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My smirk went stale, dread snaking around my heart, dragging it to the pit of my stomach. “What?”
Adrien clucked his tongue with sarcastic disappointment, then lifted the large leaf he’d been inspecting. “There.”
I blinked at the sparkling spec hidden underneath the stem, my mouth parting as a scream built in my throat. Was he fucking joking? “You said my job was to remove the glitter from the soil. The leaves and stems were supposed to have been cleaned already.”
He’d said the janitorial staff had cleaned the majority of the mess, but he wasn’t going to make them dig through dirt. Which was why I’d been tasked with it. That waswhat he’d said.
“Did I?” Adrien mocked. “Are you sure?”
And holy shit, he wasn’t going to do this to me. I was going tokill himif he even thought about doing this to me.
“Yes,” I managed to grind out, even though it felt like my teeth had been sewn shut.
Adrien clocked my anger and smirked, entirely too pleased with how quickly he’d been able to rile me up. And then he fucking did it. The bastard tapped the leaf with his index finger until the little sparkle lost its grip and fell… right onto the soil I’d spent all night clearing.
And oh my god, I was going to be arrested for the murder of Adrien Cloutier. I was going to wrap an entire fucking fern around his stupid neck and strangle the life right out of his freaky eyes. The trial was going to be broadcasted live, and I was going to proudly plead guilty and brand myself as a hero to the people.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I asked, rising to my feet. The edges of my vision were tinting red, and I swear if Alba’s entire livelihood wasn’t on the line, I’d have started kicking and smashing pots and plants.
I was so. Insanely.
Frustrated.
And then he laughed—he fuckinglaughed—at me. Chuckled. Like I was a stupid toddler throwing a stupid tantrum over a stupid toy, and not a full-grown adult running through murder weapons in my head.
The sound of his chuckle grated against my nerves, and I had to physically stop myself from lunging across the table and tackling him to the ground.
I hated him. Ihatedhim.
I glared, my molars threatening to crack and crumble as Adrien walked to his desk, waving a dismissive hand in my general direction. “You can leave now.”
No.Fuckno. “I’m not going anywhere. We had a deal.”
“Yes. And you failed the task,” he said coolly, sitting down.
Fire. I was going to set his stupid plants—this entire stupid office—on fucking fire. “Do you have any ideawhat it actually took for me to get this all done on time?”
My fingers, my eyes, my legs, my neck—everythinghurt. Everything was stiff and tired and sore. Everything was depleted and I felt… so exhausted. I hadn’t pulled an all-nighter in almost a decade. I was tired, sore, on the brink of tears, and he couldn’t fucking do this to me.
I wasn’t going to let him do this to me.
“We had a deal,” I repeated, a hint of desperation sneaking into my voice. “You said—you promised—that you’d give Alba her job back if I did this.”
“No,” Adrien purred, shoulders widening as he leaned back in his chair. “I said I’d consider allowing you to earn your sister’s job back if you completed the task on time. Which you failed to do.”
I opened my mouth to bite back but stopped myself just in time. Because I saw where it would lead. I saw the rage and venom in Adrien’s eyes, poorly masked by his cocky smirk.
He hated me.
And I wasn’t talking about a mild, overexaggerated sense of dislike. The man absolutely despised me because of what I’d done and wanted nothing more than to get his revenge. That was what all this was about.
I let out a heavy breath and forced my fists to relax, because as much as I wanted to tell Adrien to go fuck himself with a cactus, what Ineededwasto make things right for Alba.
So, I dragged a hand through my hair and stalked across the large office, until I reached his desk.
“You’re taking this out on the wrong person,” I said, failing to keep my voice steady. “Alba doesn’t deserve to be punished like this for what I did, and you know it. Youknowhow much she cares about this job, how hard she’s worked for you.”
Adrien didn’t say anything, but I thought I saw his shoulders stiffen just slightly.
