237 unread messages.
The newest ones appeared every second.
Wait…
isn’t Ms. Sullivan married?
Wasn’t she seen with Mr. Blackwood tonight?
Tell me this isn’t about the promotion…
I knew something was going on.
Someone had attached a blurry photograph.
Vance.
Me.
Laughing across the table.
Someone had circled the distance between us in red.
I stared at the picture.
It had been taken from inside the restaurant.
Not by accident.
On purpose.
I hadn’t slept well that night.
Every time I closed my eyes I saw the photograph.
By morning it had spread farther than I wanted to imagine.
The email went out at 9 AM.
Subject: Leadership Announcement
Please join me in congratulating Nerissa Sullivan on her promotion to Vice President of Strategic Operations…
My inbox exploded within minutes as if they had anticipated and waited for this moment.
Congratulations from people who’d never spoken to me.
Questions from colleagues.
A calendar invite from HR for a “transition meeting.”
At 9:15, my phone buzzed.
Not a call.
A text.
Zane: I heard you’re getting promoted.
We need to talk.
Call me.
I stared at the message.
A cold trickle of understanding dripped down my spine.
I heard.
Even someone who didn’t work here already knew.
The announcement was 15 minutes old.
It was internal.
For Astera employees only.
Zane didn’t work here.
He had no friends here.
He wouldn’t be on any industry mailing lists that would get this news this fast.
There was only one person who would have seen this email immediately and had a reason to run to tell him.
One person with a vested, panicked interest in making him question my sudden rise.
Jovi.
She had eyes here.
She even had people followed me and Vance last night.
Someone was feeding her information.
An assistant?
A friend in HR?
The realization turned the office air colder. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
My promotion wasn’t just a career move; it was a move in a game where my opponent had spies in my camp.
I didn’t call Zane back.
By 10 AM, the whispers worsened.
People stop talking when I walked in.
I noticed some of them gathered while holding their phone, but the moment they noticed me, they the phones disappeared.
Someone immediately looked away.
Some whispered and looked at my directed.
Someone smiled at me, but I could see it from her eyes, it was not a genuine smile.
Magdalena from accounting cornered me by the coffee machine.
“So, It finally out huh? VP,” she said, her voice sweet but her eyes sharp.
“That was fast.
Especially after…
everything.”
”After what?” I asked, my voice neutral, but my mind was racing.
Was it you?
Are you Jovi’s eyes?
She smiled tightly.
“You know.
The rumors.
About you and Mr. Blackwood being seen together.”
”I work closely with the CEO on the Zenith merger,” I said, pouring my coffee.
“It’s not surprising we’d have meetings.”
”Late dinners at the Lexington Club are more than meetings,” she murmured before walking away.
My face felt hot, but I kept walking.
This was part of the plan.
The rumors were the point.
But now, every side glance felt like a potential leak.
Every tight smile felt like a secret sent to my husband’s lover.
At 11 AM, I had to go to HR.
Linda, the director, offered me a tight smile.
“Congratulations, Nerissa.
This is quite the jump.
Usually, we’d have a longer process, but Mr. Blackwood was…
insistent.”
”Was there a problem?” I asked, watching her carefully.
Was she the leak?
Did she report to Jovi?
“No, no,” she said too quickly, avoiding my eyes.
“It’s just unusual. But your work on Harrington speaks for itself.”
She was lying.
There had been problems.
Vance had pushed this through.
And Linda’s discomfort could be professional…
or it could be personal loyalty to the CEO’s wife.
I signed the papers.
The salary number made my head spin.
But the victory felt hollow with a target on my back.
When I got back to my desk, Vance’s assistant was waiting.
“Mr. Blackwood wants to see you in your new office.”
”My new office?”
She smiled, and it seemed genuine.
“Follow me.”
She led me to the executive floor.
To a corner office with a window.
With a door that closed.
Vance was standing inside, looking out at the city.
He turned when I entered.
For a second, I saw it—that same unguarded appreciation from last night.
The way his eyes softened just slightly before the mask slid back into place.
“It’s yours,” he said.
I walked in, closing the door behind me.
The weight of what I’d just signed pressed against my ribs, but I forced my voice steady.
“Zane knows about the promotion already.”
Vance went still.
“They leaked it before HR.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Faster than I expected.”
”He texted me.
‘I heard you’re getting promoted.’ The announcement went out 15 minutes ago.
He’s an architect.
He has no access to our internal memos.”
Vance’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes turned icy.
“Jovienne.”
”It has to be.
She has someone here.
Feeding her information.”
He was quiet for a moment, thinking.
Then, instead of anger, something else crossed his face—almost satisfaction.
“This is useful to know. It means she’s scared.” He looked at me.
“Did you reply?”
”No.”
”Good.
Let her wonder.
Let him wonder.
Uncertainty is a better weapon than any accusation.” He walked toward me, stopping a few feet away.
“This changes nothing about your job.
Except now you know the walls have ears.
Be careful what you say, and to whom.”
”I will be.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
“The promotion changes things.
People will watch you more closely.
Every mistake will be magnified.
Every success will be questioned.”
”I know.”
”Good.” He turned to leave, then paused at the door.
Without looking back, he added, “You handled yourself well last night. Better than I expected.”
He could have praised me last night.
But he didn’t.
He waited until now, in private, with the door closed.
Like he’d been holding onto it, waiting for the right moment to let it slip.
“The laugh was particularly effective,” he said quietly.
Then he was gone, closing the door behind him.
The laugh…
the mention of it somehow warmed something inside my heart.
Vance left me alone in my new office.
Then five minutes later his assistant walked in.
“Mr. Blackwood forgot this.”
She put down a folder.
Before leaving she hesitated.
“…One more thing.”
”What?”
”There was another candidate for this office.”
”…Who?”
She swallowed.
“Mrs. Blackwood.”
”…She wanted this office?”
The assistant looked horrified.
“No.”
Her voice dropped to almost a whisper.
“She already had it.”