Chapter 6 : Guilty By Design
588 Words
The office was unusually quiet that morning—too quiet.
Dahlia sat at her desk, eyes scanning through the project files for the Montclair Cosmetics rebranding launch. She had double-checked every line item, every quote, every supplier name. This was the most important internal branding pitch of the quarter, and she wasn’t about to mess it up.
Still, something in her gut twisted with unease.
Earlier that day, Mira, one of the assistants in PR, had casually passed by her desk with a sweet smile.
“Oh, by the way, Dahlia—Mr. Montclair requested the updated pitch deck to be sent directly to the investors before the meeting. He said no delays.”
Dahlia blinked. “But… I thought that presentation was still in the draft stage.”
Mira shrugged. “He said he trusted you to finalize it. Just make sure it’s sent before noon. Investors want efficiency.”
Dahlia hesitated, but Mira walked off before she could ask more.
⸻
At 11:45 AM, with her heart pounding, Dahlia emailed the deck to the investor contact list. She felt uneasy, but she had done what she was told.
Fifteen minutes later, chaos erupted.
The door to the main floor swung open hard, and Alaric Montclair’s voice—calm but edged with steel—rang through the space.
“Who authorized the premature release of the investor deck?”
Silence.
Then eyes slowly turned to Dahlia.
Her blood ran cold.
“I—I did. I was told you asked for it to be sent before the meeting.”
Alaric stepped forward, holding a printed copy of the deck. “This is incomplete. There are unverified numbers, placeholders still in the visuals, and notes that weren’t cleared for external use.”
His jaw clenched. “Who told you to send it?”
Dahlia turned her gaze toward Mira, who stood by the coffee machine, sipping slowly from a ceramic mug.
Mira smiled softly and gave a helpless shrug.
“I only mentioned that Mr. Montclair usually prefers no delays. I didn’t tell her to send anything. I assumed she’d check.”
Gasps echoed through the room.
A clean betrayal.
And everyone pretended not to see it.
⸻
Alaric turned back to Dahlia. “Come with me.”
She followed him to his office, her legs trembling.
He shut the door behind her, crossing his arms. “You’ve been here less than a week, and you’ve already made a critical error that could affect investor trust.”
She swallowed hard. “I was misled. I believed—”
“You believed what? That assumption replaces confirmation? This isn’t a charity, Miss Hart.”
His tone wasn’t raised, but it pierced deeper than any shout could.
She clenched her fists. “I’m not asking for charity. I’m asking for fairness.”
He stared at her. That something—a ghost of a memory—flashed across his eyes. It lingered, but only for a breath.
“Get out,” he said finally.
Her breath caught in her throat, but she turned and walked out.
Not a single person met her eyes as she passed.
⸻
That night, Dahlia sat at the kitchen table, her head in her hands, while Iris slept in the next room.
She had nothing left.
No friends in the office. No allies. No one who believed her.
Just the cold truth: she was alone again, just like the day Alaric left her.
Only this time, he was the one pushing her away all over again.
- Writer
