The weight of it nearly folds me. I press a fist into my chest, steadying the fury boiling up through me, the guilt crashing down hard.
Violet was innocent.
I should have known. God, I should have known.
The phone wobbles in my grip, my other hand curling into a fist tight enough to splinter bone, the cold creeping all the way up my arm. My heart’s punching a hole through my ribs — but the anger starts to settle. Not gone, just caged. Caged and waiting.
Because the truth cuts deeper than anything Elliot said.
Out of everyone, the person I hate the most is me.
I lift the phone back to my ear, voice low, stripped of anything human.
“You’re finished, Elliot.”
He doesn’t get a chance to reply. I hang up and let the phone drop onto the table, the screen still bright with his name.
That’s when I see her, Millie, gliding back toward me, her lip gloss fresh, her smile still painted on — like nothing’s changed. The beast in me wants to rage, tear the world down until there’s nothing left to destroy. But the only thing worse than what she’s done... is knowing I let it happen.
I should’ve trusted my gut. I should’ve trusted Violet.
But the past is already written. I can only fix what’s left.
So, I let the hatred simmer into something colder. Heavier. The kind that doesn’t explode but strikes without warning.
Millie slides back into the booth, her eyes bright like she’s having the best night ever — but I’m done playing nice. I lean back, watching her long enough that her smile wilts.
“You know, Millie, I almost believed you tonight.”
Her face pales. “Believed what?”
I narrow my gaze, studying her like the fraud she is. “That you gave a damn about Violet.”
She laughs, the sound hollow. “Of course, I care—”
I cut her dead.
“Save it.” I pick up her phone and pull the screen up, Elliot’s number still fresh on the call log.
“You really thought you’d get away with it? Framing Violet. Selling me out. All for what? A paycheck from Elliot and some sick little fantasy that I’d look at you the way I looked at her?”
Her throat bobs. “Chase, I can explain—”
“No, you can’t.”
I lean in just enough for her to recoil. “You sold out Violet and walked into my building every day pretending your hands were clean. You put my company, my future, her name — all on the line.” I pause. Let it land. “It’s over.”
She stares at me, trembling, lips parting, scrambling for some angle. I give her none.
“By the time I leave this restaurant, I’ll have security revoke your credentials, freeze your company accounts, and send your things to the curb. You don’t get to resign, Millie. You get erased.”
And then, before she can try her crocodile tears or some weak excuse, I hit harder.
“You didn’t just stab me in the back — you tried to destroy the one person I’d burn the world for. So here’s how this is going to go,” I snarl, my full viciousness dialed up to the max. “You’re done. Blacklisted. Every partner, every client, every friend you thought you had — gone.”
Tears well in her eyes, panic setting in.
“But if you want even a shot at walking out of here without a lawsuit, that’ll leave you paying me for the rest of your miserable life,” I sneer, my tone cool as ice. “You’re going to tell me where Violet is. And you’re going to do it now.”
