BOUND BY HIS BETRAYAL

Clara Bennett didn’t just enter the office; she detonated.

"Did you really think I wouldn’t find out, Louisa? Or did you just think I was as stupid as you look?"

The voice slammed into the marble floor of Vale and Associates like a physical shove. Before I could blink, a heavy stack of financial reports crashed onto my mahogany desk. My lukewarm coffee tipped over, spreading a dark stain across months of forensic accounting work. It looked like a bloodied crime scene on paper.

I looked up, my pulse hammering against my ribs. Clara stood over me, her designer blazer buttoned with military precision. That smirk she reserved for interns she was about to ruin was plastered across her face.

"The quarterly projections for the Ashford Merger are off by forty percent, Lou." She didn’t whisper. She made sure every shark in the open-plan office heard. "I trusted you to double-check my entry. My reputation is on the line because you were too busy… what? Daydreaming about a life you can’t afford?"

I stood, refusing to shrink. I was twenty-two, the youngest Junior Executive in the firm’s history. I hadn't gotten here by daydreaming. I’d gotten here by being the only person in this building who could spot a decimal error in a thousand-page ledger.

"I checked those numbers, Clara. Three times," I said, my voice steady despite the roar in my ears. "Those aren’t the figures I sent last night. Someone altered the file after I logged off at 2:00 AM."

Clara laughed, a sharp, jagged sound that drew the eyes of everyone from the mailroom to the senior partners.

"Oh, so now I’m the liar? You’ve been slipping for weeks, honey. Everyone sees it. The board sees it. You’re lucky I’m giving you the chance to walk out before security arrives."

I felt the walls closing in. This wasn't just a job. This was my lifeline. I had a mountain of student debt and a younger sister whose final year of nursing school depended entirely on my next bonus. If I walked out with a "Gross Negligence" tag on my record, I was finished. Not just here, but everywhere.

My eyes flicked to Ethan. He was ten feet away, the only one who knew the truth. He’d stayed late with me. He’d watched me hit save on the verified data. Two days ago, he’d whispered he’d always have my back while his hands traced the line of my waist in this very office. We weren't just colleagues. We were supposed to be a team.

Ethan didn’t look up. He stared at his monitor as if his life depended on the flickering pixels.

"Pack your things, Louisa." Clara leaned in close. Her expensive floral perfume hit me, the same one I’d bought her for her birthday last month. "The board meets in ten minutes. I’ve already sent them the corrected files with your digital signature. You’re done."

She turned, her red-soled heels clicking a victory march toward the executive