He Loved Me in Secret, Until I Became Someone He Could Never Have Chapter 02

He Loved Me in Secret, Until I Became Someone He Could Never Have Chapter 02

I tossed the ruined documents in the bin and went to reprint.

But my flash drive was gone.

By the time I got to the conference room, Camilla had already submitted “her” proposal.

And the client approved it.

Before I could ask a single question, Alessio looked at me. “Perfect timing.”

The screen lit up. “Explain something. Why did Rinaldi’s internal cost sheet get sent from your email to Mercer Group?”

I froze. IT pulled up the records immediately. The sender was my email. The IP address traced to my workstation.

I stared at Alessio. “You actually think I’d do this?”

His face showed nothing. Like I was just another employee. “Your email. Your device. You want me to drop it because you said ‘I wouldn’t’?”

In that moment, I stopped wanting his trust.

I turned to Camilla. “Where did your proposal come from?”

She blinked. “I was in the office all night working on it.”

“You took it from my flash drive.”

Her face flickered.

I kept going. “You were at my desk today. My flash drive disappeared right after you left. And that email? You sent it from my computer.”

Her eyes went red instantly. “Vivienne, just because the client liked my work doesn’t mean you can accuse me like this.”

“Enough.” Alessio criticized me off. “Vivienne, do you think Rinaldi Holdings can’t function without you?”

I looked at him.

He kept going. “I’m having IT look into it. Not another word from anyone until we have answers.”

After the meeting, I asked to pull security footage.

The response: the cameras on our floor happened to be down for maintenance that morning.

I stared at that email for a long time. It was almost funny.

A company this size. A floor this important. And the cameras just happened to be down the day I got set up.

They didn’t need to push me out. I could walk out on my own.

Before the end of the day, I placed my resignation on Alessio’s desk.

He was going through an industry report.

I slid the papers toward him. “If this can’t be investigated properly, then fine. Put it on me.”

“I quit.”

He looked up, eyes landing on the page.

One glance. That was all. “HR handles the process. Wrap up everything that needs to be handed off.”

Something in my arms still hollowed out.

There was an older employee who couldn’t keep up with the work and wanted to leave. Alessio had personally called him into his office and talked with him all afternoon.

But with me, he couldn’t even ask why.

Dominic couldn’t stay quiet. “Alessio, are you insane? Vivienne is—”

“It’s her decision,” Alessio cut him off. Then he looked at me. “Before you go, you’re responsible for cleaning up the Harbor Point exposure.”

I nodded. “Fine.”

That night, I stayed late working on the crisis plan. Camilla walked over.

“Vivienne. Alessio said he’d planned to have you mentor me for a while. Now that you’re leaving, he’ll have to teach me himself.”

She sounded almost sad. But the glee in her eyes was impossible to miss.

“Maybe you should just apologize to him? I really did want to learn from you.”

I looked up. “By stealing my work?”

Her tears came faster than I expected. “I know you’re scared of someone junior taking your spot, but that doesn’t mean you can just accuse me like that.”

That’s when the office door opened. Alessio walked in. The first thing he saw was Camilla crying.

His face went dark. “Vivienne. Bullying a girl fresh out of college. Does that make you feel big?”

I set down my pen. “Embarrassing myself? I’m still nowhere near her level.”

I grabbed my bag to leave.

“Stop.” Alessio’s voice came from behind me. “What kind of attitude is that?”

I didn’t turn around.

He kept going. “Forget this month’s bonus. All your projects are being reassigned. Rinaldi doesn’t keep dead weight, and we don’t tolerate harassment.”

My hands curled into fists. I finally turned back. “Five years. I’ve worked here five years. Over three a few hundred days of overtime. Thirty-plus projects I landed on my own.”

“And you’re calling me dead weight?”

Alessio’s expression stayed flat. “That was Rinaldi’s platform. Don’t mistake resources I gave you for your own ability.”

That was it.

I didn’t even want to argue anymore.

The recognition I wanted. The title. Him standing by me in public. Just once.

None of it mattered anymore.