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.

Then she flashed a knowing smile.

Queenie stumbled on her own feet, holding her wine glass as she deliberately crashed into me.

Red wine splashed all over my gown.

"Oh no!"

Queenie was the first to cry out, falling backward onto the floor.

"Maggie, I know you're jealous that Barret bought me this dress, but you can't just shove me like that!"

Everyone around us turned to look.

Barret strode over and pulled Queenie into his arms.

"Queenie, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

He turned his head and looked at me with disappointment in his eyes.

"Maggie, apologize to Queenie. Now."

"Unless you want me to have security escort you out. Don't test me."

I raised the champagne in my hand, ready to throw it right back.

A suit jacket settled over my shoulders from behind, carrying the cool scent of cedarwood.

Bernard's tall frame stepped between us, shielding me completely.

He drew a handkerchief from his pocket and, with effortless composure, dabbed the wine that had splattered near my collarbone.

Then he turned around.

"Allow me to introduce Ms. Maggie Sullivan, the newest partner at the Delgados, personally recruited at a premium."

"She's also my date for the evening."

The room erupted.

Barret's face went white. He stood frozen in place.

Bernard was the investor he'd spent an entire month courting.

Barret panicked. He grabbed for my arm.

"Maggie, when did you meet Mr. Delgado? Why didn't you tell me?"

I stepped back, dodging his touch.

I lifted my champagne glass and tipped it toward him in a hollow toast.

"Mr. Henson. If you'll excuse me."

I took Bernard's arm and walked out under the awed stares of every person in that room.

Bernard dropped me off at Marcella's place.

The moment he left, my phone erupted with vibrations.

The hospital.

"Are you family? The patient is critical. Get here now!"

I grabbed a cab and raced to the city hospital.

When I burst through the doors of the emergency wing, I saw Barret standing there.

When Grandma Linda Sullivan had been admitted, she'd listed both my number and his as emergency contacts.

A doctor rushed out clutching a critical condition notice.

"Ms. Sullivan, the patient is in multi-organ failure. She needs an injection of R3, the imported emergency drug, or she won't make it."

"The hospital's supply is gone. You need to find it yourself. There isn't much time."

I pulled out my phone and started calling everyone I knew.

A hand pressed down over my screen. Barret was staring at me.

"Don't bother."

"The only three doses of that drug left in the city were just bought out. By me."

He turned and walked toward the family consultation room nearby.

"Come in."

A cold-storage case sat on the table.

Barret loosened his tie and leaned back in his chair.

"The medicine's right here."

"Maggie, all you have to do is come back to work, convince Bernard to increase his investment in the company."

"Then apologize to Queenie. Admit you were wrong. Promise you won't give her trouble again."

"Do that, and I'll hand this to the doctors right now."

Queenie was perched on the sofa. She picked up the cold-storage case and turned it over in her hands.

"Maggie, Barret's really doing this for your own good."

"A woman's husband should always come before her career. You know that."

I clenched my jaw and stared at Barret.

"That medicine is the only thing keeping my grandmother alive!"

"Barret! When your startup was on the verge of collapse, my grandmother gave you her life savings so you could make payroll!"

"She treated you like her own grandson!"

"And now you're holding her life hostage to blackmail me?"

"Are you even human?"

When he heard me invoke what my grandmother had done for him, something flickered in Barret's eyes. A flash of guilt.

His mouth opened.

Queenie immediately leaned in and wrapped herself around his arm.