Chapter 26

Chapter 26
Dominic's voice cut through the tense silence. "What's going on here?"

The room fell silent. All eyes swung to him as he stepped forward, his gaze flicking back and forth between Morgan on the floor and Amelia standing rigidly, fists clenched at her sides.

Morgan was the first to recover. She gasped theatrically, scrambling to her feet with a dramatic wince. "She pushed me!"

Amelia's jaw tightened. "That's not—"

Morgan turned to Dominic, cutting her off. "She shoved me to the ground, Dominic! I was just trying to talk to her, and she lost it."

Dominic's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to Amelia. "Is this true?"

Amelia exhaled sharply. "No. She pulled my hair—twice. I just pushed her away from me."

Morgan's lower lip trembled as she grasped her arm, as if in pain. "Why would I pull her hair? I was being friendly to her. She just lost it."

A murmur passed through the room. A few of the employees glanced at one another in discomfort, but no one spoke immediately.

Amelia let out a humorless laugh, shaking her head. "Nice?'" She turned to the room, scanning the faces of her classmates. "Did anyone see what actually happened?"

Silence.

Morgan spun around to confront the onlookers. "You guys saw it all, didn't you?"

One of her friends responded immediately. "She did," she said, her nod dipping in Amelia's direction. "I saw her push Morgan."

Another chimed in. "Yeah, she got aggressive out of nowhere."

Amelia's stomach dropped. "That's not what happened." She turned to the others. "You all saw—"

Nobody else spoke up. Some turned away. Others looked at Morgan with subtle smiles of approval. The unspoken rule of office politics was in effect—nobody wanted to be on the wrong side of Morgan and her clique.

Dominic's expression was stern. "Amelia, is there any reason several people would say the same thing?"

Amelia's fists clenched. "Because they're her friends."

Morgan gasped, as if fatally wounded. "Are you calling them liars?"

"Yes," Amelia said flat out. "That's exactly what I'm doing."

Morgan made a small, pathetic sound. "I don't know why she hates me so much."

Dominic sighed, rubbing his temple. "Enough." His voice was commanding. "You had no right to lay hands on her."

Amelia's eyes went wide. "You can't be serious! She—

“I don’t care who started it,” Dominic interrupted. “You’re both employees here. Physical altercations won’t be tolerated.”

Morgan sniffled, lowering her gaze as if trying to compose herself. “I just want to get back to work.”

Amelia could feel her blood boiling. “So, what now?”

Dominic exhaled. “You’ll be staying late to make up for this.”

Amelia’s heart pounded. “What?”

“It’s final,” Dominic said. “End of discussion.”

Morgan wiped at her eyes, casting a victorious glance at Amelia before nodding. "Thanks for being reasonable about this, Dominic."

Reasonable? Amelia wanted to shriek. She wanted to shake him, make him see. But she bit her tongue.

Dominic cast her one last disapproving glance. "Back to work."

Morgan stormed off, her friends trailing behind her, whispering and giggling as they left. Amelia stood firm, fists clenched, teeth ground together.

She had wanted Dominic to be on her side. But he wasn't.

Now she was going to have to suffer for something she did not even do.

As the office returned to life, Amelia was filled with nothing but bitterness.

The minutes crawled by painfully as she sat at her desk, her mind racing. The extra work hours loomed over her head like an unjustified punishment. The injustice of it all rankled, but there was nothing she could do. Not yet.

The stray whisper reached her ears.

"She really lost it today."

"I knew she had a temper."

"She should watch herself. Dominic doesn't take that kind of thing from anyone."

Each word stung, yet Amelia forced herself to go on. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her break.

Later that evening, after all others had gone home, she sat in the dimly lit office, finishing up the extra work Dominic had assigned to her. Each minute ticked by like an hour. Her hands ached from typing, her eyes burned from staring at the screen.

The sound of footsteps interrupted the silence, and she turned to see Dominic approaching her.

"You're still here?" he asked.

Amelia breathed deeply, steadying her voice. "You told me I had to work late."

Dominic nodded. "That's right." He regarded her for a moment before speaking again. "Look, I know you're upset."

She let out a dry laugh. "Upset? No, Dominic, I'm angry."

His expression was unchanging. "Fighting in the office is not acceptable."

"They are not lying," Amelia shot back. "Morgan played you, and you fell for it."

Dominic's mouth compressed into a line. "I don't have time to play referee. I made the decision that I did based on what I saw."

"What did you see?" Amelia laughed. "You saw me standing. You saw her on the floor. That is it."

Dominic didn’t respond immediately. He looked away for a moment, as if considering her words. “Just finish your work and go home, Amelia.”

Her fingers curled around the edge of her desk. “One day, Dominic, you’ll realize the truth.”

He sighed. “Get some rest.”

With that, he turned and left her standing in the empty office. Her fists were tight, her heart racing with anger. She had nobody in her corner, nobody to stand up for her.

But this wasn't over.

She wouldn't forget. And she wouldn't forgive.