Chapter 3

Caroline POV:

I paused with the roll of tape in my hand, watching coldly as Kelsie and the two broad-shouldered guards blocked the narrow aisle out of my cubicle.

"Search her box."

Kelsie crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her chin up.

"Who knows if this corporate spy is smuggling more of Apex's confidential files out of the building?"

The two guards exchanged a hesitant glance before taking a slow step toward my desk.

I slammed my palm flat onto the top of the cardboard box and swept a sharp gaze across both men.

"This is my private property. Touch it without a police warrant, and my lawyers will make sure you never work security in New York again."

Both men froze in their tracks, their hands hovering awkwardly at their sides.

Seeing them back down, Kelsie shoved past the guards, her heels clicking furiously as she lunged for my box.

"Let go of it! You're a penniless nobody getting kicked to the curb, stop acting so high and mighty!"

Her long, painted nails slashed through the air, missing my cheek by an inch.

My eyes narrowed. I snapped my hand out, caught her wrist mid-air, and twisted it sharply downward.

Kelsie let out a shrill cry as her knees buckled forward. Her grip loosened, and the thirty-thousand-dollar limited-edition Birkin bag dangling from her arm slipped off her wrist.

Before the leather could touch the carpet, I lifted my right foot and hooked the strap with the pointed toe of my heel.

With a flick of my ankle, the luxury handbag sailed through the air in a clean arc and landed with a wet thud right inside the oversized corner trash bin, sinking deep into a pile of damp coffee grounds.

Dead silence fell over the entire executive floor. Across the aisle, two junior secretaries clapped their hands over their mouths, their eyes wide.

Kelsie stared at the bin for three full seconds before letting out an ear-splitting shriek.

"My bag! Caroline, you crazy psycho!"

I let go of her wrist as if she were covered in grease, pulled a sanitizing wipe from my desk dispenser, and slowly wiped each of my fingers.

"I told you earlier, trash belongs in the trash can."

I dropped the used wipe into the small wastebasket by her feet.

"That includes your bag, and it includes you."

Shaking from head to toe, Kelsie raised her free hand to slap my face.

I caught her forearm easily and shoved her backward. She stumbled in her sky-high heels and collapsed onto the leather waiting sofa behind her.

"Lay another finger on me, and I'll show you what legal self-defense looks like."

"You all saw her come at me first," I said without raising my voice. "The floor cameras are recording."

I looked down at her pale face as she clutched her bruised wrist on the couch, then picked up my cardboard box and walked toward the elevator bank. Nobody dared to block my path.

When the steel doors slid shut, the suffocating air of Apex vanished. I took the elevator down to the lobby, walked out into the bustling Manhattan street, and raised my hand to hail a yellow cab.

"Upper East Side. The penthouse on Seventy-Second and Park."

I gave the driver the address of Kiel's apartment, my voice completely level.

Thirty minutes later, I pressed my thumb against the biometric lock of the penthouse where I had lived for the past two years. The door clicked open to reveal the cold, minimalist living room Kiel favored.

I walked straight into the master bedroom, pulled my old canvas suitcase from the bottom of the closet, and packed only the basic clothes and laptop I had bought with my own salary. In the walk-in closet, rows of couture gowns and diamond necklaces Kiel had bought so I could look presentable on his arm at business galas hung untouched.

Zipping my suitcase shut, I walked back to the foyer and placed my spare house key, the building fob, and his supplementary black Amex card in a neat row on the marble console table.

I didn't look back once. I pulled the heavy front door shut behind me until the deadbolt clicked into place, took the elevator down, and rolled my suitcase out into the biting early-winter wind on the sidewalk.