"I can accept being let go because I'm not good enough. What I will never accept is Shelagh using filthy tactics like this to get ahead."

"The reason I lost control of my bladder in front of everyone was because—"

"I know."

Drew cut me off.

He looked up, his expression calm and unyielding.

"I reviewed the footage. But I run Stellaris. The company's long-term future has to come first."

"And for that future, I need you to be the one who takes the hit."

Something cracked inside my chest.

Quietly, irreversibly, like a thing that would never fit back together.

All the fight drained out of me at once.

I nodded, set the proposal on his desk, and left.

I held myself together all the way to the break room.

I just wanted a cup of coffee to steady my nerves.

That was when I overheard a few colleagues talking.

"Is Delilah really getting fired? She's so talented, and she's been here since the beginning. Would Mr. Henson actually let her go?"

"You don't know? Our brand-new director is the one that got away for Mr. Henson."

"He only confessed to Delilah back then because he didn't have anyone useful by his side."