April:the engagement is FAKE
April:for REVENGE
April:totally normal
Laura:Nothing about that sentence is normal.
Laura:Nothing about this DAY is normal.
Laura:Are you having a breakdown.
Laura:Is this a breakdown.
Laura:Should I call someone.
April:im fine
April:better than fine
April:IM THRIVING
Laura:People who are thriving do not type in all caps about fake engagements.
Laura:Call me when you're done thriving.
Laura:I'll be here.
Laura:Worried.
SIX
The Sterling Standard
April
The doors of the executive elevator opened with the kind of silence that cost extra, and Liam Sterling stepped into the executive suite like a man who'd never needed to announce himself in his life.
If Chad were a car, he'd be a Tesla. White, with vanity plates reading VP-MKT. The kind that made a lot of noise about being quiet, that promised the world but might still go up in a fiery explosion on the freeway.
Liam Sterling was a 1961 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. The kind of vehicle that didn't need to announce itself because everyone already knew its legacy.
Liam had expected the usual mid-afternoon theater: people pretending to work, Chad pretending to matter, April pretending she was fine.
Instead, he walked into a bullpen that looked like the aftermath of a royal wedding. Lobster shells in trash cans. Champagne flutes abandoned on desks like evidence.
April was at her desk staring at her spreadsheet with the serene focus of a woman watching a slow-motion car crash she had personally scheduled.
On her left hand, the Blackwood heirloom diamond threw hard flashes of light every time she moved her mouse.
Liam's gaze locked on it immediately.
A rare crack appeared in his polished veneer. He looked at the ring. Then at the executive offices. Then back at April. Sharp amusement crossed his features.
"Oh."
"I came here to give Chad a watch so he wouldn't look like a total failure on your anniversary," Liam said, tossing the gift onto a nearby desk.
“The one he gave you is fake.” The silver box hit like the ding of canceled Outlook meeting nobody bothered to delete.
