The Suite Where She Left Me To Die

Chapter 3

I didn't take it.

"Thanks, I'm not used to Americanos."

Hannah slammed the coffee down on my desk and lowered her voice.

"If you hadn't had diarrhea last night, you'd be the one passing out afternoon coffee here today."

I spotted the white powder floating on the surface of the coffee right away.

She still hadn't given up. She was still trying to set me up as her fall guy.

I lifted my eyes to look at her.

"Then I really ought to thank my messed-up stomach for that."

Hannah gritted her teeth.

"Stop being so stubborn. Besides me, who else would even think of giving you a good opportunity like this? It's just satisfying one of Mr. Pierce's little kinks. Is it really worth resisting this much?"

She lowered her voice.

"I spiked it. Just close your eyes and it'll be over in the blink of an eye!"

I pushed the coffee back toward her.

"No thanks, I can't accept that."

Hannah glared at me in frustrated disappointment.

"Moron. You'd better be extra polite to me when you see me around the office from now on. If I'm in a good mood, I might even throw you a bone."

I leaned back against my chair.

"You're still a regular employee right now. Why should I be extra polite to you?"

Hannah let out a cold, sharp laugh.

"Not for long. Mr. Pierce said he's promoting me to project supervisor any day now."

I hit the enter key on my keyboard.

"Well then, congratulations in advance, Ms. Lane."

Hannah didn't get the rise out of me she was hoping for, so she spun on her heel to go brag to the other coworkers.

At the end of the workday, that same Maybach was parked out front again.

Under all the envious stares of our colleagues, Hannah pulled the door open and slid inside.

I stood on the steps, watching the car drive off into the distance.

My phone buzzed once. It was a message from Grace.

Grace: Katherine, get ready to hand off your current work tomorrow. Hannah's getting promoted.

I sent back a one-word reply.

Katherine: Okay.

A cold smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth.

The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

Did she actually think Matthew Pierce's little favors didn't come with a price tag a thousand times higher than what she was getting?

The day after Hannah got promoted, she moved into her own private office.

As soon as work started, she slammed a thick stack of reports down on my desk.

"Katherine, I want all this data double-checked by the end of the workday tonight."

I stared at the mountain of reports in front of me. There was enough work there to keep anyone busy for three full days, minimum.

"This is Project A, which you're in charge of. Why are you dumping it on me?"

Hannah crossed her arms and looked down her nose at me.

"I'm the supervisor now. If I say you do it, you do it."

I jabbed a finger at the company policy manual sitting on the edge of my desk.

"Company rules say reassigning staff across different projects needs the department manager's signature."

Hannah let out a sharp, mocking snort.

"Rules are fixed, but people aren't. You think I can't walk right up to the manager right now and tell him to fire you? He won't even dare say a damn thing."

I said nothing and pushed the reports aside.

"I still have to keep Project B on schedule. I don't have time."

Hannah slammed her palm down on my desk with a loud bang.

"Katherine, don't push your luck!"

All the coworkers in the office turned to look.

Thomas stepped in to smooth things over.

"Uh, Ms. Lane, Katherine really is pretty swamped right now. How about I help you knock out a couple of these reports?"

Hannah shot him a venomous glare.

"Mind your own damn business! Today, she does this work whether she likes it or not."

I stood up from my chair and stared her dead in the eye.

"What if I just refuse to do it?"

Hannah was so furious she was practically shaking. She stabbed a finger right at my face.

"Fine! You think you're real tough now, huh? You just wait!"