He Vetoed My Promotion for the New Girl Chapter 05

He Vetoed My Promotion for the New Girl Chapter 05

We locked eyes.

It was almost funny-the first thing that crossed my mind was how long it had been since we’d really looked

at each other like this.

At work, he never looked me in the eye. He’d go out of his way to avoid my gaze.

At home, he’d bury himself in work, barely lifting his head when he spoke to me.

But now, I saw no love in his eyes-just thinly veiled impatience and annoyance.

A far cry from the eyes that had confessed his love under a desert sky full of stars-nervous, hopeful.

Twelve years together, about to end.

I was still sad, but more than that, I was angry.

The kind of anger that comes from giving someone everything and being treated like a liar in return.

I smiled. “Who’s the one mixing work and personal stuff here? You’d know better than anyone, Mr. Thorne.”

Graham looked away.

“If you mean the promotion, it was a vote among several managers.”

“What you should be doing is thinking about your own problems, not questioning the fairness of the vote.”

“Then are you willing to make the voting results public, Mr. Thorne?”

Graham’s eyes snapped back to me, sharp and warning as he studied me.

I met his eyes calmly and didn’t back down.

Mira suddenly burst into tears.

“I’m sorry. Maybe I don’t deserve the promotion.”

“Elara, I know you don’t like me, but you can’t attack Mr. Thorne’s character just because of me.”

“I won’t take the manager role. Please stop fighting with Mr. Thorne. Stop attacking him like this, okay?”

The moment she started crying, my coworkers exploded.

“She didn’t get promoted and now she’s pulling this stunt? Has she no shame?”

“Mira’s great at her job and easy to work with. What’s wrong with her getting promoted?”

“This isn’t about the promotion. She’s jealous because Mira’s close to Mr. Thorne.”

“Right? She stalked the group chat, lost her damn mind, and actually claimed Mr. Thorne was her boyfriend…”

Graham turned his head.

“What group chat?”

Someone held up a phone in front of him.

The messages had been cropped to show only one line.

[Graham’s my boyfriend. If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.]

Graham’s face fell.

Mira started crying again.

“Elara, how could you spread rumors like that?”

I almost laughed out loud.

I looked at Graham.

“Am I making this up, Mr. Thorne?”

Graham’s brow furrowed. He stared straight at me without saying a word.

My coworkers began whispering among themselves.

“Why’s Mr. Thorne not saying anything?”

“Wait, could it actually be true?”

“If it is, then Mira’s… the other woman?”

Mira’s eyes were red as she gently tugged on Graham’s sleeve.

Graham seemed to snap out of it. The warmth vanished from his eyes, replaced by cold indifference.

“I’ll only say this once. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Elara, stop making things up.”

“And second, you deliberately hurt a coworker. You’re suspended for one week.”

His voice was cold and hard.

There wasn’t even a trace of the warmth he’d once had for me.

Anger surged through me. A dark bitterness curled into something dangerously close to hatred.

For a moment, I wanted to throw every photo of us in his face.

Too bad there wasn’t a single photo of us on my phone.

On my first day at Thorne & Co., Graham had deleted every photo from my phone.

He was afraid I’d accidentally expose our relationship.

He was afraid people with ulterior motives would target me because of him.

Once, I’d snapped a photo of our balcony and posted it online.

When Graham saw it, he made me take it down.

His voice was practically a threat.

“Don’t play these little games.”

“If people figure out we’re together, it’ll hurt both of us.”

But I never got what was supposed to be so wrong with it.

Every move I’d made at Thorne & Co. was on record. I’d never used Graham to get a single leg up.

Maybe keeping our distance had really been about protecting me and us at first.

But somewhere along the way, I’d become the one he was keeping out.

“Graham.” I looked up at him, my voice steady. “You don’t have to suspend me. I’ll-”

Before I could finish, Mira cried out. “It hurts.”

Graham glanced at me, then turned to ask her where she was hurt.

Such an obvious act. And yet, someone still bought it.

I let out a quiet scoff and turned to leave.

Graham stopped me. “Elara, don’t you think you owe her an apology?”

He loomed over me, cold and imposing.

I looked at him and slowly smiled.

“Who exactly are you to demand an apology from me? My boss or my boyfriend?”

“As my boss? You have no right.”

“As my boyfriend? You lost that right.”

“Graham, we’re done.”

I didn’t look back. I got straight into a cab.

In the rearview mirror, I caught one last glimpse of Graham’s cold, grim face.

Around him, my coworkers were buzzing with excitement as they watched the drama unfold.

The contrast was almost laughable.

What a bunch of clowns.

I stuck my hand out the window and flipped them off.