Chapter 2

2

The moment Chloe saw him, her face transformed. She ran to him, acting like a wounded kitten.

"Honey, you're finally here! This director tried to fire me. She even told me to get on my knees and beg!"

Gideon's eyes turned cold as he looked at me.

"Who gave you the balls to fire my people?"

I held my head high, though my heart was stinging. "I don't mind you hiring staff, Gideon. But you can't hire a cancer."

"I've led this project for years. I don't need an amateur telling me how to do my job. I care about this place more than anyone."

"Go look at the lake. It's a mess. Are you really going to let your mistress trash everything we've built?"

The air in the room shifted. Gideon's hand moved in a blur, and a sharp slap echoed through the lab.

My face burned. He slowly pulled his hand back, his expression full of disgust.

"Your mind is filthy, Yara. Watch your mouth. She is not a mistress."

"Why should I believe you? Chloe is the star student of the Father of Ecology. I hired her to help me save this place. She isn't a cancer."

"Apologize to her. Now."

I touched my throbbing cheek. My heart felt like it had been ripped out by a dull blade.

The star student of the Father of Ecology?

I almost laughed. I was that student. She was using my credentials to lie to my face.

Gideon didn't even realize that this project was only granted to him because of my reputation.

Without me, this contract would have gone to his biggest rival, Tristan Vance.

Gideon wrapped his arm around Chloe's waist. "Don't be scared. I'm here. No one will touch you."

Chloe started packing her things with a fake pout. "Maybe I should just leave. Yara hates me. Everything I do is wrong in her eyes."

Gideon glared at me again. "Yara, if you want to keep your title, get on your knees and apologize to Chloe."

"Otherwise, I will make sure you are blacklisted from the entire scientific community."

Chloe's little friends chimed in. "Mr. Graham, she's been making Chloe do all the dirty work!"

"Yeah! She thinks she's a queen. Look at the burn on Chloe's hand! Yara did that!"

I looked at Chloe's wrist. I remembered that. She had burned herself while making coffee because she was clumsy. Now, it was a weapon against me.

Gideon gently touched her wrist, his voice full of concern. But his words to me were venom.

"How dare you? If she's scarred, you'll pay for it ten times over."

I laughed, a dry, bitter sound. Years ago, I had literally lost skin on my back saving him from a hiking accident. He had never looked at me with that much pity.

As I turned to walk away, Gideon grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going? We aren't done."

Suddenly, Chloe let out a dramatic gasp. "Oh my god! What happened to the sturgeons? Why are dozens of them dead?"

Everyone rushed to the monitors. Gideon stared at me, his eyes full of accusation.

Chloe looked at me with a smirk she didn't bother to hide. "Yara, don't you think you should explain this?"

The man who claimed to love me didn't have a shred of trust left.

"This is your fault, Gideon," I said quietly. "Not mine."

"The wedding is canceled. We are over."