5
So, not only had he withheld my bonuses and raises, but he had also deliberately ignored the bereavement fund application and withdrawn my salary advance.
Two thousand dollars. Why couldn’t he just give it to me? Why did he have to make things so difficult?
I thought of everything I had done for him over the years, and I felt like a pathetic fool. If I had worked at any other company, I wouldn’t have been so exhausted, and
I would have had plenty of savings. Maybe my mother would still be alive.
If only I had never met Damian Thorne.
The colleagues who had just accused me of using my mother to get money were now silent as a grave. They all looked down, avoiding my eyes. The whiplash must
have been severe
But because the person opposite them was Damian Thorne, no one dared to question him. People always bully the weak, even when the strong are in the wrong. I had understood this for a long time, but seeing it in person still felt desolate.
The colleague whose project I had saved, the friend whose child I had babysat, all the people I had helped… even now, knowing the truth, they didn’t dare to speak up
for me.
It was laughable. It was ironic.
I composed myself and spoke calmly. “Mr. Thorne, have you finished your calculations? How much money have I’dug‘ from you?”
In contrast to my composure, Damian was flustered. He couldn’t think of a single thing he had spent on me. Not a drop of water, not a grain of salt.
He grabbed the supervisor’s arm, his voice tight. “Sophia’s mother is she really dead?”
The supervisor nodded, confused. “Yes. Didn’t you know, Mr. Thorne?”
Chapter 2
08:14
Damian’s vision went black, and he nearly collapsed. He couldn’t believe that the kind woman who always called him “little Damian” was really gone. And that he
had indirectly killed her.
Seeing him like this, anyone who didn’t know better would have thought it was his own mother who had died.
I let out a cold, sarcastic laugh. “Can’t remember? Or is it because there’s nothing to remember?”
I wanted to mock him further, but then I thought, why bother with someone like him? The most important thing now was to collect my mother’s ashes and leave this
heartbreaking city.
Damian had always known I was a self–reliant, ambitious person. And it was true that I had never spent a dime of his money. When a person with such strong self-
respect is willing to kneel for money, it must mean they are in deep trouble.
Damian had always known that. But every time he wavered, Chloe was there to pull him back.
Damian’s unfocused eyes suddenly cleared. He looked around frantically and finally spotted me by the elevator.
“Sophia!”
Just as he shouted, the elevator doors closed.
A huge sense of crisis washed over him. He had a premonition that if he couldn’t get my forgiveness this time, I would leave him forever.
Damian ran to the elevator, repeatedly mashing the button. Seeing the floor number descending, he cursed under his breath and kicked the elevator doors. The atm-
osphere around him grew heavy with his temper.
Chice, of course, knew what he was about to do. To stop him, she rushed over and wrapped herself around his waist. “Damian, where are you going?”
Damian pried her off him, his brow furrowed. “I’m going to apologize to Sophia.”
A flash of venom crossed Chloe’s eyes, but she quickly hid it.
