Fired
807 Words
Mathias’ house didn’t look like a home.
It looked like control.
Everything was glass and steel and cold precision, from the polished marble floors to the high ceilings that made her footsteps echo as though the space itself was judging her. Even the silence felt intentional — like nothing was allowed to exist there without permission.
Cofie hadn’t slept.
She had tried.
But every time she closed her eyes, she saw it again.
The television screen.
The headline.
Her name.
And worse—
Her firm’s name attached to it.
Junior Associate at Hargrove & Daniels Law Firm Involved in Billionaire Scandal
Her stomach twisted violently at the memory.
She was a lawyer.
Her entire career depended on credibility. On discretion. On professionalism.
Clients trusted lawyers with secrets that could destroy lives. Firms trusted lawyers not to become public embarrassment.
And now—
Her phone lay on the bedside table where she had left it the night before, powered off like a bomb she was too afraid to touch.
But she couldn’t avoid it forever.
With shaking hands, she reached for it.
Turned it on.
It exploded to life instantly.
Missed calls flooded her screen.
Dozens.
Emails.
Messages.
Notifications from news outlets she had never even heard of.
Her breath hitched as she scrolled — until she saw it.
An email from Hargrove & Daniels.
Her chest tightened.
No.
No no no—
Her fingers trembled as she opened it.
---
Subject: Immediate Meeting Required
Ms. Thorne,
Due to recent media coverage involving your association with Mr. Mathias Chaw and the potential reputational damage caused to the firm, we require your immediate presence for an emergency meeting with senior partners at 9:00 AM.
Failure to attend may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
---
Her hands went numb.
Termination.
Her eyes flicked to the time.
8:12 AM.
“I need to leave,” she whispered.
Mathias stood near the window, already dressed as though the world outside wasn’t currently devouring her whole.
“That would be unwise.”
“I have a meeting,” she snapped, grabbing the nearest jacket she could find. “At my firm.”
“That firm has already seen the news.”
“I know!”
The words came out louder than she intended.
“I’m a lawyer, Mathias,” she continued, her voice shaking. “Do you understand what this does to my career? To my reputation? I worked years to get there. Years. I can’t just sit here and hide while they decide my future without me.”
Something flickered across his face at that.
But it was gone too quickly to read.
“I’ll have the car ready,” he said.
---
The moment she stepped into the office lobby, she felt it.
The shift.
Conversations stopped.
Heads turned.
Whispers followed her down the hallway like smoke.
She didn’t need to check the news again to know they had seen everything.
By the time she reached the conference room, her hands were shaking so badly she nearly dropped her bag.
Three senior partners sat waiting for her inside.
Their expressions were already made up.
No sympathy.
No understanding.
Just disappointment.
“Ms. Thorne,” one of them began stiffly. “Please, have a seat.”
She didn’t want to.
But she did.
“We’ll be direct,” another said. “Your involvement in last night’s scandal has brought significant unwanted media attention to this firm and compromised our professional standing with several key clients.”
Her throat went dry.
“This was a private matter,” she said quickly. “It has nothing to do with my work performance—”
“It has everything to do with perception,” the first partner interrupted.
“And right now,” the third added, “the perception is that one of our associates is involved in a publicized affair with a man currently under corporate investigation.”
Cofie blinked.
“Investigation?”
But they were already continuing.
“Given the circumstances, we have decided to terminate your employment with immediate effect.”
The words didn’t register.
Not at first.
Terminate.
Immediate effect.
Years of studying.
Years of training.
Gone.
Just like that.
Her voice came out hollow.
“You’re firing me?”
“Yes.”
---
By the time she stepped back outside, she no longer felt the cold.
Or the rain.
Or the way her entire future had just been ripped out from under her.
Mathias’ car waited at the curb.
The driver opened the door.
And for the first time since she had met him—
Cofie didn’t hesitate before getting in.
---
Now she has:
No boyfriend
No best friend
No reputation
No job
And she just found out Mathias is under investigation. Who is this Mathias Chaw when the curtains close and noone is whatching?
- Writer
