Her Halo Was My Money

I drummed my fingers on the desk. A second later, the door slammed open.

Lillian barged in, fake smile long gone. "Clara Quinton, why'd you freeze my card? The TV reporters are still outside! Are you trying to tank Vectorial Corp's rep?

"I've worked my butt off to build this image, and now you're tearing it down?

"You never even cared about this company, and now look at you—wrecking everything. What kind of person..."

Blah, blah, blah. She was on a roll, playing the betrayed saint like I was the villain wrecking her charity act.

I rolled my eyes, dropped my phone, and finally met her stare. "My card. My company. I'll do whatever I want."

I raised my voice. "You're more worked up than the owner. At this rate, people might think you're running Vectorial Corp!"

Lillian froze. Her face twisted, then melted into fake guilt real quick.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "It's just... this really matters to the company. I got emotional. Can you unfreeze the card now, please?"

I arched a brow and shot her a look.

"Oh, so the company's rep depends on you buying houses for those 'underprivileged students'? You mean your half-literate cousins?" My voice was loud enough to hit the hallway. "You blew MY company's money and called in the press. Bold move."

Outside, the staff traded glances, unsure who to side with.

Lillian clenched her jaw, eyes darting away from the door. Rattled.

She was still scrambling for a comeback when the door swung open again.

Liam stormed in, slammed his hand on the desk. "If you're still sick, go lie down! What are you even doing here? Don't you get how hard Mom works? Why are you wrecking everything?"

He'd been here before with his dad, so the employees knew who he was.

Now, hearing him call Lillian "Mom"? Yeah, that sealed it. No one was questioning her act anymore.