But I hadn't done anything wrong. Why should I apologize to her?
"Stewart, what if I say no?"
He stared at me with that look, as though he had me all figured out, and let out a single contemptuous scoff.
"You're clinging on and refusing to leave because you want money. Just say it."
He pulled out a checkbook, scrawled a few strokes with a flourish, and slapped it on the desk.
"You were with me for years, so I'll be generous. A hundred thousand should cover it. Now go stand in front of the entire company and clarify that Vivian is not the other woman."
Employees had crowded around the office doorway, craning their necks for the show.
Feeling every last one of those contemptuous stares boring into me, I laughed. For real this time.
So that was all I was worth. A hundred thousand dollars.
"What's so funny? Think it's not enough? Every meal you ate, every thing you used these past years came out of my pocket."
"You should be grateful I'm offering you a hundred grand at all."
Listening to him say it with such righteous conviction, I felt nothing but a bone-deep bleakness.
I must have been blind to have loved a man like this for six whole years.
I reached across the desk and picked up the check. Slowly.
A knowing smirk tugged at the corner of Stewart's mouth.
Then, right in front of him, I tore it to shreds.
"Keep the money. Your happy little family of three is going to need it."
And that day was coming sooner than he thought.
Stewart's face twisted with humiliated rage.
"Leonora, I told you the wedding is just postponed! It's not like I said I'd never marry you!"
He still believed that no matter how far he pushed, I'd be standing in the same spot, waiting.
But betrayal was the one thing I would never forgive.
"Save it. You'd better enjoy your wedding with her while you can. It might just be the last party you ever throw."
The words left my mouth laced with ice.
"Leonora, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He noticed me bending down to gather my things from the floor, and he froze mid-step:
"You're quitting?"
"There's no reason for me to stay."
I packed my belongings into a box without once looking up at him.
"Fine! Then get the hell out of my sight! Once you leave Delgado Corp, let's see which company in this city would dare hire you!"
### Chapter 4
He was seething, teeth clenched, shouting at me like a cornered animal.