Chapter 4

Please. He really thought his word was law.

He probably thought the threat of being shipped off to New York would scare me into giving up my projects and begging him to let me stay.

Keep dreaming.

Since he didn't have the guts to tell me the truth, I played along. He thought dealing with my feelings was too much work, and honestly, explaining myself to him was exhausting.

Thank God my brain finally started working again.

Back in the room, Ethan noticed my tense expression. After the meeting adjourned, he invited me to a small private cocktail party to take my mind off things.

As I was leaving the venue later that evening, I ran into Liam standing near the entrance, his face dark.

He glared at Ethan, his expression murderous. I knew he was jumping to conclusions, but I couldn't care less. I walked right past him, treating him like a ghost.

Near the entrance of the parking garage, I bumped into him again, this time talking to one of our VPs.

"Liam, seriously, you need to talk to Evelyn," the VP was saying. "Are you really okay with sending her to New York alone to start from scratch?"

Liam scoffed. "She's expanding our market. Why wouldn't I be okay with it? Besides, she's definitely signed the relocation agreement by now. She's just throwing a tantrum to get my attention."

I paused, stepping right into their line of sight.

Liam quickly dismissed the VP. Ethan gave me a polite nod and walked ahead to give us space. Liam cornered me against my car.

"Going to parties behind my back and hanging out with our rivals? You're getting pretty bold, aren't you, Evelyn?"

"Did you think this would actually make me jealous?"

He grabbed my wrist, his voice dropping into that familiar, casual tone. "Fine, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you the other day. We're good now, right? Did you sign the transfer papers?"

Then, he hesitated before adding, "Also... do you mind taking a quick look at Chloe's budget draft? She's struggling with the numbers."

I stared at him in dead silence. The tension became thick enough to cut with a knife.

Right on cue, the click of high heels echoed through the garage. Chloe sauntered over, pouting. "Liam, the legal team is being so mean to me. Can you come help me look at this contract?"

Then, pretending to notice me for the first time, her eyes widened in fake surprise. "Oh! Evelyn! You're here too? Don't tell me you saw the industry press release about me being here and decided to follow us?"

"Please don't get the wrong idea. I just wanted to learn, so I begged Liam to bring me. I'm still so new to this and need all the exposure I can get."

Ugh. There it was again—that grating, manipulative tone.

I had zero energy to play along with her little drama. Taking advantage of Liam's momentary distraction, I yanked my hand free and went to open my car door. But Chloe stepped right in front of my car, blocking my way.