Chapter 2

Camille's POV

"Camille, you're twisting this." Someone in the crowd mutters it under their breath. "The girl's crying her eyes out and you're still calling it fake?"

I whip my head around and lock onto the guy who said it. "You. Don't bother coming in tomorrow."

His face goes white. "You can't fire me for that! Just because I spoke up for someone weaker than her?"

"Weaker?" I could laugh in his face. "She's poor, she's crying, so that makes her weak? And because she's weak, the whole world's supposed to take her word for it, no questions asked? She gets to accuse someone of assault with zero proof, and that's supposed to be enough?"

I point at Ashley. "You're so sure my brother did this? Fine."

I pull my phone out of my bag and dial 911. "If the company can't get to the bottom of this, and everyone here's convinced I'm covering for my brother, let's bring in someone who actually can."

"This is the top floor of Merritt Industries headquarters. We've got someone here making extortion threats and causing a disturbance. I need officers here right away."

The operator takes down the address. I hang up and look down at Ashley, my face cold.

Her crying stops dead. She stares at me like she can't believe it.

"You... you called the police?" she stammers.

She'd expected me to beg her to settle this quietly, to let her walk all over me.

That's exactly what I did last time, after all.

"What, scared to have the cops show up?" I say, a mocking edge in my voice. "You wanted justice, didn't you? I'm getting you justice. What, that's not what you wanted after all?"

"I... I didn't mean..." Ashley scrambles to straighten her clothes, trying to get up. "If this gets out, it's bad for the company, bad for Sullivan too... I don't actually want to ruin him..."

"Don't." My voice comes out sharp. "Don't you dare go soft on him now. He doesn't need it. You had the guts to smear him in front of the whole company, so you'd better have the guts to walk into a police station and own it."

That's when I hear fast footsteps coming from the other end of the hallway.

Wayne Grimes, the company's VP, comes jogging over with a few managers trailing behind him, all of them sweating.

"Camille! Don't do this!" Wayne rushes up and plants himself between me and Ashley, voice tight with panic. "You called the cops? If this hits the news, our stock's going to tank the second the market opens tomorrow!"

Wayne's been around the company forever, and he's my father Garrett Merritt's right hand.

Last time, he was the one fanning the flames the whole way, hiding behind "the bigger picture" while he pushed me to bow to Ashley.

I look at him, flat and cold. "So the stock price matters more than my brother's name?"

Wayne clearly didn't expect me to push back this hard. He forces a laugh and leans in closer. "Camille, you're just upset. Sullivan's young, he made a mistake in the moment, we can handle this in-house. If this ends up on his record, it'll follow him for the rest of his life!"

"A mistake in the moment?" I stare at him. "You were there? You saw it happen?"

Wayne's expression shifts. "Why would you say it like that? I'm doing this for the company, for him too! Look at Ashley, crying like that. She's a clean-cut college kid. You think she'd joke around about something like this?"

I let out a short laugh. "She's crying hard, so that makes her the victim? Wayne, is this the kind of logic the company pays you to handle a crisis with?"

Wayne's face turns red, and he opens his mouth but nothing comes out. "You... how can you talk to me like that?"

"I'm not just talking. I'm firing you." I point at him, no mercy in it. "Nothing's been confirmed yet, and you're the VP, someone who's supposed to protect employees' rights, but instead you took one side, tried to use the company's reputation to bury the truth and pressure an innocent man into confessing. What use do I have for someone like you?"

Dead silence falls over the hallway again. Everyone's staring at me, stunned.

I'm strict, sure, but I always keep things civil, never humiliate an executive in public like this. Today, I don't feel like the same person.

Behind me, Sullivan tugs gently at my sleeve. "Camille... let it go. Don't fight with Wayne over me..."

I reach back, take his hand, and squeeze it hard.

"Sullivan, stand up straight." I look him dead in the eye. "You didn't do this. Why would you ever admit to it? The sky can fall today and I'll still be standing between you and it. Anyone who tries to drag your name through the mud is going to have to go through me."

Ashley sees Wayne getting shut down and knows she can't keep playing dead. She lets out a sudden wail and throws herself at the wall beside her.

"If none of you believe me, if money means you people can just do whatever you want, then I'll die right here and prove it!"