I took the package and opened it.

Inside was one of Barret's custom-tailored suits.

And a note that reeked of perfume.

"I had no idea you kept the clothes I gave you all this time. Thanks for spending the night with me the other day. You're so sweet."

The other day was my birthday.

I'd turned down Marcella Walker and the rest of my girlfriends for a night out. I'd bought all of Barret's favorite dishes and cooked an entire spread at home.

I waited for the birthday surprise he'd promised me.

Instead, I waited until midnight and got nothing but a phone call.

He said there was an emergency at the company. He wouldn't be back until the next day.

He swore up and down on the phone, apologizing, promising he'd make it up to me.

I believed him.

I even felt sorry for him, pulling an all-nighter at the office.

Turns out his "emergency" was spending the night with his college ex.

I looked up at the photo on the wall.

We'd taken it at the beach after we earned our first real profit from the company. In the picture, Barret was cupping my face in his hands, smiling at me like I was the only person in the world.

Tears slipped down from the corners of my eyes and splattered onto the back of my hand before I could stop them.

I ripped the photo off the wall.

The photo, the suit, the note. I shoved all of it into the trash.

The front door beeped with the sound of the keypad unlocking.

Barret walked in, propping up a pale-faced Queenie at his side.

The moment they stepped into the living room, they saw the mess on the floor and my packed suitcase.

"Maggie, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Barret let go of Queenie and strode toward me.

"Queenie just got back to the country. Her stomach condition flared up and she had no family around. I went to the hospital to look after her. What's the problem?"

"What, I'm not allowed to have a female friend after we get married?"

He pointed at me, his voice dripping with impatience.

"Your need to control everything is insane! You're completely unreasonable!"

Queenie tugged at his sleeve, her eyes rimmed red, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Barret, this is all my fault."

"Please don't fight because of me."

She turned to look at me, her voice small and wounded.

"Maggie, don't be angry with Barret. He runs the whole company every day. The pressure is enormous."

"If you love him, can't you be a little more understanding?"

"He didn't even eat a proper meal because he was taking care of me. It's all my fault."

"Why don't you go make him a bowl of noodles?"

As she spoke, she stumbled on purpose, letting her body fall against Barret.

"I'll leave right now. I'll never bother you two again."

"If you're upset, take it out on me. Yell at me, hit me, I don't care."

But for all her talk of leaving, she stayed pressed against Barret's chest, clinging to him like her life depended on it.

Barret looked at me with disappointment.

"Look at yourself. You don't have half the grace Queenie has!"

I looked at the two of them standing there together, grabbed the handle of my suitcase, and headed for the door.

"She's all yours."

Barret blocked the doorway in one step, a vein throbbing at his temple.

"Maggie! There's a limit to how childish you can be!"

"Are you done throwing your tantrum?"

"If you walk out that door today, don't ever think about coming back. You'll regret it!"

I looked at that familiar face of his.

"I won't."

I shoved past his shoulder and walked into the elevator without looking back.

Outside the building, Marcella's car was already parked at the curb.

She helped me stuff my luggage into the trunk.

The whole drive, she was so furious she kept smacking the steering wheel on my behalf.

"You had an offer from a top investment bank right out of college."

"For that loser Barret Henson, you stayed behind. You ate instant noodles with him for months, slept in a basement, and helped him build his company from nothing."

"You were so stupid!!"

I stared out the car window at the neon lights streaking past.

Yeah. I was a fool.

But who could say no to the boy she'd secretly loved for four years, the one who carried her out of a burning building on his back and then confessed his feelings right there in her hospital room?

I'd been naive enough to believe that everything we'd been through together could conquer anything.

I forgot that shared history could never compete with the one who got away—the girl a man kept on a pedestal in his heart.

And if I couldn't compete, then I was done trying.

That night, I slept like a rock in Marcella's guest room.

The next morning, I went to work as usual.

Love was gone, but the career I'd built with my own two hands? That was something I refused to lose.

I'd barely sat down when the internal line rang, summoning me to a meeting in the CEO's office.

I pushed open the conference room door.

Queenie was sitting in my seat—the vice president's chair.

She looked at me and smiled. A slow, deliberate smile.

Barret slid a thick stack of documents across the table toward her.

That was my core project proposal. Three months of late nights. Countless cups of black coffee. Every ounce of strategy I had.

"Queenie is officially joining the company starting today. She'll need to establish herself here with real results." Barret looked at me, his tone leaving no room for discussion. "This project will be handed over to her. She'll have full authority going forward."

I stared at him.

"Say that again."

Queenie blinked innocently, her voice soft and timid. "Maggie, Barret's always praising your work ethic in front of me."

"Like a workhorse, he says. Never asking for anything in return, just quietly grinding away."

"You're so talented—handing this one little project over to me and starting a new one should be a breeze for you, right?"

I walked forward and slammed my palm down on the conference table.

"I'm not handing over anything."

"I spent six months courting those investors. I threw up five times from stress lunches and dinners just to close that deal. And you want to hand it to her on a silver platter?"

Barret's expression darkened. "Maggie, don't bring your personal feelings into the workplace."

"Transfer all data access to Queenie immediately. This is the company's decision."

A cold laugh escaped me. "The company's decision? Half of this company was built on my blood and sweat."

Barret's voice dripped with contempt. "Don't you think a little too highly of yourself?"

"Without my name out there holding things down, you think you—you—could've brought in a single dollar of investment?"

One sentence. That was all it took to erase every year I'd given him.

I looked at this man, and whatever was left inside me went cold.

"Fine. Since you're so incredible."

I unclipped the ID badge from my chest and tossed it onto the table.

"I quit."

Barret let out a scornful laugh and approved it on the spot. "Done. Go file your paperwork." He leaned back. "I'd love to see where you end up without this company."

He was certain I was bluffing—using my career as a bargaining chip. Certain I'd never actually walk away.

After the meeting ended, I went to the break room to get some water.

Queenie followed me in and shut the door behind her.

The fragile act she'd worn in the conference room vanished. Her face was pure satisfaction.

"Maggie, you can't win against me."

"You know what Barret did after you left last night?"

"He got up at three in the morning to make me porridge. Fed it to me spoonful by spoonful."

"He said you're nothing but a money-grubbing shrew. Not a feminine bone in your body."

"He said just touching you made his skin crawl."

I filled a cup with cold water.

Turned around and threw it straight into Queenie's perfectly made-up face.

"Ahhh—!"

She shrieked, clutching her face as she crumpled to the floor.

The door burst open.

Barret rushed in and pulled Queenie behind him in one motion.

He yanked out tissues and dabbed at her face, his expression twisted with concern.

He whirled on me with a snarl. "Maggie! You have no class!"

I pulled out my phone and hit play.

Every word Queenie had said in the break room—every taunt, every insult—rang out crystal clear.

Barret's expression froze.

Queenie immediately latched onto his waist, sobbing.

"Barret, she called me a homewrecker first! I only snapped back because she provoked me!"

"You're my ex-boyfriend, but there was never anything improper between us while you two were together."

"How could she slander us like that? How am I supposed to show my face around here?"

Barret believed her instantly.

"Maggie, stop making a scene."

"And do you really have to be this vicious? How is Queenie supposed to hold her head up in this company after what you said?"

I didn't even bother looking at them again.

I walked around them and headed straight to my office to pack my things.

I put everything I needed into a cardboard box.

I had just picked it up when Barret walked in and gripped the edge.

"Alright, enough. Stop this. Once things settle down, I promise I'll make it up to you."

I peeled his fingers off one by one.

"Barret, I don't need you anymore."

I carried the box toward the front door.

Barret shouted after me, furious.

"Maggie! If you walk out that door today, don't ever think about coming back!"

I went back to Marcella's place.

When she found out I'd quit, she was so angry she hurled the glass in her hand against the wall.

"Maggie, have you lost your mind?!"

"You ate ramen with him! You slept on basement floors with him! You built that empire for him, and you're just going to hand it over to that snake on a silver platter?"

"I'm going over there right now and ending both of them!"

I grabbed Marcella before she could storm out.

She pulled me into a tight hug, her voice cracking.

"Don't worry. I'm going to find you the highest-paying job in the industry. We'll make that scumbag choke on his regret."

I thought she was just trying to make me feel better.

One day later.

I received an invitation from venture capital titan Bernard Delgado.

Bernard was my senior in college.

He was also Marcella's cousin.

Four years ago, he'd asked me to join his startup team.

I'd turned him down to help Barret instead.

Four years later, he'd become the kind of man whose every move sent shockwaves through the entire industry.

And he was still waiting for me.

"Come to the Delgados. I'll give you the platform, and you take back everything that belongs to you—with your own hands."

I didn't hesitate. I signed my name on the spot.

That evening, Bernard invited me to attend an industry gala as his plus-one.

I stepped into the ballroom wearing a gown his people had delivered to my door.

Bernard went to greet the hosts and told me to mingle on my own for a bit.

I had just taken a glass of champagne from a passing waiter's tray.

Barret walked toward me with Queenie on his arm, dressed to the nines.

She was draped over him like she had no spine, clinging to every inch of him.

Barret looked me up and down. When he noticed I'd gotten thinner, his brow furrowed.

"Where have you been the past few days? You can't even bother to eat properly? Starving yourself into this pathetic state—who's that performance for?"

"Sneaking into a gala of this caliber just to grovel and apologize to me, is that it?"

He was absolutely certain I couldn't survive without him.

Queenie sauntered up to me with a glass of red wine, her voice deliberately low.

"Maggie, doesn't this couture gown fit me perfectly?"

She thrust her chest forward, showing off her curves.

"Barret picked it out for me himself."

"He's so talented. Didn't even need my measurements—one touch and he knew every inch of my body."

I watched her preen like a circus act, my gaze ice-cold.

"If you want it all so badly, it's yours."

Queenie's face stiffened. She hadn't gotten the reaction she wanted.