“Maddie, what are you doing?”
“You lied to me.” I enunciate every word. “I believed you. I was a fucking fool.”
“Maddie.” His tone is held back thunder. “You are interrupting an important meeting.”
“I don’t care.”
“Leave.” No one moves a muscle. “Now!” he barks.
Chairs scratch the floor as the staff rises and scurries out.
Once they’re all gone, Chance levels me with a steely gaze. “This had better be good.”
“You lied about the fucking PA position!”
He looks clueless so I explain. He can’t pretend not to know what he did.
“You told me you had a PA that left when that’s a blatant lie. There was no one, and there’ll be no one after me.”
His eyes shutter, but he doesn’t look away.
“Can’t deny it now, can you?” I spit. “Oh, goodness.”
I run my fingers through my hair and pace. How was I such a fool?
I should’ve linked all the little clues, but I was too busy getting lost in Chance’s eyes to actually think.
His handwriting was in all the notes I received. There is no actual office or designation for the PA. He manages just fine most times and I have to force him to abdicate my duties to me.
“Why did you lie?” I face him. His jaw flexes, but he doesn’t speak. “Was it to keep me here? To be your fake girlfriend? To decorate your office? To be the joke of the entire building?” I gulp back tears. “Well, you got what you wanted, but I’m done.”
He flinches.
“I’m done with all of this!” I gesture around us. “I quit. You can keep your fake PA job and your fake everything!” I yell, then storm out.
A tear leaks out of my eye. I dart a hand and wipe it off but another quickly replaces it. I hurry past Julia, ignoring her when she calls out.
I need to get away from here.Away from him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Maddie
I strip my clothes off the hangers in the closet and toss them in the open suitcase on the bed. Half of them spill over the edge and the rest lie haphazardly in the suitcase.
Ignoring the mess, I go for another set. My hands shake as I toss them in the suitcase.
Slips of clothes still hang in the closet, but I don’t care. I’ll find where to fit them later. I just need to know I’ve gotten my bags packed and ready to go.
A bitter tear catches in my throat. I swallow it down and force my shaking hands to keep working.
I stuff the clothes in the suitcase and punch down, then I throw the lid over it and drag it so the edges of the zipper line up.
I pull the zip, but halfway through, it gets stuck. I lean over the lid, eyeing the spot.
It’s caught on a dress.
Shit.
