9: Are you jealous?
I walked into the new department, or should I say Noah‘ s department. He’s the one who handed me the proposal to come work with him, and I decided to take him up on the offer. As soon as I stepped in, Noah greeted me warmly, his usual
calm and confident self, and showed me to my new office.
But, of course, nothing ever goes smoothly. Just as I was about to settle in, Keith stormed into the room, his face full of anger. He didn’t even try to hide it.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, his voice sharp.
I looked at him, completely unbothered, and said, “What does it look like I’m doing?”
He scoffed, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “You need to leave. You don‘ t belong in this department.”
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9: Are you jealous?
I stood up straight, meeting his gaze without flinching. “Well, lucky for you, Keith, I don’t want to work with you.”
His jaw tightened, and for a second, I thought he might explode. “This… this is why you told me you wanted to resign, isn’t it? Just so you could crawl over here and work with Noah?”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. Think what you want. It’s none of my business.”
For a moment, Keith just stared at me, hist eyes full of something I couldn’t quite read–anger, frustration, maybe even a hint of hurt. Then, as if realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere, he shook his head and muttered through gritted teeth,
“You’ll regret this.”
With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of my office, the door slamming behind him. I let out a slow breath, trying to shake off the tension he always seemed to bring with him.
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- e. I looked
up to see Noah leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed and a teasing smile playing on his lips.
Se
“What’s so funny?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Nothing,” he said, though the grin on his face said otherwise. He took a step verteloser, his gaze holding mine for a moment you before he added, “You‘ re very beautiful,
you know.”
stared blinked, caught off guard by the sudden ould compliment. Before I could say anything, mayne continued, “You could give love a nghshance, you know. Keith’s not the only shoman in the world.”
tted te
opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Noah just smiled,
is he clearly amused by my speechlessness, and thechen turned to leave.
et out!
the t
ith his
“I’ll see you later,” he said over his houlder, disappearing down the hall and
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9: Are you jealous?
leaving me standing there, stunned into
silence.
What just happened?
It was the opening party for the new partnership with Noah Grey, and I dressed up beautifully, telling myself it was going to be a great day. But, of course, Georgia had other plans.
“Cousin, you look amazing,” she said, flashing me a fake smile.
I rolled my eyes. “Georgia, what do you want?” I asked, not in the mood for her
games.
She folded her arms, her smug expression firmly in place. “Are you still asking me that? You seriously don‘ t know?”
“Well, as you can see, I’m here for business. I don’t have time for you,” I said sharply and moved to walk past her.
But Georgia grabbed my arm. I tried to break free, but she wouldn’t let go. Then,
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smirking, she said, “If I jump into the pool, what will Keith think?”
It hit me immediately. She was planning to jump in, blame me for it, and make it look like I pushed her. There was no way anyone would believe me–not with Georgia‘ s reputation for playing the victim. Before I could even stop her, she was already in the air. The loud splash echoed across the party, and in seconds, all eyes turned toward the pool.
People started whispering. I stood there. frozen, unable to process what had just happened. Then Keith came storming over, his face twisted with anger.
“What have you done?” he barked at me.
“I didn’t-” I started to explain, but before I could get the words out, Keith had already jumped into the water to pull Georgia out.
When he emerged with her in his arms, he shot me a glare so full of disappointment it
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felt like a punch to the chest. “You‘ re so childish,” he spat.
I tried to defend myself. “Keith, I didn‘ t do this! She jumped in herself!”
“Stop lying!” he snapped, his voice loud enough to draw even more attention.
“You‘ re such a lying bitch.”
The words stung. I felt like someone had ripped my heart out right there in front of everyone. Tears threatened to spill, but I fought to keep them back. Just then, Noah appeared, stepping between us.
“Keith, you‘ re blind,” Noah said calmly but firmly. “Deep down, you know the truth, but you‘ re refusing to admit it.”
Keith’s glare shifted to Noah. “Stay out of this. It’s none of your business.”
I stood there, crushed and humiliated. In that moment, I realized something. Keith knew. He knew Georgia was behind all of this–the swapped documents, the
“accidental” pool stunt. He knew it, and
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Are you jealous?
st yet he was still choosing to blame me.
Why? Did he hate me that much?
Ke couldn’t stay there any longer. Tears selburned in my eyes as I turned and walked
- his
- ch.
way, ignoring the whispers and stares. I had promised myself I wouldn’t cry, but it vas hard. It was hard to accept that Keith would rather believe a lie than the truth.
thentha
e some s few minutes later, I heard footsteps
behind me. I turned to see Keith, holding
omething in his hand. Without a word, he
dansed
Jusic ful
eld out a photo. I took it, confused, and my heart sank when I saw what it was.
Ko Nog
was a picture of me and Noah. We were lose, too close. It had been taken earlier Then Noah had offered me his suit to wear no Mecause I was cold. But now, looking at it Ir bustough Keith‘ s eyes, I realized how it
nust seem to him.
i and hu
ed somith’s voice cut through the silence. gia was Explain this.”
tunt. H
ooked up at him, meeting his accusing
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9: Are you jealous?
gaze. He demanded again, “Explain the picture.”
I tilted my head slightly, unable to hide the small, bitter smile that crept onto my lips.
“Are you jealous?” I asked.
