Chapter 2

“Am I wrong?”

I turned back to my father.

“Chloe only graduated from college because you pulled strings for her. She has her assistant write her project reports, and now you want her running the company’s core operations.”

“Dad, are you really prepared to destroy the company you spent thirty years building?”

He stared at me, trembling with rage.

The next second, he grabbed the ceramic coffee mug from the table and hurled it at me.

I didn’t move.

The mug clipped the side of my forehead. Warm coffee ran down my face, mixing with the blood from the cut.

Gasps rippled through the conference room.

Chloe immediately rushed forward.

But she didn’t come to me.

She grabbed my father’s hand first.

“Dad, are you all right? Did you hurt your hand?”

She acted as though he were the one who had been struck.

I stood there with blood dripping from my forehead onto my collar.

My own father didn’t even look at me. He was too busy making sure Chloe was all right.

“Claire, you’re bleeding!”

Chloe acted as if she had only just noticed.

“I’ll get someone to treat the cut.”

“Don’t touch me.”

I stepped back and looked at her, then at my father.

Suddenly, I wasn’t angry anymore.

I wasn’t even hurt.

There was only a cold stillness inside me.

I pulled my key card from my pocket, dropped it on the floor, and turned away.

“Claire, what do you think you’re doing?”

My father’s voice cracked behind me.

“I’m leaving.”

I didn’t look back.

“I finally understand. If you think my ambition is dangerous and my judgment is reckless, then I don’t belong in this company.”

I paused and glanced at Chloe.

Contempt flashed across her face before she slipped back into her innocent mask.

“Give the presidency to whoever you want.”

I wiped the blood from my temple and laughed softly.

“From now on, you can devote all your attention to Chloe.”

“Whether she can keep Bennett Group successful is your problem.”

I turned toward the elevators.

My father shouted after me.

“Claire, if you walk out that door, don’t ever come back!”

I kept walking.

Employees moved aside as I passed.

When they saw the cut on my forehead, their faces froze.

“I heard the chairman threw a mug at Claire.”

“Why? Isn’t the East Coast division the company’s best-performing division?”

“Chloe was just named president. Claire couldn’t accept the decision, so she got into an argument with the chairman.”

“But Claire is his biological daughter.”

“So what? All she knows how to do is work. She has no idea how to connect with people. Chloe sent me coffee when I was working late last week. If I were the chairman, I might choose Chloe too.”

I glanced at the employee who had spoken.

She immediately lowered her eyes and fell silent.

I almost laughed.

So at this company, knowing how to flatter people mattered more than delivering results.

The elevator doors opened.

Ethan Walker, my boyfriend of three years, stepped out.

The moment he saw the cut on my forehead, he froze.

“Claire, what happened to your head?”

Before he could finish, Chloe caught up and interrupted him.

Her face was carefully arranged into an expression of concern.

“Claire, where are you going? Dad didn’t mean what he said. Go back, apologize, and this will all be over.”

Only then did Chloe seem to notice Ethan.

Her eyes lit up.

“Ethan, you’re here at the perfect time.”

“Claire and Dad just had a terrible argument. Please talk to her.”

Ethan looked at me, then at Chloe.

After a moment of hesitation, he stepped toward her first.

“Chloe, are you all right? Did all of that scare you?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

My forehead was still bleeding, yet Chloe was the first person he thought to comfort.

At that moment, something inside me shattered.

Chloe glanced at me and answered softly.

“I’m fine, Ethan.”