A few hours later, Alex returned with a mountain of paperwork that looked more like a physical barrier than a welcome package. The stack of folders hit the edge of Emily’s desk with a dull, heavy thud.
“Take these back and study them,” Alex instructed, his voice regaining its professional clip. “Mr. Thompson expects you to know our core divisions by heart by Monday.”
“I’m on it,” Emily said, pulling the top folder toward her. As Alex walked away, she felt a strange mix of exhaustion and triumph. She was in. It wasn’t the design role she had dreamed of, but she was inside the walls of Thompson Enterprises.
Days blurred into a monotonous rhythm of filing, proofreading, and avoiding Sophia’s predatory glares. However, the calm within the executive suite was shattered one afternoon when Michael’s voice thundered through the heavy oak doors of his office.
“Mr. Johnson, tell me you’re joking,” Michael said, his voice laced with a cold, controlled fury.
Emily was passing by the open door when she saw the two men. Michael was standing behind his desk, his hands planted firmly on the surface, while Alex looked more flustered than she had ever seen him.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Alex stammered, his eyes darting across the desk. “I remember leaving it right here, in this exact spot. It was here yesterday morning. But it just… it’s vanished.”
“Vanished? Legal documents of that magnitude don’t just sprout wings and fly away, Alex.” Michael rubbed his temples, the frustration rolling off him in waves.
Emily paused at the threshold, her natural inclination to help overriding her common sense. “Assistant Alex, what are you looking for? Maybe I saw it while I was filing?”
Alex looked up, his face a mask of worry. “My marriage certificate,” he mumbled, his mind clearly a thousand miles away.
“Your marriage certificate?” Emily asked, blinking in surprise.
“No need for your help,” Michael interjected, his voice sharp and dismissive. He didn’t even look at her. “Go get the product ingredient list from R&D and bring it to me for a signature. Now.”
“The ingredient list?” Emily asked, momentarily confused by the sudden command.
“Yes. Go.”
Emily retreated, the coldness of his dismissal stinging more than it should have. As she headed toward the elevators, she didn’t notice the two shadows lurking near the breakroom.
Ryan Patel, stripped of his title and relegated to a lowly desk in a forgotten corner of the building, was leaning against the wall. His face was twisted with a bitterness that had been simmering since the moment Michael had fired him. Sophia stood beside him, her arms crossed, her eyes tracking Emily’s every move.
“Mr. Thompson, I sincerely regret my actions,” Ryan had pleaded with Sophia earlier, hoping she could use her influence to get him back in Michael’s good graces. “Please don’t let him discard me like this.”
Sophia had smirked, a predatory gleam in her eyes. “I can keep you employed, Mr. Patel, but you have to be useful. I have no intention of losing my position at this company, and Emily Carter is a variable I want removed.”
“I’ll assist you,” Ryan had said eagerly, his voice a low hiss. “Just tell me what needs to happen.”
“Make her leave,” Sophia stated, her voice flat and cold. “Emily Carter is the reason I’m being scrutinized. She’s the reason the Chairman is looking at me differently. I want her gone, and I want it to be permanent.”
“Don’t worry,” Ryan promised, a nasty, jagged smile spreading across his face. “I’ll make sure she’s a memory by the end of the week.”
“Proceed,” Sophia urged. She watched him walk away, her mind already calculating the fallout. “Michael Thompson,” she whispered to the empty hallway, “I’ll remove every woman who dares to think they can stand beside you. You’re mine alone.”
Later that afternoon, Emily was returning from R&D, a thick blue folder clutched to her chest. She had stopped in the pantry for a brief moment to grab a bottle of water, leaving the folder on the counter for less than sixty seconds. When she arrived at the executive suite, she found Sophia waiting like a gatekeeper.
“Who let you in here?” Sophia demanded, blocking the door to Michael’s office.
“I’m delivering the ingredient list Mr. Thompson asked for,” Emily explained, trying to step around her.
Sophia snatched the folder out of Emily’s hands before she could react. She flipped it open, her eyes scanning the pages with practiced speed. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and a gasp that sounded entirely too theatrical escaped her lips.
“What have you done?!” Sophia shrieked. Her voice was loud enough to bring work to a grinding halt across the entire floor. “You dared to tamper with the formula? Adding mercury to a skincare line? If this goes into production, the entire batch will be ruined! You’re trying to destroy Thompson Enterprises from the inside!”
Emily’s face went pale. “I didn’t do it! I never touched that document. I just picked it up from the R&D lab ten minutes ago.”
“How dare you lie?!” Sophia’s voice rose to a shrill peak. “Adding illicit substances like this to a proprietary formula is illegal! You’re coming with me to HR right now!”
Sophia grabbed Emily’s arm, her grip like a vice.
“I won’t go! I didn’t do it! Let me go!” Emily struggled, her boots scuffing against the polished floor as Sophia tried to drag her toward the elevators.
“What’s going on here?” Michael’s voice boomed. He stepped out of his office, his presence like a physical weight that forced both women to stop.
“Mr. Thompson!” Sophia cried, practically throwing Emily toward him. “Look at this! Emily Carter tampered with the new formula. She added toxic elements. She’s trying to sabotage our reputation before the launch!”
“I didn’t! I swear, I never even looked at the pages!” Emily pleaded, tears of frustration and fear welling in her eyes. “I just carried it from one floor to the other.”
“Stop lying!” Sophia spat, her finger pointing accusingly at Emily’s chest. “Where’s the original formula? Did you sell it to a competitor? Is that why you swapped the pages?”
Michael’s gaze was piercing, his blue eyes as cold as ice as he looked at Emily. “Emily Carter, do you have an explanation?”
“I swear I didn’t touch it! Taylor Green in R&D told me to retrieve this specific document. I didn’t even open the folder. How could I possibly know what was in it, let alone change it?”
“Enough with the act! Let’s go to HR and call the police!” Sophia interrupted, pulling at Emily’s sleeve again.
“Enough,” Michael said. The single word was quiet, but it carried an undeniable authority that silenced the room. He looked at Emily, his expression unreadable. “Did you go anywhere else on your way back?”
Emily’s mind raced, her heart hammering against her ribs. “The pantry. I went to the pantry for a minute to get water. It must have been swapped there! It’s the only time the folder was out of my sight.”
Sophia scoffed, her lip curling. “A thief crying stop thief! How original. Everyone knows the pantry cameras have been broken since the last renovation. There’s no proof of anyone being in there but you.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Sophia, then he turned his head toward his assistant. “Alex?”
“Actually, Mr. Thompson,” Alex Johnson said, stepping forward while holding a tablet. “The surveillance cameras were repaired and upgraded over the weekend. I have the live feed and the archives right here.”
The color drained from Sophia’s face so quickly she looked like a ghost.
Alex tapped the screen and turned it toward Michael. The footage was grainy but clear enough to see Ryan Patel slipping into the pantry the moment Emily walked toward the water cooler. In a practiced, furtive motion, he swapped the blue folder on the counter with an identical one hidden under his jacket.
“It’s him?!” Michael’s voice was a low growl. “Wasn’t he escorted from the building? Why is he still here?” He turned to Alex, his anger now white-hot. “Bring Ryan Patel here. Now.”
“Yes, sir!” Alex hurried off.
Minutes later, a disheveled Ryan was dragged back into the office by security. “Let go of me! This is a misunderstanding! Why are you arresting me?!”
“Still making excuses?” Michael’s voice was icy. He held up the tablet so Ryan could see his own face on the screen. “The surveillance footage is right here. Why did you swap the files to frame her?”
Ryan’s face went limp, his knees buckling. “I… it’s…”
Sophia tried to step in, her voice trembling. “How dare you lie in front of Mr. Thompson? You’d better think carefully before you speak, Ryan!”
The warning in her voice was clear, but Ryan was already breaking. “I… I just couldn’t accept being fired,” he stammered, his eyes darting wildly. “I wanted Emily Carter to get fired too! Mr. Thompson, I never meant to actually harm the corporation! It was just a prank!”
“Save that story for the police,” Michael said, his voice flat and devoid of mercy. “Take him away.”
As the security guards hauled Ryan toward the service elevator, Michael turned back to Emily. She expected an apology, perhaps a word of comfort. Instead, his gaze remained stern.
“Emily Carter, you failed your duties. You were careless with sensitive company property. You’re fired.”
“Why?!” Emily cried, the shock hitting her like a physical blow. “Wasn’t this just investigated? You saw the tape! It wasn’t me!”
Before Michael could respond, Alex rushed back into the room, looking more stressed than before. “Mr. Thompson, I’m so sorry, did you find it? It’s my negligence, sir. I’ve searched everywhere and I can’t find your marriage certificate. I’m not sure if Mrs. Thompson still has her copy.”
Michael’s eyes hardened, a wall of glass going up between him and the world. “I checked my safe. One certificate is enough to file for the divorce. It doesn’t matter.”
Emily’s head spun. Marriage certificate? He’s married?
“Fine, I understand,” Michael said, dismissing Alex with a wave of his hand. He looked at Emily, his expression a mask of professional indifference. “Get out.”
“Let’s go,” Sophia said triumphantly, her hand closing on Emily’s arm again. “You heard the man.”
“Let go! Stop dragging me!” Emily snapped, ripping her arm away and heading for the exit on her own.
That evening, the silence of her modest apartment felt like a tomb. Emily sat on her worn velvet couch, the city lights of Chicago flickering through the window. Her phone rang, the screen displaying a number she had come to associate with her mysterious husband—a man she had married as a legal favor a year ago but had never actually met.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she answered, her voice small and brittle. “You and I have no connection. Why are you calling me?”
“Stop calling me your husband, Emily. This is a misunderstanding. I’m—”
“Get out!” she snapped, the pent-up frustration of being framed and fired finally boiling over.
The voice on the other end paused, and for a second, she heard a muffled background noise. “Mr. Thompson, the matter has—”
“I said, get out!”
The second voice was sharp, distinct, and unmistakably that of Michael Thompson. Emily’s breath hitched. Was he in the room with her husband? She pulled the phone away from her ear, her mind reeling.
“Hello? I’m sorry,” she stammered back into the receiver. “I… I’ve had a very long day.”
“Are you crying?” her mystery husband asked, his voice suddenly losing its edge, turning unexpectedly soft.
“No,” she lied, wiping a hot tear from her cheek with the back of her hand.
“Did you call about the divorce matter?” he asked.
“About the divorce,” Emily said, steeling herself. She needed help, and this man owed her a favor. “Let’s delay it by a month. I need you to act as my husband and meet my grandmother. She’s been asking, and I can’t tell her the truth yet. Don’t worry. I’ll compensate you for the time.”
“That’s unnecessary,” the man replied. “The money you gave me last year saved the life of my only family, my grandma. You’re my benefactor. I can’t take more of your money. I’m good with the elderly. We’ll proceed with the divorce afterward.”
Then, a thought occurred to her. “Oh, and our marriage certificate. I accidentally lost mine during the move. Do you still have yours?”
There was a long, pregnant silence on the other end. “Yours is missing too?” he asked, a hint of genuine surprise in his tone.
“I lost it,” Emily admitted, feeling foolish.
Suddenly, she remembered Alex Johnson’s panicked face in the office. What a coincidence, she thought. Two men, both losing their marriage certificates on the same day.
“It’s okay,” her mystery husband said reassuringly. “A colleague of mine today also lost his. It must be something in the air. Are you facing some difficulties, Emily? I heard you earlier. If you need help, I’ll do my best.”
Just as he spoke, Michael’s voice boomed again in the background of the call, clear and commanding. “Bring the contract!”
“I’m fine,” her mystery husband said quickly. “Right before you called, I actually got let go from my job. I just lost control of my emotions for a moment.”
“Work at your company,” the husband offered, perhaps trying to lighten the mood.
“No need,” Emily said, a renewed sense of resolve tightening her chest. “Don’t worry about me. I won’t be easily defeated.”
“Your boss firing you shows poor judgment,” her husband commented.
Emily couldn’t help but agree, a bitter smile touching her lips. “Hmm. He really is blind.”
“Never speak ill of others behind their backs,” her husband chided gently.
Just then, a sleek car pulled up on the street below her window. A black sedan, the kind Michael Thompson always used. Speak of the devil, she thought.
“I need to go,” Emily said quickly. “Something came up. We’ll text about the details later.”
She hung up, her heart racing as she looked down at the street, wondering if the man who had just fired her was the same man who was currently haunting her life.