it and only repeated: "Get out."

The strength seemed to drain out of Phil, and Howard pushed him out without effort.

I slammed the door shut.

The world was finally quiet.

I leaned against the door and slowly slid down to the floor.

Howard crouched down and looked at me.

"Are you okay?"

I shook my head, then nodded.

"Thank you."

"Did he hurt you?" He pointed at my wound.

A little blood had seeped through the gauze.

"It's fine."

He opened the medical kit and silently tended to the wound again.

Disinfect, medicate, wrap.

His hands were very gentle.

"Just now..." He hesitated. "When you said that, you were doing it to make him angry, weren't you?"

I didn't look at him.

"Does it matter either way?"

He said nothing more.

The only sound left in the room was the faint rustle of him unwinding the gauze.

After a moment, he said quietly: "Sorry, I didn't mean to overhear the two of you..."

"It's fine." I cut him off. "I'm the one who should apologize, for dragging you into this."

"I don't mind." He said. "If you need it, I can go on playing your 'next one' anytime."

I raised my head and met his clear eyes.

There was a faint trace of a smile in them.

My heart skipped a beat.

......

Phil didn't come looking for me again.

But it wasn't over.

A week later, the company suddenly brought in a deputy director from outside, and she happened to be over our department.

It was Sarah.

She walked into the office in a sharp business suit and heels, radiant and full of herself.

When she saw me, the smile at the corner of her mouth widened.

"Kayla, long time no see."

The coworkers were all whispering.

No one knew about me and Phil, and even less about the history between me and Sarah.

All they knew was that the new deputy director was young and pretty, with an impressive background.

Word was she was a relative of the big boss at headquarters.

I knew this was Phil's doing.

He couldn't come himself, so he sent Sarah.

This was meant to torment me.

Sure enough, the first thing Sarah did after taking the post was hand off one of my important projects to someone else.

Her reason: "Kayla hasn't been in a good place lately. Let her handle some simpler work first, get herself back on track."

She dressed it up in high-sounding words, and no one in the office dared object.

I'd been on that project for almost half a year. Every bit of my effort was in it.

And now she'd lifted it away, light as a feather.

I went straight to her office.

"Sarah, what's this supposed to mean?"

She sat behind the wide desk, unhurriedly stirring her coffee.

"Kayla, mind your attitude. I'm your superior now."

"I'm asking you about the project."

"Oh, that project." She set the coffee cup down and smiled. "I don't think you're the right fit, so I swapped people. Is there a problem?"

"You're taking petty personal revenge."

"And what if I am?" She stood, came around to me, and dropped her voice. "Kayla, you think breaking up with Phil means it's over? Let me tell you, as long as I'm here, you can forget about having an easy day."

Her eyes were full of smugness and challenge.

"Don't forget, Phil's company is the biggest client this department has. One word from me and your numbers this year are finished. And when that happens, guess who the boss keeps, you or me?"

I clenched my fists.

She wasn't wrong.

Phil's company held the lifeline of our department.

"You think this is how you get rid of me?" I sneered. "You're underestimating me."

"Is that so? Then we'll see."

Sarah turned back to her seat and stopped paying me any attention.

I came out of her office and ran straight into the department director.

The director looked at me, his face pained.

"Kayla, Deputy Director Winfield means well for you. That project of yours... just set it aside for now."

I knew he was under pressure too.

I didn't say anything and went back to my desk.

I opened my computer, and the screen filled with the countless versions of the plan I'd made for that project.

It felt like a wad of cotton was stuffed in my chest.

In the days that followed, Sarah found every way to make my life hard.

Either she'd send me to make hundreds of copies of pointless documents, or she'd dump tasks on me that couldn't possibly be finished.

The coworkers all saw it, but none of them dared to speak up.

Some quietly advised me to either put up with it or leave.

I didn't want to leave.