Chapter 73

Renee

I woke up a little later than I expected to the day after my date with Dominic. But more than that, I didn't even bother getting out of bed. I skipped classes, called out from work and slept, and it was probably the best thing I could have done for myself. Well, aside from eating the next day, I took myself to classes like normal and I went to work. George stopped me in the hallway.

“Hey, are you okay? We missed you yesterday.”

“I just took a day of rest is all. Thanks, George. I suppose Neil has really put you on Rene Watch.”

He grinned. "It's my pleasure. We all need some looking after from time to time. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

I nodded, and followed him into the new working room and sat down to work. I took a long sip of my coffee, cradling it in both hands as the warmth bled through the paper and into my bones

"Renee Mountainhowl?"

I blinked and looked up. Was that officially done? Had Dominic done that? People looked over at me with wide eyes as I stood and followed the woman outside.

"Hi, we met briefly during your onboarding, and my apologies for letting things go on this long," she said, sighing. "We're in the middle of restructuring, so everything is a little chaotic, but you were placed on the wrong team. I don't want to pluck you just yet since you seem to be doing just fine and as I understand it you still have a bit to wrap up, but you'll be transferred to join the other interns as soon as that's done."

I blinked. "Oh?"

"If you're comfortable finishing your projects with your current team first?"

"Of course," I said, smiling at her.

"Excellent! Thanks so much."

I went back to my desk feeling better than I had in days. I’d be transferred over to Neil’s team soon, away from the guy who was clearly under Vivian's thumb and away from the whole team who seemed to be more interested in keeping to themselves and letting me take the heat for everything than actually trying to mentor me.

Thank the Goddess.

Besides, fulfilling a favor for the higher ups and being gracious about their mistake would go a long way towards getting a good recommendation and having a lot to negotiate with if I wanted a formal position with the company.

The day float on rather quickly. It was so nice and easy working with them warmer. I feel like I could ask questions and rely on them. It was going to be awesome moving to this new team.

"Could you hold down the fort, Renee?" George asked. I looked up realizing that I was the only one in the office.

"What's going on?"

"Poor timing," he said, rolling his eyes. "Be back in about ten, and then you can take your lunch, yeah?"

I checked my calendar and nodded. I still had a meeting to go to with my original team after lunch, but I should have plenty of time.

He left and as soon as he was gone, I propped my phone on its little stand, hit record, and started my voice note for the audit report I would likely have to give because my old supervisor was that kind of jerk. It was better to try and give it all the way through at least once to get the nerves out.

“Client GL-422 appears to have submitted duplicate entries for Q3 vendor expenses. Further investigation into the line items suggests---”

I didn’t hear the footsteps until it was too late.

It was Vivian. She didn’t knock. She didn’t even pretend she was here for any reason other than to harass me. She stepped into the room and went right for me. Her hostility was unmistakable this time, sharpened and proud.

"You're a real fucking bitch. An ungrateful fucking bitch for everything I've done for you."

I let my gaze flick toward her, then back to my spreadsheet. “Can I help you?”

She shoved the papers aside. "Don't fucking try to ignore me. What did you tell my Dad?"

I signed. "I haven't spoken to Dominic today, so I really don’t know or care what you're talking about."

“Don't lie to me," she hissed, leaning over me. Her voice turned viciously sweet. "You never could quite see where your place was, could you? How are you liking working here? Think you can hold on until the end of the year?"

I leaned back slightly in my chair, letting the silence drag for a second. My phone, still recording, stayed angled just so.

"Odd question since you don't know anything about accounting."

"I don't need to know. Unlike some people I have connections, rogue." She narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to have him get you fired before the end of the week if you keep irritating me."

"You're suddenly in HR?" I asked, keeping my voice light. "Didn't think you were on my review board."

"You are never going to work with him," she hissed. "I'll make sure of it, so you'd better enjoy this while you can. You'll be gone before Neil comes back."

I gave her a slow blink. “Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you. Are you supposed to be up here? Where's your supervisor?"

That cracked her smile. For a split second, her mask slipped, just enough to see the bitterness coiled underneath. She stepped closer, her voice low enough that it might have gone unnoticed by anyone else. But not by my phone.

“I'm going to make sure your last days here are a living hell,” she said. “You'll be begging to quit before you even get a chance to get fired."

I tilted my head. “If you’re trying to intimidate me, you’ll have to do better. Why are you here Vivian other than to further harass me? Is this really about Neil at this point? About Tyler?"

She narrowed her eyes and sat on the edge of the desk.

"Where's the dress?"

I blinked. "What?"

"The red dress you had no business wearing in the first place," she hissed. Her tone dropped to something colder. “You need to tell Dad you gave it to me."

I didn’t flinch. “Why on earth would I do that?"

"Because you don't deserve it and I do."

"I beg to differ."

"You've already been a terrible friend, embarrassing Tyler, playing the victim, now you're cozying up to my dad and my future husband. The least you can do is give me the dress." She stood. "I expect it back by the end of the day."

"It must be nice to live in constant delusion," I said, looking at her. Her expression twitched—subtle, but I saw it. "You have a lot of nerve pretending I owe you something."

"You owe me everything," she said thinly. "You think I would have ever been friends with you if you weren't useful to me?"

"I doubt you ever saw me as a friend, Vivian."

"You--"

“How long are you going to pretend you’re the victim here? How long do you think I'll stand by and not say anything about you fucking my fiancé the entire time we were dating? You're probably still fucking him now!"

She scoffed. "I'm the Brightclaw princess, I can have whatever I want. Tyler was convenient."

"Not everything, hm? Neil thinks you're absolutely disgusting." She flushed. "And that is the problem, isn't it? You ploy to get me away from Neil has backfired tremendously, hasn't it?"

She flushed. "You're starting to piss me off."

"Join the club because I am way passed pissed off." I shook my head. "It must hurt being so used to getting everything you want because daddy can buy it for." I smiled. "What is your obsession with the dress my grandfather gave me? Are you that envious me that you want everything I own?”

"You don't own Neil."

"Of course not," I said. "But I know he'd rather spend hours with me before he's trapped in a room for a minute with you and it burns you, doesn't it? He's everything you'd want but won't even look your way, hm?"

"He would never go for you."

I shrugged. "Guess we're in the same boat, hm?"

She slammed her hand down on the desk. "You listen---"

"No. You listen," I snarled, standing my full height in her face. "You need to leave me alone, Vivian. You and your little squad, in and out of this company, the whisper campaigns, the extra work from that jack ass, the messing with HR records, the constant harassment ends. Now. Or you're not going to like what happens when I tell Dominic exactly what you've been up to."

Vivian stepped back, smirking, but her eyes were vicious. “You should worry more about yourself, Renee. You’re not even halfway through what I have planned for you. You’ll learn how beneath me you’ve always been. You won't even have a chance to tell my Dad anything, and he's never going to believe you.”

She turned on her heel and left. I didn’t say another word, didn't move until she was clearly out of sight. Then, I just picked up my phone and checked the voice memo, finding that it had captured the entire exchange.

I smiled and sent it to Arielle.