I knew the artifacts upstairs didn't matter to me anymore.

I'd placed them there to suppress and stabilize the company's fortune. But the moment I left, those same artifacts would stop suppressing anything. Instead, they'd begin draining the company's luck like a siphon.

For the Hensons, it would only accelerate their ruin.

My original plan had been simple: even after getting fired, I'd retrieve what was mine. Old Mr. Henson had treated me decently enough back in the day, and I figured I owed him that much consideration.

But Toby wouldn't let me take them.

Since he'd made that clear, I had nothing left to worry about.

Still, before I left, I turned to him. "Mr. Henson, I've been terminated."

"I'll need you to provide me with a formal dismissal letter."

Before Toby could even respond, Abigail whipped out a termination letter and flung it at me.

"Already done."

"Celine, hurry up and leave. It's come to this and you're still trying to leech off company resources?"

I smiled, took the letter, and walked out without another word.

That same day, I called my mentor.

I told Mentor Elara everything about Toby firing me.

She sighed. "I owed old man Henson a favor. That's why, when he asked you to go stabilize the Henson family's fortune, I couldn't refuse."

"If the Hensons don't want you there, then come home."

She hung up after that.

I knew she was angry. She'd been reluctant to send me to the Hensons' company as their good-luck charm in the first place. She never expected them to not only take me for granted, but to fire me on top of it.

After the call, I started getting ready to head home. People might have thought I'd been doing nothing at the company all these years, but I'd never taken a single day off. I knew that as long as I was there, the company would run smoothly.

Now that they didn't need me anymore, I was free to go wherever I wanted.

I booked a flight to a scenic resort town. I planned to leave that very day.

I'd just finished packing and was heading for the door when I saw Abigail standing outside my apartment with a few people in tow.

"Celine! I knew you'd still be here."

She stared at me, her expression ice-cold. "I just found out this apartment was rented for you by the company."

"You're not an employee anymore."

"You need to move out. Now."

The look on her face was pure disgust.

I heard her out, then smiled.

"Sure."

"I was just leaving, actually."

"If the company's paying for this apartment, I don't want it."

I tossed the apartment key into her hand.

"There. Key's returned. I'll be on my way."

I turned to leave.

But before I could take a step, Abigail grabbed my arm.

Her eyes locked onto my suitcase. "Celine, I suspect there are things in that suitcase that don't belong to you."

"You can leave, fine. But not before I've inspected everything."

Her voice was sharp and cold.

I froze for a second, then spoke evenly. "Abigail, everything in here is mine."

"You have no right to search it."

"Besides, this is my home. What could I possibly be taking?"

The moment those words left my mouth, I turned to leave.

But Abigail wouldn't let it go.

She grabbed my suitcase and slammed it onto the ground.

I stared at her, disbelief written across my face. She'd actually smashed my suitcase. And she wasn't done. She stepped forward and kicked it hard.

I tried to stop her, but Abigail ordered the people with her to pin me down. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't break free.

She looked down at me, her eyes dripping with contempt.

Then she kicked through the clothes in my suitcase, tossing them onto the ground one by one, until she spotted the jar at the bottom.

The second I saw her reach for it, my blood ran cold.

"Abigail, don't touch that jar!" I screamed.

She didn't even flinch. She snatched it up and shook it right in front of my face, hard and deliberate.

My heart seized.

That was when Toby appeared, right on her heels.

"Toby, don't let her touch that jar!" I shouted at him, my voice cracking. "What's inside is tied to the Henson family's lifeline!"

Every ounce of breath I had went into that warning.

But Abigail's answer was a swift kick to my side. Pain tore through me, and the color drained from my face.

Even then, I kept my eyes locked on Toby. I needed him to understand. That jar held something vital to his family.

Abigail heard me and let out a cold laugh.

Then she raised the jar high above her head.

In the next instant, she hurled it to the ground.

The jar shattered on impact. Copper coins scattered across the floor, spinning and rolling in every direction. My expression had already changed the moment it left her hands.

Abigail glanced at the coins, then turned on her heel. "I thought it was something important."

"A bunch of worthless old coins, and you were guarding them like treasure!"

She walked away without a backward glance. Toby gave the coins on the floor one disgusted look and moved to follow her.

I stood frozen in place, staring at the wreckage.

Only I knew what that broken jar meant.

Those coins held the Henson family's financial fortune. Boyd had always treated me decently, so even after I'd been thrown out, I'd kept the jar safe. My plan had been simple: wait for Boyd to come back and hand it over to him. That way, even if the Hensons' business hit rough waters, they wouldn't go under.

But now the jar was shattered, and I knew with absolute certainty that everything had changed.

"The Hensons are going to go bankrupt," I murmured, staring at the coins strewn across the floor.

I shook my head. Abigail and Toby had been the ones to break it. It had nothing to do with me anymore.

Toby had been walking away, but he stopped mid-step. He turned back. "Celine, what did you just say?"

"Toby, the coins in that jar held your family's financial luck." I met his gaze without wavering. "The jar is broken now. Your family won't be able to hold on to its wealth."

I glanced between him and Abigail as I said it.

Toby's face went dark, his jaw tight with barely contained fury.

Then he fixed me with a frigid stare. "Celine, you think I don't know what you're trying to do?"

"You're just trying to worm your way back into our company with this little stunt!"

"You really think I'd believe that a bunch of worthless copper coins in a jar could protect the Henson family's fortune?"

"Celine, our family supported you for three full years. That's more than enough!"

"I've already given your position to Abigail."

"As for you? We're done."

I listened to Toby's words and let out a quiet laugh.

None of it mattered to me anymore.

After all, I wasn't the one who caused any of this.

I rose slowly, gathered the coins and the shattered fragments of the jar, and placed them into a fresh bag.

Then I snapped a photo and sent it to Mentor Elara.

"Mentor, Toby brought Abigail here. She smashed the jar that held the Henson family's fortune."

The reply came almost instantly.

"If the Hensons destroyed it themselves, then it's no longer your concern."

Mentor Elara followed up with a transfer of money. She told me to take some time to relax, then come home when I was ready.

I agreed without hesitation.

I packed up the rest of my things and headed straight for the scenic district. These past few years, buried in work at the company, I'd never once taken a real vacation. Now, finally, I had the time.

But while I was enjoying myself, a push notification lit up my phone screen.

I tapped it open, and my fingers went still.

There had been an incident at the Henson company. A fire at one of their factories had torn through more than half the building.

I hadn't expected the fallout to hit them this hard, this fast.

I shook my head after a moment. Toby was the one who let Abigail smash that jar. Whatever disasters befell the Hensons now had nothing to do with me.

I set my phone down and turned to continue sightseeing.

But before I could take a single step, my phone rang.

Toby's name flashed on the screen.

"Celine, you vicious woman!"

His voice crackled with rage on the other end.

I froze. "Toby, what are you talking about?"

The words had barely left my mouth before he was shouting again. "How could you be so heartless?"

"Just because we let you go, you burned down our factory?"

I stood there, stunned.

Their factory burned down, and somehow that was my fault?

"Toby, have you lost your mind? How could I possibly have set fire to your factory?"

Impatience bled into my voice.

Before I could say another word, a second voice cut through the line. Abigail's.

"Celine, you're the one who set that fire! Don't even try to deny it!"

"We've already called the police. Just you wait. They'll be coming for you soon enough!"