Her face was white. She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue, the sharp pain forcing her mind back into focus.
"On what grounds are you convicting me without hearing my side?"
"You all know perfectly well who's really behind this. Don't even think about pinning it on me."
"Pinnacle wants to investigate? Fine. I'll cooperate fully. But until that investigation is complete, I am not leaving this firm."
She reached for her phone.
Olympia hadn't expected that. A flash of panic crossed her eyes, and she looked at Bryce with a silent plea.
In the next second, Bryce snatched the phone from Rosamond's hand and smashed it against the floor.
"Rosamond, enough! Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough already?"
"Stop making a scene. Come home with me quietly, or things are going to get worse for everyone."
He was threatening her.
Winslow stared at Rosamond, his voice flat and detached.
"Rosamond, whether you stay at this firm is no longer your decision. If you won't resign, I'll have no choice but to terminate you."
"And when that happens, your reputation in this industry will be finished."
A chill settled deep inside her.
She looked at Winslow, the man who had once fought beside her, who had been both mentor and friend. He wore a different face now.
When she first joined, this firm had been a failing practice on the verge of shutting its doors. She had worked around the clock, hunting down cases, building connections, pulling it back from the brink and growing it into what it was today.
Back then, Winslow had taken her hand and told her the firm was as much hers as his. That they would watch it thrive together.
But somewhere along the way, he had changed. And now he was siding with outsiders to force her out.
For the first time in her life, Rosamond felt completely lost.
Without her realizing when it happened, Olympia had turned every person around her. Rosamond was truly, utterly alone.
Rosamond's throat felt stuffed with cotton, dry and raw.
Her fingers curled slowly into her palms, and her chest seized as though something had clamped down around her heart, squeezing until the air refused to come.
After a long silence, she looked at Bryce and Garrett, her voice low and steady:
"Fine. I'll resign from the firm."
She wanted to see exactly how far the firm would get without her.
Bryce visibly relaxed when she agreed.
He reached for her hand: