“Daphne,” Fiona’s snotty voice said. “Trevor is looking for you.”

  Seriously? Daphne looked up from her work. Rather than the smile that Fiona typically had on her face whenever she told Daphne that Trevor was looking for her, Fiona looked upset and displeased.

  “Did he say why?” Daphne asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice.

  Fiona scowled at her. “Why would I know?” she asked. She snarled at Daphne. “He said something about directors, or something like that.”

  Daphne’s heart dropped as Fiona sat down on the other side of their shared cubicle wall. Daphne let out a heavy sigh. Maybe Trevor found a way to get me out of this company sooner than my two weeks were supposed to be.

  Daphne dragged herself up out of her office chair and began her daunting journey to Trevor’s office. Her stomach twisted around inside of her. This is probably one of the last times I’ll be going to Trevor’s office. And still, the feeling of dread has not lessened at all. I bet I would feel this way walking this path if I ever came back to this office in the future.

  She reached Trevor’s office door and took a deep breath, trying to steady her dizzying reaction to being at the threshold of his office again. If he let’s me go early, I’ll be fine, Daphne reminded herself. I have quite a chunk of savings since I haven’t been throwing money to my worthless boyfriend like I was during my first go at this life. Plus it would only be a week and a half early.

  Still, Daphne swallowed hard, her hand shaking a little as she knocked on Trevor’s door. This very well could be the last time I ever have to knock on this door to see my wretched boss.

  “Come in!” Trevor said through the door.

  Daphne opened the door, staring at the carpet as she let herself into the room, closing the door behind her.

  “You asked for me?” Daphne murmured before looking up at Trevor. She took a step back, having to clamp her jaw shut as she took in the haggard man in front of her.

  This…is Trevor?

  His eyes were sunken in, and his face was pale and wan. A wedding ring sat in the center of his desk as if he had been playing with it instead of working.

  I didn’t even realize he was married…

  Daphne had to swallow some bile. So, he was cheating on his wife with Fiona?

  “…Are you alright?” Daphne asked. Trevor’s blue eyes met hers.

  “Do I look like I’m alright?” he snapped at Daphne, before he sighed, putting his head in his hands. “Asher put his two weeks in almost immediately after you, and ever since that day, everything has been falling apart.” He regarded Daphne warily. “Ever since that day I’ve been getting tons of messages and requests from both managers and directors about seeing if there was anything I could do to get either of you to stay.”

  Daphne’s heart soared. At least I was valued by someone in this shit hole organization. She peered down at the broken man in his manager chair. He was the very man who had made her life at work absolutely hell. He’s finally getting what he deserved all along.

  “You know what else happened on that day?” Trevor asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “What’s that?” Daphne asked, feeling a lump grow in her throat.

  “An investigation was launched into me that very afternoon.” Trevor was staring daggers into her eyes.

  Don’t look away, she told herself.

  “Do you know anything about that?” Trevor asked, cocking his head to the side and raising his eyebrows.

  “I don’t,” Daphne replied, pursing her lips.

  But I imagine it’s probably Asher’s doing, she added in her mind.

  She had to hold back a smile by pressing her lips together tighter. How amusing it is to see him crushed under the weight of his own actions.

  “Are you absolutely certain?” Trevor asked. “You didn’t hear anything from any of the other employees either?” He crossed his arms on his desk, studying Daphne closely.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “I haven’t heard anything,” Daphne replied, feeling her smile tugging at the corners of her lips again. “I’m sorry to hear you’re dealing with that, sir,” she said.

  “Yeah, I’m really sure you are,” Trevor snapped back, with a deep frown, looking like he didn’t believe a single word she said.

  Daphne nodded, not really sure what else to say.

  “Well, whether you were the cause of it or not, I’m sure you’ll be happy to learn that I’ve been fired.”

  Daphne bit down on one of her cheeks, having to fight even harder to keep the smile off of her face. “I can’t imagine why you think I would be happy to see you fired, sir,” Daphne replied.

  Trevor narrowed his eyes at her. “Keep telling yourself that,” he murmured. He cleared his throat. “Either way, I will be gone the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and my boss gave me one more task.”

  “What’s that?” Daphne asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “I am supposed to counteroffer whoever you might be quitting for,” Trevor said, kicking his boots up onto the desk. “They want to offer you my position instead to keep you here.”

  Daphne felt her eyebrows shoot up, and her mouth threatened to fall agape once more. “What?” she asked.

  “I think I probably don’t need to repeat myself,” Trevor said, scowling at her.

  Why me? Why not Asher? Why not someone else on the project manager team? I’m sure there would be other’s far more suited to the role than I… Daphne thought of Holly. She would be a far better manager than me. She may not have been working this job as long as I have, but she has far more leadership skills than I do.

  “I-I see,” Daphne replied, not quite sure what to say again. While it wasn’t unusual for Trevor to leave her at a loss for words, it had never been a positive reason before.

  “Of course it would be a significant pay bump per year. There are additional benefits to the role, like being able to go to conferences and have your professional certification paid for every year by the company. Among other benefits, of course.”

  Daphne’s heart fluttered and her stomach tightened. If I stay, those are all such big bonuses. But I would have to manage the team…in a lot of ways that would be really hard because I’ve been so standoffish with them this entire time… She swallowed hard, feeling the temptation rush over her.

  But with the new job, I’m already going to get a lot of those benefits he just mentioned anyway…I will get a pay raise, and I won’t have to manage people…plus there would be the added bonus of still getting to be near Asher, and knowing there’s a good chance that the killer won’t know where I work.

  “So, what do you think?” Trevor asked, a smirky smile plastered on his face.

  I can’t do it. A manager role is just not for me.

  “Sorry,” Daphne said, frowning. “But I’m not really interested.” She looked around the room. It could have been her office, but there was a part of her that knew she would always see it as Trevor’s office.

  I have too many bad memories here. Even the walk to my office every day would be difficult, because I would always be reminded of Trevor and how he treated me.

  The smile fell off of Trevor’s face. “What did you just say?” he asked. “You’re not interested?” He sat up, pulling his shoes off the desk in front of her, eyeballing her closely.

  “I prefer to work with projects and the teams working on those projects,” Daphne replied. As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew they were true. If it was anything she absolutely did love about her job, it was how many new people she got to meet and interact with on a regular basis.

  Trevor pulled himself out of his chair, landing on his knees next to his desk. Daphne took another step backward. What?

  “Daphne,” Trevor murmured. “Please reconsider. I’m telling you, this place will be so much better for you with me gone and you running it.”

  Daphne’s eyebrows knitted together, and she felt her eyes narrow as she frowned. Trevor is begging me to stay? I never thought I’d see anything like this in my life. He must be getting something out of convincing me to stay and be the manager. She shook her head at him. It’s the only thing that makes sense with the kind of person that he is.

  “No thank you,” Daphne replied firmly again. “I have no interest in being a manager.” She turned on her heel and walked out of Trevor’s office for the last time.

  What the fuck was that?

  ~

  Daphne’s stomach lurched. What the hell kind of power trip is Mother on? She made her maid work on Thanksgiving? She’s not even going to let her maid spend the holiday with her own family?

  Lily came out with a heaping plate of food and sat it in front Kimberly. Out of all of the things my mother could do, having a maid provide service on a holiday is one of the most entitled. I hope she’s at least paying her well for the time.

  The seating arrangement was exactly the same that it had been for the family dinner where Kimberly had revealed the Kimberly Woods Foundation. Kimberly was on Daphne’s left, and on her right sat her brother Ollie. Once again, across from her sat her older brother Cy and his girlfriend Victoria, who seemed to be one of the longest-term girlfriends Cy had ever had. Daphne wasn’t sure what to make of Victoria’s presence…She found it hard to believe that Cy was trying to settle down, finally, as most people who were trying to settle down didn’t steal cars and do drugs in them.

  Daphne hadn’t looked at her older brother once she’d sat down at the dinner table. Unlike the last dinner, the air was thick with a tension that no one seemed to want to comment on or acknowledge. She wondered if part of it was because half of the table knew that Cy had stolen her car, only for their mother to bail him out.

  As Lily put down a plate in front of Cy, Daphne finally looked at him, and felt her stomach turn at the sight. His pupils were as large as saucers and he had deep, almost bruise like bags under his eyes. His hair was a mess, and his cheeks were sunken a little, as if he hadn’t been eating enough.

  What the hell? It’s only been about a month since I last saw him…how could so much have changed in that short timeframe? When did he get hooked on drugs? Daphne swallowed hard. On TV he always looks like a well put together business owner. Why has mother never mentioned that Cy has a drug problem?