Chapter 2

The chat went into another frenzy.

"Holy crap, she has severe anxiety?! She pushed an engineer off a core project last quarter citing mental health issues, yet she's the one popping pills?!"

"No wonder she walks around with a resting bitch face like we all owe her money. She's literally crazy!"

"People praised her ruthless layoffs, but turns out she's just using a mental disorder as a get-out-of-jail-free card!"

"Mr. Vance is an angel. Sticking by her even though she’s unstable."

Chloe let the comments scroll for a while before picking up the mic again.

"Serena, Julian once confided in me that you were the most unstable HR director he had ever managed."

"Tell us: how can someone who relies on daily medication to regulate their mood be trusted to make rational, unbiased corporate decisions?"

She paused, offering a sugary-sweet smile.

"After all, every decision HR makes affects our employees' livelihoods. Wouldn't you agree?"

Staring at our intimate messages blasted across the screen, my fingernails dug so hard into my palms that they drew blood.

Those dark, vulnerable midnight breakdowns... the painful secrets I thought only Julian and I shared.

Here they were, displayed for a thousand employees to gawk at, mock, and dissect.

How did Chloe get these screenshots? The answer was painfully obvious.

Julian sent them to her.

She didn't steal them. She didn't hack his phone. He offered them to her on a silver platter.

On some quiet night, right after whispering sweet nothings to me, he had turned around and shared my deepest pain and vulnerability with his pretty assistant as casual gossip.

Memories flashed through my mind.

Last winter at the corporate gala, Chloe showed up beside Julian wearing a gown almost identical to mine.

I thought it was just an awkward coincidence. Julian told me she was young and clueless, telling me not to make a fuss. And I believed him.

Two years ago, after I returned from a week-long business trip, Chloe was promoted from an entry-level clerk to executive assistant, and her desk was moved directly outside Julian’s office.

Julian said she showed great potential, that we needed to nurture new talent, and that keeping her close was the best way to train her.

And I believed him.

Over the past five years, every time Julian and I argued, Chloe somehow happened to be right there. She would hand me a warm latte with a demure sigh: *"Please don't be mad at Mr. Vance, Serena. He only wants what’s best for you."*

I had never once suspected her.

Looking back, it wasn't that she was clever. It was that I was an absolute fool.

The warmth in my chest froze over completely. I pulled my eyes away from the screen and looked through the glass at Chloe.

"Chloe, do you have any idea what the legal ramifications are for publicly doxxing private medical records?"

She blinked, clearly caught off guard by my icy calm, then put on an injured, innocent face.

"Serena, I'm just voicing the questions everyone has been whispering about. Besides, you're about to marry the CEO. You owe the staff transparency. I'm only doing this for Julian's sake."

I ignored her and looked straight at Julian.

"I will say this one last time. Order Chloe to shut this stream down."

My tone was dangerously sharp.

I thought Julian would read the room and stop pushing his luck. Instead, he chuckled softly.

He took another slow drag of his cigarette.

"Why do you have to take everything so seriously, Serena? It’s completely unprofessional."

"Chloe is just having a little fun. Why make a mountain out of a molehill?"

He said it so smoothly, so dismissively.

As if I were throwing a childish tantrum. As if being locked in a studio and having my psychiatric history broadcast to a thousand employees was nothing more than harmless office banter.

The last trace of affection inside me died right then and there.