"Rosa, I'm the CEO of this company. If people found out I have that kind of... preference, what would they think of me?"
"Stop making a scene. I know you're innocent. Isn't that enough? Why do you care what strangers think?"
Rosamond almost laughed:
"What they'd think of you? Do you have any idea what they're saying about me right now?"
She held on to her last shred of hope, locked her eyes on his, and spoke each word with deliberate weight:
"Bryce. I'm asking you. Please. Hold a press conference and clear my name."
"If this isn't dealt with now, my career is over."
Bryce glanced at her, something conflicted stirring behind his gaze.
After a few seconds of silence, he took her hand. His voice turned soft, almost tender:
"Rosa, why don't you just... resign?"
Rosamond stared at him in disbelief as he continued:
"My business is big enough now. You don't need to work. Use this as your exit. Come home. Be my partner behind the scenes."
"Mom's been asking when we're going to have kids. You could focus on that."
"As for the firm and all the clients you've built up, you can hand everything over to Olympia. She's smart and capable. She'll do a great job."
Rosamond's heart shattered into countless pieces, each one sharp enough to steal her breath.
This was the man she had defied her parents to marry.
His childhood sweetheart had smeared her name and destroyed her reputation, and his answer was to give that woman everything Rosamond had built.
Her mother had been right. Bryce Delgado was not a man worth trusting with a lifetime.
She thought of the immigration documents her mother had sent her the night before. And finally, the decision settled into place.
She would leave the country with her parents.
As for Bryce Delgado, she was done.
Rosamond lifted her gaze to Bryce, searching his face as though she could see straight through to whatever was left of his conscience. Her eyes were bleak with despair, but her voice held steady, grief and resolve wound tight together.
"Absolutely not. I will never give up my career."
"If you won't help me clear my name, then I'll find the evidence myself."
Even if she had to leave, she would leave with her reputation intact.
She turned without waiting for his reaction and walked toward the door.
She didn't make it two steps past the threshold before she saw Olympia Galloway.