The Rule Book (Rule Breakers #1)(72)
Brogan’s brows furrowed at my outburst. “I don’t know who it is, but I can’t keep you employed here. This is my entire world. My company might not make it through this as is. You’ve been a liability from the start.” He didn’t even have the decency to look me in the eye. He’d completely shut down. Game over. Brogan was back to the closed off CEO I’d met months ago. The Brogan I loved wouldn’t do this.
“A liability,” I repeated. “Really? So forget the fact that the crap clients I was given when I started here now have more than a hundred thousand followers. Or that four of the ideas I came up with to increase productivity have shot your numbers and your client list through the roof. No. You’re right. I’m just a big fat distraction. I’m glad we have everything cleared up. I’ll make sure to get out before I jeopardize your company any further, Mr. Starr.”
“It’d be best if you were out by lunch,” he said, staring at the door.
The coldness of his words crushed my insides in a slow painful twist.
I bit the inside of my cheeks and really looked at him—and it finally dawned on me. He would never change, and I was deluding myself thinking I could ever have a fighting chance with him. Work would always come first, and his trust issues ran too deep.
“You know what, Brogan? This is good to know. I’m glad I found out early on just how f*cked up you are. I hope you and your rules have a happy life together.” The loss of everything in that moment wrung my heart in my chest, and my lungs squeezed tightly, barely letting in any air.
I bent down to Bruce, who was laying on his doggy bed next to Brogan’s desk, and scratched behind his ears. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
Bruce whined and dragged his chubby little doggy paw across my arm, and I almost lost it. I straightened and wiped a stray tear from my cheek.
A box was already waiting on top of my desk when I walked out of Brogan’s office. Jackson’s face still held that look of disgust. “Figured you’d need it. Don’t let Betsey bite you on your way out.”
He walked into Brogan’s office and the frosted glass door whooshed shut with finality.
A moment later, Zelda came rushing through the hallway and threw her arms around my shoulders. “I heard you were fired.”
I nodded, numb. The mountain of pending debt came tumbling down on me faster than a lost game of Jenga.
Jobless. Rent-money-less. Brogan-less. This was all too much to process.
How was this even happening? Why was I losing my job for something I hadn’t done, and yet getting none of the benefits from the act that I’d supposedly executed.
“I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do, I’m here for you.” She squeezed my shoulder. I couldn’t even look her in the eye—first, because my eyes were clogged with tears, and second, because I didn’t want to see any other people disappointed with me.
Again I nodded, and continued piling my pictures and stash of food, toothbrush, and other toiletries into the box.
“I’ll miss you,” she said.
“Me, too.” My pulse hammered in my temples at the thought of this being the last time in Starr Media. I’d miss everything about this job—the people, the feeling I got every time I posted something that was well-received, the way Brogan made me feel both in and out of the office. I can’t believe I trusted him.
Sorrow quickly bubbled to anger as I debated how this happened to me. How did Brogan’s dad have the power to post from my account? How did he get past our security? If he did have that power to do these things, why bribe me? It just didn’t make sense. Too many questions with zero answers.
With my box stuffed past capacity, I was almost ready to leave the building. All I needed was to clean off my runny mascara, straighten my pencil skirt, and walk out with at least part of my dignity.
I sat in the bathroom stall to collect myself, my hands still shaking and my lip in a constant state of quivering. My teeth raked over my lips and I pressed my palms to my eyes while sitting on the toilet. Just as I was about to flush, the door to the restroom opened and Zelda’s familiar voice flooded in.
“—according to plan.”
I decided to stay perched in my spot, lifting my feet so she wouldn’t know I was in the stall.
“Hold on,” she told the person on the phone, and she was silent for a moment, most likely making sure the bathroom was empty.
“I can’t talk long. I need to get back to work, but he totally bought that it was Lainey.”
What the hell? Who was she talking to? Was it Brogan’s dad? Had he decided to go to her when I wouldn’t say yes?
My anger quickly turned to rage at the fact that the one person who I hung out with at the company was the one to screw me over. She was my friend. Well, obviously not. I continued listening, stewing in the stall, wondering if I should barge out there and scream at her, or keep listening to get the whole story. Inner Nancy Drew won out, and I stayed perched on the seat.
“When do I get the cash? It was difficult to make it look like I did it under her account, that should mean I get a bonus.”
I couldn’t hear who was on the other end of the call, but I was ninety percent certain it was Brandon. How could someone want to hurt his son so much that he’d resort to destroying his business and credibility? My dad may have earned a spot on the Worst Dad List, but he’d never do anything like this to me, no matter how badly he wanted me to go the lawyer route.