Chapter 1
Winona's POV:
I hefted my suitcase and headed for the door.
As I walked past Levi Ammen, he snapped his hand around my wrist, his voice thick with irritation.
"You better think this through carefully, Winona Martinez," Levi said, his grip tightening. "If you step out that door today, we're done. Even if you get down on your knees and beg me later, I'll never take you back."
I wrenched my hand out of his grip without a single second of hesitation.
"Got it, Mr. Ammen."
I immediately switched to the formal title I used at work, staring back at him perfectly calm.
"And I hope you won't summon me to your office for personal matters anymore, Mr. Ammen."
With that, I turned on my heel and strode out.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught it: Levi's face had twisted into a thunderous scowl.
I didn't spare him a second glance. I marched straight downstairs, slammed my car door and peeled out, driving back to the apartment I'd been renting on a long-term lease all this time.
For all the years I'd been living with Levi, I'd kept paying rent on this place every single month, no questions asked. Levi had complained about it more than once, saying I was going to cause unnecessary trouble. But now, as I pushed the front door open, all I felt was overwhelming relief that I'd had the foresight to plan ahead.
The apartment was quiet and empty. I slumped back against the couch, and the whole messy scene that had gone down in the office earlier came flooding back, vivid as if it had just happened.
The promotion results had just been posted.
Susan Anderson, Levi's special assistant, sauntered over to me right away. A clear schadenfreude glint was in her eyes, which she was barely bored to hide under a thin mask of fake sympathy.
"Such a shame, you were so close," Susan said, tilting her head with a plastic smile. "Better luck next time."
I looked straight at her sickeningly fake face, and didn't waste a single second beating around the bush.
"The new hire who just got off probation and skipped over me to get that position is your cousin, right?
"The proposal she submitted for the promotion? It's exactly the same as mine, down to the last punctuation mark."
Susan's face dropped instantly.
I didn't get to keep pressing her on it for long, though. Because right then, Levi walked in.
Everyone in the company knew Levi was Susan's ex-boyfriend.
The second he stepped through the door, he didn't even bother asking what had happened. He just turned that icy scowl right on me, chewing me out in front of the whole office.
"You lost, end of story," Levi said, stepping protectively in front of his assistant. "You're being petty and giving your coworker a hard time. Can't you handle losing gracefully?"
At that exact moment, Levi probably forgot one tiny, critical detail. Even if we never went public with it, he wasn't just Susan's ex, he was my boyfriend, too.
I froze solid right where I stood.
I stared at the two of them standing side by side, and spoke each word deliberately, "I will file an appeal with headquarters regarding the identical project proposals."
With that, I turned on my heel and walked away. But no one else knew just how badly I was shaking at that moment.
Later on, I got a call from Levi, who was ready to tear into me for causing trouble. He ripped into me over the phone, demanding to know why I was kicking up such a fuss.
I only had one line for him.
"Levi, we're done."
I squeezed my eyes shut, yanking myself out of those humiliating old memories. After sitting quiet on the couch for a long time, weighing every option, I grabbed my phone and pulled up the company intranet.
Without a single second of hesitation, I submitted my resignation online immediately.
I was done with Levi, and that stupid position? I didn't want that either.
