Chapter 17
723words
So, of course, he was planning to get her to quit.
He brushed his hand over her eyes, looking all soft and sweet.
"Come work at my company. I wanna see you every day."
She grinned, pulling his hand down.
"I don't know anything. I'd just mess things up."
He brought her fingers to his lips.
"You think I care?"
His eyes darkened, and his hands slipped lower, tracing her shape—
CRASH.
A flowerpot shattered upstairs, cutting the moment cold.
Hailey glanced up at the second floor. Empty.
Her phone buzzed. She popped it open without thinking.
[Distance! Distance!]
[Hailey, don't drag me down with you!]
– Serena.
She pictured Serena typing like a madwoman and snorted. It totally matched Kayden's signature scowl.
Nolan turned. "What is it?"
"Nothing. Probably just another patient acting out. I'll get someone to clean up the pot."
He nodded, totally unbothered.
Hailey quit her job, packed up, but didn't head straight home. Instead, she made her way to the room at the end of the third floor.
Claudia's room.
She carried a small bouquet. The second she stepped in, Claudia flinched, eyes wide, and backed into a corner.
She was shaking, arms wrapped around herself, head twitching like something short-circuited.
Ever since Nolan found out the truth, he pretty much stopped caring. Claudia started slipping fast.
After the third time she came at Hailey with a utility knife, Nolan lost it.
He ordered electroconvulsive therapy and called her insane. Barely showed up after that.
Seeing how scared Claudia was, Hailey didn't say a word.
She yanked out the dead flowers by the bed and let them drop to the floor.
Then she set down the fresh ones she'd brought—bright, alive.
She stood there, staring down at her.
Claudia twitched, mumbling to herself.
Hailey gave a cold little smile.
For someone like Claudia, staying alive was the real punishment.
***
Nolan had Peter handle Hailey's onboarding.
With a basic résumé, she somehow ended up on the top floor of Thorne Corp's massive HQ.
She pushed to be Nolan's chief exec secretary—and actually booted his longtime right hand.
"Nolan, I've been with you for years! Do you even have a conscience?"
Hailey sat on the couch, sipping the coffee Nolan made her himself.
That voice? Way too familiar.
Back when she and Amelia got kicked out of the Hart estate, it was all thanks to the woman now standing across from Nolan—Diana Lane.
Hailey hadn't forgotten that smug, bossy attitude.
Turns out, while Nolan was dating Hailey, he was also hooking up with Diana.
Back then, Diana was new at Hart Corp. Nolan's whole takedown plan wouldn't have worked without her.
"I'll pay you a solid severance," Nolan said, ice-cold.
Diana stared at him, voice cracking. "You think I stayed for the money? I waited forever. I watched you chew up every woman around you and spit them out. I really thought—just maybe—I'd be the one in a billion."
She spun around, bitter and fuming, finger jabbing toward Hailey.
"What gives her the right to be your chief secretary? What makes her so special? She's just some bargain-bin nurse from a no-name college! And you're letting her run the show? Have you even thought about what your team thinks?"
"This has nothing to do with her," Nolan said, his brow twitching.
"Oh really? Then who? Hailey Hart? This girl just sorta looks like her and you're already spiraling. You've completely lost it."
It was the first time anyone had dared say Hailey's name in front of them both.
The shift in the room was instant—rage rolling off Nolan, cold slicing through the air.
His face turned deadly as he grabbed Diana by the chin.
"You don't get to say her name. You disrespected her. Now you're gonna pay."
He slammed the intercom. "Peter."
Seconds later, security burst in. Diana kicked, screamed, and got dragged out. One of her heels flew off mid-scuffle.
Thrown out of Thorne Corp like that? No one would hire her again.
Her career—done.
No one looked Hailey's way. No one dared question if she belonged there.
Once Diana was gone, Nolan ripped off his tie and slumped back in his chair, fuming.
Hailey smirked. 'Nolan, this is just the beginning.'
