I didn't want some new accident cropping up later that would force me to apologize or play the bigger person.

But I hadn't expected that, after I turned down the lunch, Gavin would wave his hand and announce he was treating the whole company to dinner.

A head start on celebrating the IPO, he said.

By the time I'd changed clothes and been dragged inside by other employees, most people were already seated.

The chair to Gavin's left sat empty, a pink clutch resting on it.

Anna's.

I went straight to the farthest corner and sat down, right beside the service entrance where the food came out.

Gavin didn't glance my way the entire time.

Even as the dishes started arriving, Anna's bag stayed in the seat to his left.

And she herself sat on his right.

I understood now. This was my punishment for refusing Anna's apology lunch.

Once the food came, he peeled shrimp and served her.

Whatever she couldn't reach, he picked up with the serving chopsticks and set in her bowl.

He poured her juice, then slid a straw into the glass before handing it over.

The looks my coworkers were giving me had turned to pity and gossip.

I kept my head down and ate, saying nothing.

Then Anna came over to toast me, and I coldly begged off, saying my stomach was upset.

That, finally, earned me one glance from Gavin.

Just one, and then he called Anna back.

Halfway through the meal, one bite of something spicy set my stomach churning.

Anna saw the look on my face and, smiling sweetly, fished a glass of iced lemon water out of the ice bucket.

"Eunice, since you're not drinking, have this instead!"

She held it out.

I didn't take it.

Then her hand slipped, and the whole glass of ice water dumped straight onto my thigh.

My pants were soaked through in an instant, the cold so sharp it sent a shudder through me.

But Gavin slammed his chopsticks down.

"Eunice, what is wrong with you? You wouldn't take the coffee, you wouldn't take the toast, and now you won't take the lemon water either! Knocking it over on purpose, just to pull some manipulative little act and smear Anna?"

He hadn't said a word to the one who'd actually caused it, yet here he was, blaming me with no chance to explain.

I gave him one cold look and, under the watching eyes of my coworkers, spoke evenly.

"When my stomach hurts, I can't have coffee, I can't eat anything spicy, and I can't drink anything cold."

Gavin froze for a beat, his brows knitting together.

"That dish you just ate was one I ordered specifically for you. It isn't spicy at all! Keep this up and you've gone too far!"

"That dish is very spicy."

He didn't believe me. He took a bite, and his face changed completely.

Gavin flagged down a server and asked them to bring me some warm water.

He said not one word about why the dish had been so spicy.

My stomach twisted in waves of pain, and I couldn't hold back the urge to throw up.

As I stood to leave the private room, I bumped into the server carrying the warm water, sending them stumbling.

Gavin assumed I'd done it on purpose and smashed his glass down on the spot.

"Eunice, if you're not going to eat, then go home and rest!"

Everyone watched me clutch my stomach and run out, and not one of them dared say a thing.

Behind me, Anna said in a small voice,

"Mr. Gilbert, is Eunice upset? Should I go smooth things over with her?"

Gavin's voice was strained with impatience.

"Leave her be. It's a bad habit we've spoiled into her. She'll come around on her own in a couple of days."

I ducked into the restroom and threw up until I could barely stand.

That dish had looked mild, but it had chili extract in it.

Anna had done it on purpose. No question.

I didn't go back to the private room. I hailed a cab straight home.

That night, Gavin came back from a private dinner, just the two of them, with Anna.

"We've got an early flight tomorrow, the timing's too tight, so Anna's sleeping over at our place tonight. You take the couch."

"You're making me sleep on the couch?"

There were three bedrooms in the house.

And he actually wanted me on the couch?

Gavin stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, righteous as could be.

"Anna takes the master bedroom, I take the guest room, and her cat gets the side room. You're allergic, aren't you? So poor little Coco gets squeezed in there too."

I looked at Gavin.

"Why don't you sleep on the couch?"

"Anna and I have an early flight tomorrow to ring the bell. We need to sleep well and rest up. You're not going to the ceremony anyway. You can sleep the whole day at home and no one will bother you."

I didn't look at him again. I turned and went to the bedroom to pack.

Gavin seemed thoroughly pleased with how reasonable I was being, and grabbed a change of clothes to go shower.

Anna walked into the bedroom holding the cat, her tone dripping with provocation.

"Eunice, are you upset? I really didn't expect Gavin to treat me this well. Forget the gown and the diamond ring. Even my little Coco gets a room all to herself..."

Thinking of the dish she'd sabotaged on purpose, I called her out coldly.

She didn't care in the slightest.

"Yeah, I paid off someone in the kitchen to do it. So what? I could spill on you a hundred times on purpose and Gavin still wouldn't blame me. He'd just blame you for being petty and not generous enough."

She was right.

I said nothing more and let her provoke me however she liked.

By the time I'd finished packing and was leaving, the recording of her taunts ran a full half hour.

Gavin finished washing up and walked out just as I was about to leave. His face dropped instantly.

"Eunice, what are you pulling now?"

I didn't make a sound. I pulled my suitcase toward the door.

"Stop right there!"

Gavin strode over and grabbed the handle of my suitcase, yanking it back.

I froze, but I didn't let go.

As the two of us pulled at it, the suitcase wobbled and the corner knocked against the wall.

The cat in Anna's arms was startled by the noise and suddenly launched off her toward me.

Its claws raked across my forearm, a hot, stinging line.

I sucked in a breath and let go, and instinctively kicked the cat away with my foot.

Not hard. Just enough to fend it off.

The cat landed on the floor, arched its back, and started to yowl.

Anna shrieked.

"Coco, are you okay? You're a pregnant mama! What if something happens to my grandbabies?"

She crouched down and scooped the cat up, tears coming on cue.

Gavin didn't even glance at me.

He bent down and took the cat, cradling it against his chest, gently stroking its fur and murmuring to soothe it.

"It's okay, it's okay, let Daddy see if you're hurt."

"Come on, let's go down to the pet hospital and get you checked."

Watching their backs as they left, I lowered my head, dazed, and looked at the blood welling up from the gash on my arm.

Somewhere along the way, without my knowing it, Gavin had become a cat's daddy.

So he and Anna weren't far off from making a real baby of their own, either.

At the hospital, while they cleaned the wound and gave me the rabies shot, a message came in from Gavin.

【I booked you a hotel and had the front desk get some allergy medicine ready for you. Just bear with it tonight. I'm worried Coco will get stressed out again if she sees you. After we're back from the bell-ringing, I'll go take the wedding photos with you.】

I looked at the standard room he'd booked at the hotel next to our complex, and a cold I couldn't name settled over me.

I didn't answer him, and I didn't go to the standard room he'd booked. I booked myself a deluxe king suite instead.

The next day, when Matthew Sanchez learned the cat had scratched me, he came straight to the hotel with his legal team.

At the same time, to thank her followers, Anna livestreamed the bell-ringing ceremony.

Gavin stood dead center, brimming with pride.

Anna stood beside him in my champagne-colored couture, her arm hooked through his.

That blue diamond on her ring finger was blindingly bright.

Matthew, standing up for me, deliberately ducked into the livestream and asked who the beauty was next to Gavin. Anna's followers said:

"Are you blind? They're that close, they've obviously got to be a couple! The two of them look perfect together."

Gavin didn't deny a word of it.

All Matthew had done was point out that Gavin's fiancée didn't look anything like that, and Anna had him muted and booted straight out of the livestream.

I let out a soft scoff and signed the share transfer agreement without a moment's hesitation, pressing my thumbprint to it.

Then I had it notarized.

Right as Gavin was about to ring the opening bell, my end of the transfer was fully complete.

The staff got the system alert, and almost as one their faces went pale.

Then they brought Gavin's bell-ringing ceremony to a hard stop.

"Mr. Gilbert, we're very sorry to inform you that, due to a major change in your company's ownership structure, the IPO ceremony ends here."