Chapter 3

3

"Since your pride is so high, I'll give you a way to earn your pay," Quinn said.

"Fifty thousand dollars for three days of your time."

"You can carry the umbrellas and serve water to me and these gentlemen. That should be easy enough for you."

Quinn pulled out a black credit card and held it out, his eyes mocking me.

Someone in the crowd immediately piped up.

"Mr. Archer is being too generous. Fifty grand could buy a girl like her for a year."

"Hey, cleaner! We've been standing here a while. Go get us some water to wet our whistles."

I almost laughed at the sheer stupidity.

It was hard enough to coordinate my schedule with my husband so we could spend a few days with our son.

And this guy wanted me to be his servant?

In his dreams.

I slapped the card out of his hand and snapped.

"If you have so much money that it's burning a hole in your pocket, go see a brain surgeon."

Quinn's face turned a dangerous shade of red at my rejection.

Rosalind stepped in to comfort him, her voice dripping with fake concern.

"Quinn, if she knew how to be grateful, she wouldn't have betrayed you back then."

"She used your trust to steal the company's core tech. Don't you remember?"

"Elena, should I remind you? You claimed some thugs followed you and robbed you."

"But the truth came out. After you quit, our rival company released the exact project we were working on!"

A dark, blurry memory flashed through my mind.

A damp, muddy alleyway. Rough hands grabbing at me.

"Hey, the guy said just make it an accident and leave her broken... he didn't say we could..."

"If her own man doesn't care about her, why should we?"

My face went deathly pale.

Seeing that I didn't fight back, Rosalind got even more excited.

"If you ask me, that whole 'attack' was a show you put on to cover your tracks."

I cut her off with a sharp cry, my fists clenched tight.

"Rosalind, are you willing to take responsibility for what you're saying?"

"Defamation is a crime. If you say one more word, expect a lawsuit at your door."

Maybe it was the intensity in my eyes, but Rosalind flinched and looked away.

She tugged on Quinn's sleeve.

"Quinn, let's go. There's no point talking to someone like this."

But Quinn's eyes were locked on me, refusing to move an inch.

The manager, sensing the tension, started yelling for security again.

"I heard the head of the Thorne family loves his wife more than life itself. He hates gold-digging women."

"Security! Get her out of here before she offends the real guests!"

My breathing became shallow.

That night was a shadow I could never fully step out of.

With trembling hands, I reached for my smartwatch to call my husband.

I needed him to find our son, right now.

As I pulled it out, a few colorful origami stars fell from my pocket.

I froze, remembering what my son said when he gave them to me.

"Mommy, these are my birthday wishes for you. Keep them safe."

I immediately knelt down to pick them up.

But Quinn suddenly stepped forward, his leather shoe crushing the paper stars.

"Elena, even now, you're still collecting these? What is the point?"