He Kissed His Secretary In Front Of Me

Chapter 2

For a moment, nobody moved.

Lucas took the ring and slid it back onto my finger, soothing me as if I were a sulking cat.

"You know Chloe doesn't think before she acts. She didn't mean any harm. Why embarrass everyone?"

Chloe huddled against him, all wide eyes and innocence. He patted my shoulder.

"You've scared her. Apologize."

I laughed. I was too angry to do anything else.

When I'd first joined the company, he would never have spoken to me like that. If I worked late, he'd find a reason to pass my desk, clear his throat, and say, "It's late. I'll drive you home."

It didn't matter how long I stayed. Knowing he'd be there made me feel safe.

He'd had a man transferred to a branch office for looking at me too long. Booked an entire floor of a restaurant for my birthday because I'd said I wanted a quiet dinner. At the annual company gala, he'd told everyone, "Rachel Bennett is with me. Anyone gives her trouble, they answer to me."

Back then, he'd always taken my side.

Then Chloe arrived, an intern who spilled coffee on important documents her very first day. Lucas told her off in front of everyone. She bit her lip, eyes filling.

"I'm sorry. I'll be more careful."

The next week, she sent a client email to the whole company. Every time she messed up, he came down hard on her. And every time, I felt sorry for her.

"She's just out of college, Lucas. Give her time. We all make mistakes."

He'd relax, and little by little, he started letting things slide.

It was the dumbest thing I'd ever done.

I covered for her mistakes, stayed late to fix her work, and walked her through the procedures she didn't understand. When she was put in charge of her first project, I brought an iced latte to her desk to celebrate.

"Rachel, no one's ever been this good to me," she'd said, crying.

Then she ended up in his bed.

Lucas let her. When I confronted him, he'd stroke my hair and smile.

"Weren't you the one who told me to go easy on her?"

Now I knocked his hand off my shoulder and slapped him. Hard.

"Apologize? For what?"

The room went dead quiet. His head whipped to the side, and the mark of my hand was spreading across his cheek.

Chloe shrieked and lunged at me, her hand raised. Lucas caught her wrist.

"Don't touch her."

"Lucas! She hit you!"

He ignored her and turned back to me with a relieved smile, his voice low and coaxing.

"Feel better? Good. Now leave Chloe alone."

I stared at him. Something tore loose inside my chest, leaving a hollow space where the pain had been.

5 years. I'd given up my career, worked as his assistant, put up with Chloe, and waited through three canceled weddings. Every time, I'd told myself he loved me.

Looking at that familiar face, I realized I didn't want to wait anymore.

"Fine. You can have each other."

I walked out.

*****

My new employer was holding a welcome reception for me tomorrow. I needed to get my resignation sorted out first.

At Lucas's company, the woman in HR went pale when she read it and hurried to push open his office door. I spotted Chloe crouching under his desk.

She scrambled up when she spotted me, tugging her crooked collar into place. Lucas barely reacted.

"Now you're bringing your tantrum into my office?"

I slapped the Separation Agreement onto his desk. He glanced at it and pushed it aside.

"Where do you think you're going, Rachel? You've spent 5 years doing odd jobs here. You have no idea how the real world works anymore."

"Sign it."

"You don't even have a résumé. What are you going to put on it? Photocopying? Who's going to hire you?"

Chloe laughed. "Be mad at him if you want, Rachel. But don't throw away your job over it."

"Sign it, Lucas. Stop wasting everyone's time."

He gave a disbelieving laugh, scrawled his name, and flung the papers at my head.

"Go on, then. See how far you get. Don't come crying to me when you can't make rent."

His voice carried far enough for the people outside to turn and stare. I left without looking back.

3 days earlier, one of his competitors had approached me. They'd discovered I used to be CFO at a major company, and they wanted me badly enough to pay for it.

With the wedding so close, I'd been about to turn them down.

Now that offer was my way out.

*****

I went back to the house we'd shared for 5 years and packed. My hand hovered over the gemstone necklace in my jewelry box.

At an auction 3 years ago, Lucas had kept bidding, clearly willing to pay whatever it took. From $4.5 million to over $15 million, he hadn't blinked.

But when he put it on me, his hands shook.

"There's only one of these in the world," he'd murmured. "And only one woman who deserves it."

I dropped it into the trash. So much for being his one and only.

I wasn't taking anything of his with me.