Page 149 of What Goes Around

“Oh, I remember that evening,” Elena added pleasantly, cutting in before Brandon could respond. “I was already working in the office then.”

“This scallop is excellent,” I remarked to the man beside me quietly, one of Brandon’s department heads. “Perfectly seared.”

He brightened, grateful for a safe topic. “Right? And the fennel puree is unexpected.”

I nodded, smiling lightly, while the real tension played out across the table.

Elena’s gaze shifted toward me.

“You must be Ashley. Your father speaks very highly of you.”

Brandon nodded. “I’m really glad you came.”

I returned the smile. Neutral. Uninvested.

The speech came later.

Brandon stood, glass raised. He thanked his family. His colleagues.

“I want to thank everyone who’s supported me over the years,” he said. “Especially this past one. It’s been demanding.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he added, and his eyes landed on Elena as he said it.

Marissa smiled and raised her glass with everyone else.

I hid my smirk behind a sip of champagne.

Later, as guests began to leave, Marissa drifted toward me.

“You see it too, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

“See what?” I asked.

“How familiar she is with him,” Marissa said. “It’s unprofessional.”

I looked at her properly then. At the tension in her jaw. The fear barely contained beneath the polish.

I didn’t know why she thought I would be her ally.

Because my mother had been cheated on by a secretary?

Did she forget that she had been that secretary?

The irony almost made me laugh.

I met her eyes.

“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “You understand these dynamics better than I do.”

Her lips parted, but nothing came out.

I stepped around her and walked away.

I didn’t think about her again.

The next evening, I went down to the hotel gym to walk off the extra calories. The space was nearly empty. Late hour. I set the treadmill to a slow incline and let my body move.

I had been walking for maybe twenty minutes when my phone rang.