Chapter 2

The next day, the attack came publicly. Tiffany Hayes, the "hardworking small-town girl," posted in the company-wide Slack channel.

"@Sarah Miller, I saw you liked Mark' s post about the festival. I get it, you probably think someone like me, from a simple rural background, doesn' t belong at the Chronicle or deserve Mr. Johnson' s mentorship. But I work hard for everything I have."

My jaw tightened. She twisted my simple "like" into a classist insult. The channel exploded with reactions, mostly sympathetic emojis for Tiffany. Mark' s message appeared moments later, a public decree.

"@Sarah Miller, Tiffany is a valuable member of this team. Your passive-aggressive behavior is unacceptable. You will publicly apologize to her in this channel for your insensitive comment, or you will be suspended pending review."

Suspended. From the paper I helped him build. The paper his family owned, the one I poured seven years of my life into, modernizing it from a dying print to a viable digital presence.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard. An apology? For what? For acknowledging his lie?

A memory surfaced, sharp and unwelcome. Three months ago. I' d placed divorce papers on his desk. He' d barely glanced up from his phone, texting, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Sign these, Mark," I' d said.

"Yeah, yeah, later," he' d mumbled, thumb flying across the screen. I saw Tiffany' s name pop up in his notifications, something about a weekend getaway. He' d signed them without reading, eager to get back to his phone. He probably didn' t even remember.

Now he was demanding an apology from me, to her.

The Slack notifications kept pinging. Colleagues offering Tiffany virtual hugs, condemning my supposed slight.

My phone rang again. Mark. His picture filled the screen, a photo from our honeymoon, a lifetime ago.

I let it ring. Then, I declined the call. The tension in my shoulders eased slightly. This wasn't a fight I needed to win in a Slack channel. The real fight was already over, in my mind at least. He just didn' t know it yet.