Chapter 3The Billionaire's Cruel Game

Caleb was always perceptive.

The next second, our eyes met across the cavernous room.

Panic seized me. I spun around and bolted. I could hear the scrape of a chair, the frantic sound of footsteps on polished marble.

Just as I reached the main exit, a hand clamped down on my arm. Caleb.

"Mr. Hayes," I mumbled, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor. I stared at the red cord on his pale wrist. It looked so wrong now, so out of place.

"Leah? What are you doing here?"

I sniffled, forcing myself to look up. "Can't you see, Mr. Hayes?"

Rhys and Sloane had followed him out, their expensive shoes clicking on the floor.

"No," I corrected myself, a bitter taste in my mouth. "I guess I'm the one who's been blind."

The judgment in their three pairs of eyes was suffocating. They looked at my blue courier uniform, the company logo stitched plainly on the chest.

Caleb's brow was furrowed in a tight knot. Sloane stamped her foot, a petulant little motion.

"Caleb, don't tell me you actually fell for her?"

As if her words had burned him, Caleb snatched his hand back from my arm. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a sleek, black credit card.

"Here. It's linked to my main account. Take it."

I didn't move. I just stared at the card, cold and dead in his hand.

"What is this, Caleb? A severance package?" I let out a hollow laugh. "Don't worry. The cheap crap in our old apartment isn't worth a fraction of this."

His face hardened with frustration. "Then what do you want?"

What do I want?

He had the audacity to ask me that.

I doubled over, a laugh escaping my lips that sounded more like a sob. I looked at him, at the two people flanking him like designer-clad vultures, and my voice went cold and sharp.

"I told you, Caleb Hayes. The one thing I can't stand is being lied to."

Sloane rolled her eyes. "So much drama."

It was a quiet comment, but in the tense silence, it landed like a slap. It was meant for me to hear.

"Sloane, don't," Caleb snapped, but it was the tone you use on a misbehaving puppy, not an equal.