"Yes, the intern. Leo, I think? Such a sweet boy. Wanted to get you something nice, cheer you up during all this stress you've been under." She ties the bouquet with twine, oblivious to the chill running down my spine. "Haven't seen him since, though. Did he end up getting you something?"
"No," I say slowly, my throat tightening. "He didn't."
Something about this feels wrong. Very wrong. I pay for the roses with shaking hands and step back out onto the street, Mrs. Bloom's innocent words echoing in my head.
Leo was asking about me. About my favorite flowers. And now...
My phone buzzes. A text from Lucy: "Can you call me? Something weird happened."
My stomach drops. I dial her number immediately, my unease growing into full-blown dread.
"Eve, thank God." Lucy sounds rattled, and Lucy never sounds rattled. "Leo quit. Just like that. Sent an email last night saying he had to leave the city for family reasons. Didn't even give two weeks' notice."
The roses suddenly feel heavy in my hands, like they weigh a thousand pounds. "Family reasons?"
"Yeah, super vague. And Eve, this is the weird part—I tried calling him to get more details, and his number's disconnected. Just... gone."
I stand on the sidewalk, people flowing around me like I'm a stone in a river, and something clicks into place. The bad review came right after Bryce's threat. The textile supplier canceled after I'd rejected Bryce's advances. And now Leo, who'd been asking about my favorite flowers, who'd made me laugh at lunch yesterday, has vanished.
It's a pattern. A deliberate, terrifying pattern.
Someone is removing people from my life. Systematically. Efficiently.
"Eve? You still there?"
"Yeah." My voice sounds distant even to my own ears. "Yeah, I'm here. Listen, don't worry about it. I'm sure he had his reasons."
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.
But as I end the call, I know with absolute certainty: someone is isolating me. Removing anyone who gets too close. Anyone who might... what? Care about me? Protect me?
And I have no idea how to stop them.
The thought makes me want to scream. Instead, I clutch my roses tighter and walk home, feeling more alone than I ever have.
***
The spa is supposed to be my sanctuary. Soft music, dim lighting, the scent of eucalyptus and lavender. A place where the chaos of the outside world can't touch me.
I need this. God, I need this so badly.
I'm lying on a massage table, wrapped in a plush robe, trying to calm my racing thoughts, when I hear his voice.
"Well, well. Eve Sinclair, hiding away."
No. No, no, no.
My eyes snap open. Bryce stands in the doorway of the treatment room, his face flushed with alcohol and malice, and terror floods my system.
"You need to leave." I sit up slowly, keeping my voice level despite the fury and fear rising in my chest. "This is a private area."
"Private?" He laughs, the sound ugly and sharp, and takes a step inside. My heart hammers against my ribs. "I followed you here. Nothing about you is private anymore, Eve. Everyone's going to see what a fraud you are. How you slept your way to your pathetic little company, how you have no real talent, how you're just—"
He followed me. He actually followed me here.
"Security." I don't raise my voice. Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing me rattled, even though I'm terrified. I simply press the call button on the wall with a shaking hand. "You have thirty seconds to leave before they escort you out."
His face contorts with rage, and for a second, I think he might lunge at me. My muscles tense, preparing to run. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you? But you're nothing. You hear me? Nothing! And when your company collapses—and it will—I'll be there to watch you fall."
