Parted After The StormChapter 3

"I lived like a ghost just to prove I was not the kind of woman you despised!"

Silas said nothing. He just stood there, hands shoved in his pockets, watching me fall apart.

My legs gave out. I sank to the floor, my hands pressed against the cold wood. Rainwater and tears dripped from my chin.

"Six years," I sobbed, my whole body shaking. "I tried so hard. Why do I have nothing to show for it? Why did it have to be you who ruined it?"

Silas's phone buzzed.

He answered it, and instantly, his voice softened into something incredibly gentle.

"Mina? Yeah, I am here."

"That market analysis... I will send you a template right now. No, it is not a bother at all."

Mina's voice leaked through the receiver, soft and insecure. "Mr. Blackwood, am I just completely useless at this?"

"You are not useless," he murmured. "I will walk you through it step by step."

A travel pack of tissues hit the floor next to my knee with a soft thud.

"If you are going to cry, do it quietly," Silas said coldly. "She is still at the office rushing a proposal. You can throw a pity party over a little failure, but at least give the people who actually want to succeed some peace and quiet."

When I walked into the office pantry the next morning, the room was buzzing with whispers.

The moment I stepped inside, the chatter died instantly. Someone coughed loudly. Another person stared intently at their empty coffee mug.

"Did you hear? The CEO's little pet project totally tanked."

"I always knew her whole independent boss-lady act was fake. God knows how long she has been sleeping her way up."

"Well, the new girl got it on pure talent. Mina did not need a sugar daddy."

"Maybe Aria is just getting too old to keep him interested in bed."

I stood frozen by the doorway, my fingernails digging into my palms so hard they almost drew blood.

Mina walked over, holding a freshly brewed mug of coffee.

"Aria, you are here." She looked up at me with wide, apologetic eyes. "I feel so terrible about yesterday. You are my senior, and winning against you just feels... wrong."

She held the mug out toward me. "Please let me buy you this coffee as an apology. I still have so much to learn from you."

She held the mug suspended in the air for a full five seconds.

I finally reached out to take it.

But the exact second my fingertips grazed the ceramic, she let go.

Scalding dark roast splashed across my chest and cascaded down to my stomach. I gasped, stumbling backward as the burning pain bit into my skin.

Mina froze for a split second, then stared at her own empty hands in horror.

"Aria... did you not have a grip on it?" she stammered, her eyes instantly welling up with tears. "I know you are mad at me, but you did not have to drop it on purpose."

Her voice trembled pitifully. "That coffee was literally boiling. It burned my fingers just holding it."

The entire room turned to glare at me.

"Mina tried to be nice, and she pulls a stunt like this? Letting it spill all over herself just to make the poor girl look bad?"

"Losing a promotion and throwing a tantrum like a toddler. How pathetic."

"What is going on in here?"

The crowd parted. Silas walked into the pantry.

His eyes swept over Mina's teary face, then landed on my ruined, coffee-stained silk blouse. His brows pulled together in a harsh frown.

"I tried to bring Aria a coffee, and she did not catch it," Mina sobbed quietly. "It was just an accident."

"I did not—" I started to speak.

"Did you burn your hands?" Silas cut me off, looking directly at Mina.

Mina glanced down at her pristine white cuff. There was a tiny, singular brown drop on the fabric.

"No, just a little splash," she whispered.

Silas finally looked at me. His eyes were like jagged ice.

"Clean up your own mess, Aria. Go buy her a new shirt."