Chapter 22 She Wants Nething From Him
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Chapter 22 She Wants Nothing From Him
Rosalie checked with the front desk and then with the admin.
At last, she found her encrypted metal briefcase in a supply closet. Everything she had poured her mind into over the years lived inside that case.
In her previous life, she had sold it off through a channel so she could devote herself to the home she dreamed of building with Lucian.
The money had gone straight into fertility treatments.
The memory of needles burning under her skin, the chill of the operating table, and the lie hiding behind Lucian’s tender voice hit her all at once.
Her fingers skimmed the cool shell of the briefcase, and heat gathered in her eyes.
The knot of grievance she had shoved down for so long finally snapped.
She sank into a crouch, hugging the briefcase to her chest as tears fell onto the metal and left wet marks.
Just then, footsteps and low voices passed the closet door.
Rosalie swiped her face dry and straightened.
Aside from the faint pink at the corners of her eyes, she looked calm again, as if that broken, fragile version of herself had never existed.
She looked down to pop the latches and check her files, then went still. The lock had been tampered with.
She had custom-ordered the mechanism to auto-lock after three failed attempts.
At the thought of someone trying to open the briefcase, Rosalie narrowed her eyes, her gaze turning cold.
She lifted the case and headed out. She had barely stepped into the hallway when an admin assistant
hustled after her.
“Ms. Ashford, do you still want those plants?”
“Throw them out,” Rosalie said without breaking stride,
Lucian had given her every one of those pots over the years. She didn’t want him, and she certainly didn’t want his plants.
Rosalie drove straight to Vertex Tech.
The atmosphere was worse than she expected. Her appointment as the new director hardly stirred a
reaction.
Chapter 12 She Wants Nothing From Him
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Everyone kept their heads down. The air felt stagnant, like a team that had already accepted defeat.
It made sense. Within Stellar Group, Vertex Tech sat at the margins.
In her previous life, Vertex Tech folded two months later. The causes were stalled core technology, a failed product cycle, and a cut-off cash flow.
She had been busy playing homemaker and only sighed when she read the notice.
Looking at the employees, a spark of determination flared in her chest. There was still time.
Over the next few days, Rosalie practically lived at Vertex Tech.
She remapped every project, reorganized the technical structure, and fixed several difficult bugs herself.
She was always the last to leave. By the time she reached home, it was often already late at night.
The drive back to the Ashford residence took over an hour each way, which felt like tossing time out the
window.
On Thursday, she closed on a small furnished apartment a few blocks from the office.
After dumping everything Lucian had ever given her, she didn’t have much left. One suitcase was enough
to hold all her things.
She moved in that night. It wasn’t big, but every inch of it made her feel free and at ease.
Rosalie was about to turn in when loud bangs echoed overhead.
She rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head, but the banging only picked up steam. Finally, she’d had enough and marched upstairs to knock.
A few seconds later, the door swung open.
Rosalie froze at the sight of the man standing there.
