Chapter 4
After that, Daniel and I went completely silent.
His last texts before I blocked him were:
‘Have you canceled the transfer yet?”
‘None of your business.”
You’ll cancel it. We’ve been together five years-you can’t just walk away from me.”
Emily, you will apologize to Sophie. I’m not speaking to you again until you do.”
blocked his ass immediately.
Three days before Miami, Daniel’s assistant showed up at my desk with an invitation.
Emily, Daniel’s throwing a celebration party tonight. He really wants you there.”
couldn’t find a graceful way out, so I agreed. Though I had no clue what Daniel had to celebrate right now.
The second I walked into the venue, it all clicked.
A double celebration. Of course.
Sophie was stationed by the entrance, absolutely glowing.
Emily! You made it!” she gushed. “Come on in-Daniel and I planned this whole thing together.”
he was practically vibrating with excitement. “Today’s my official hire date! I begged Daniel to combine it vith his celebration. Double the fun, right?”
didn’t trust myself to respond, so I said nothing.
Everyone knew we were done anyway. Her little victory lap didn’t bother me at all.
claimed a corner table, planning to show face and disappear.
But Daniel hunted me down.
He kept pacing in front of my table, clearly wound up. “What are you doing hiding back here? Come sit at
the main table.”
2.1%
“I’m good here,”
Daniel’s jaw tightened. “You’ve been giving me the silent treatment for ten days. Seriously? You’re going to embarrass me at my own party?”
Silence.
“Every other company event, you’ve sat next to me,” he hissed. “You’re really going to blow this up over something so damn stupid?”
People were starting to stare. A few colleagues swooped in, practically dragging me to the VIP table.
Daniel’s face relaxed slightly. There was still an empty chair beside him.
Within minutes, Sophie appeared, radiant as ever.
“Perfect! Emily’s here!” Her smile was blinding. “Daniel and I were just talking about the team retreat.”
“He’s taking me mountain climbing this weekend. You should totally come-it’ll be amazing!”
My blood went cold.
Weeks ago, Daniel had promised to take me to that exact spot for sunrise. He’d planned to propose here-got all nervous talking about it.
Now I felt sick, remembering Rachel’s video of them making out at the bar.
‘You two have fun,” I said evenly. “I’m swamped with transition stuff.”
lifted my wine glass, keeping my face blank.
Sophie’s eyes lit up. She was practically bouncing in her seat.
Daniel’s expression darkened. Under the table, his hand clamped down on my
wrist.
After the party, he cornered me by the restrooms.
What the hell was that about?”
What do you mean?”
‘How long are you planning this bullshit? You canceled the transfer-I know you did.”
‘And Sophie told me she was going to give you a heads-up anyway. You just saw it first. She would’ve said something.”
Right. Sophie would warn me if I was on fire.
But I was done arguing about her true nature.
‘How thoughtful of her,” I said flatly.
‘Cut the sarcasm!” His voice cracked. “I’m picking you up at eight tomorrow. We’re going hiking-I promised you that months ago.”
He stormed off.
Eight AM sharp, I watched from my window as Daniel and Sophie stood by his car, loaded up for their
omantic adventure.
My phone buzzed. I declined.
Emily!” he shouted up at my building. “Fine! Have it your way! Don’t expect me to invite you anywhere ever
gain!”
He sped off with Sophie riding shotgun.
My instagram was a shitshow all weekend:
Teaching our newest team member that persistence pays off.”
Sometimes you’ve got to lend a helping hand on tough trails.”
The view from the summit was incredible, but the company was even better.”
The comments were brutal:
Wait, where’s Emily?”
Looks like someone got replaced ?”
Sophie’s so young and energetic! Lucky Daniel!”
Rachel was furious, shoving her phone at me. “He’s doing this to hurt you. What a piece of shit.”
furt me? I felt nothing. It was almost funny how predictable he’d become.
My departure day arrived.
Miami heat slammed into me when I stepped off the plane-humid, tropical, nothing like New York.
The next morning, adjusting to the brutal Florida sun, my mom called.
Chapter 4
“Honey, Daniel showed up at seven AM looking for you. He thinks you’re hiding from him. What’s going on?”
Shit. I’d planned to ease Mom into the breakup news. Trust Daniel to screw that up.
“I told him you left yesterday, but he’s not believing it,” Mom continued. “He actually tried to push past me to check your room…”
I could hear Daniel in the background: “Mrs. Carter, please don’t cover for her. She needs to stop this childish crap-doesn’t she know what day this is? She can’t let some tantrum ruin her career,”
“Daniel, I’m telling you, Emily left yesterday,” Mom said patiently. “I drove her to JFK myself.”
“Yesterday? JFK?” Daniel’s voice went dead. “What was she doing at the airport?”
“Her transfer,” Mom said, confused. “She started in Miami today. You didn’t know?”
Complete silence.
Then Daniel’s breathing turned harsh and ragged.
I hung up and powered off my phone.
