Chapter 2He Banished Me to the Desert

The next morning, I walked into the corporate headquarters to process my return.

Brenda, the HR manager, looked like she had seen a ghost when I sat at her desk.

"Margo, regarding your position..."

"I know. Lily took it."

I shoved my bag into the corner of the cubicle.

"It's fine. Just put me on a standard engineering desk."

Brenda let out a heavy sigh and pulled up my file on her monitor.

"Your record for the past five years just says you volunteered for a remote deployment, overcame hostile environments, and completed your quota."

"Because I did."

"But," she lowered her voice to a harsh whisper, "those three massive tech projects you spearheaded? The patent filings list Lily as the lead architect."

The air left my lungs.

"That's impossible. I wrote every line of that code..."

"You signed off on it."

Brenda clicked open a PDF and spun the monitor toward me.

"Look right here. It's an agreement from five years ago. You authorized the IP to be shared as a collaborative team effort."

The signature was definitely mine.

But I had zero memory of ever putting a pen to that paper.

"You were rushing to catch your flight. Christopher handled a lot of your exit paperwork for you."

Brenda looked away, her face tight with pity.

"Margo, look... just go find an empty desk for now."

They put me at a cramped table next to the industrial printer. It was piled high with broken keyboards and junk mail. Colleagues walked past me. Some practically snapped their necks looking the other way. A few offered tight, awkward nods.

Only Rachel walked over, leaning in close.

"What are you even doing here?"

"My deployment ended."

"Yeah, but..."

She flicked her eyes toward the glass corner office. Lily's office.

"Watch your back. She's the department head now, and she's married to the CEO."

I dropped my notebook onto the desk.

"I know."

That afternoon, my phone buzzed.

Christopher's name flashed on the screen.

I let it ring out.

He called again. Three times in a row.

On the fourth ring, I picked up.

"Margo, we need to talk."

"We have absolutely nothing to discuss."

"Lily is pregnant with our second. The doctor said her blood pressure is spiking. She can't handle stress right now."

His voice sounded incredibly tired, as if he were the victim.

"Could you just... steer clear of us for a while?"

In the background, I heard the kid screaming.

"Daddy, Mommy is throwing up!"

"I'm coming, buddy."

Christopher rushed his words into the receiver.

"Just lay low. I'm begging you."

The line went dead.

I stared at the black screen, remembering the day I got my transfer orders.

I had called him, sobbing in the stairwell.

He told me to wait right there. He rushed over, pulled me into his arms, and kissed my forehead.

"Go out there and crush it," he had whispered. "I'll be right here waiting. The second you get back, I'm putting a ring on your finger."

That day, his shirt had smelled like a faint, expensive perfume. Not the cologne I bought him.

Now I knew. It was Lily's perfume.