Still, he recovered fast, bulldozing forward with the same shameless confidence.

"Hilda, you jump to conclusions over every little thing! The reason Ellie and I were at that club is because the client wanted to go dancing. He insisted we join him or he wouldn't sign. What were we supposed to do?"

"You didn't even bother to get the full picture before putting me on trial?"

"I'm warning you—stop wasting my time with this garbage. Your sales numbers are in the gutter this month. If you don't step it up, don't blame me when your entire paycheck disappears."

"And don't forget, we split everything fifty-fifty. If you can't pull your weight, I have zero obligation to carry you."

"When that day comes, you could get on your knees and beg, and I still wouldn't forgive you."

Three threats in a row. A perfect trifecta of audacity.

I was the one who had maneuvered him into that corner office, who had built the ladder he climbed rung by rung. And this was how he spoke to me.

A laugh escaped my lips, quiet and razor-edged. "Damian, I could beg for change on a street corner and I still wouldn't take a single dollar from you."

"Besides, you've already lost the right to make me bow."

He stared at me as if I'd told the funniest joke he'd ever heard.

"Who do you think you are, Hilda? You're nothing but a low-level sales rep!"

"Since you don't know what's good for you, you can kiss your entire paycheck goodbye!"

With that, he stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door. The lock clicked shut behind him.

The air in the living room turned suffocating.

Then a wave of dizziness hit me out of nowhere.

I remembered the doctor's warning: my anemia meant I couldn't afford to get worked up.

But it was too late. The room was already spinning. My knees buckled, and I hit the floor hard.

I needed to call 911, but my phone was in the bedroom. I dragged myself to the door and tried the handle.

Locked.

I knocked. Then I pounded.

All I got back was Damian's cold, contemptuous laugh.

"Begging already? Too late for that."

Then silence.

For half an hour, I lay crumpled against that door, consciousness slipping further away with every passing minute. Damian only opened it because he needed the bathroom.

He looked down at me sprawled on the floor and scoffed.

"Nice act."

He stepped over me and walked into the bathroom.

When he came back out, I hadn't moved. Not an inch.