Minnie POV
The next morning, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around the room in confusion before remembering that I had stayed at Caroline's house. I stretched my body and walked out of the guest room. The smell of freshly baked French bread and eggs filled the air, making me smile. Following the smell, I walked into the kitchen and found Caroline preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Caroline," I said with a smile.
She turned around and grinned. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."
I laughed softly and sat at the dining table while she finished preparing breakfast. Since I didn't have any clothes with me, Caroline lent me one of her dresses. After getting ready, we enjoyed breakfast together before leaving the house.
Caroline headed to the office, while I booked a cab to the meeting location Nova had already sent me. About thirty minutes later, I arrived at the Sky Wings Modeling Company.
As I stood near the entrance, a familiar black car pulled up behind me.
My heart immediately recognized it.
Will's car.
The rear door opened, and Will stepped out looking as handsome and professional as ever. For a second, I forgot everything that had happened yesterday.
Then I remembered.
Nova stepped out from the other side and handed the car keys to a security guard.
Taking a deep breath, I forced a bright smile onto my face and walked toward them.
"Good morning, Mr. Will. Good morning, Nova. I think I came at the right time."
Nova smiled warmly at me.
Will didn't even look at me.
Instead, he simply walked past me toward the building entrance.
My smile instantly faded.
Nova noticed.
"Don't worry," he whispered quietly as he walked beside me. "Everything will be alright."
I nodded silently and followed them inside.
The Sky Wings building was massive. Employees rushed around carrying portfolios, cameras, and files. Models walked confidently through the hallways while photographers discussed upcoming projects.
I couldn't help looking around in amazement.
This was my first time visiting a modeling company.
A small part of me became excited.
Years ago, I had dreamed about becoming a model.
For a brief moment, I wondered what my life would have been like if I had chosen a different path.
Before I could think further, a woman approached us.
"Good morning, Mr Will. Mr. Smith is waiting for you. Please follow me."
She guided us through the building and toward a large conference room.
When we entered, I immediately noticed a middle-aged man sitting comfortably on a sofa.
Mr. Smith.
Something about him made me uncomfortable instantly.
The feeling only grew stronger when he stood up and shook Will's hand.
"Mr. Will! How are you today?"
"I'm good," Will replied coldly.
Then Mr. Smith's eyes moved toward me.
A smile slowly spread across his face.
The kind of smile I didn't like.
"And who is this beautiful young lady?"
I immediately forced a professional smile.
"Hello, Mr. Smith. My name is Minnie. I'm Mr. Will's assistant."
His eyes lingered on me longer than necessary.
"Oh? A woman as an assistant?" he said with a laugh. "Interesting. I thought Mr. Will didn't like women."
The room instantly became silent.
My blood boiled.
I knew exactly what he was implying.
Years ago, this man had spread rumors that Will was gay and had relationships with other men.
Now he was making jokes about it in front of us.
I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought.
But I remained professional.
I simply folded my arms and maintained my smile.
Across the table, I noticed Will's expression become colder.
Even Nova looked irritated.
The meeting continued.
Nova carefully explained the agreement, terms, and conditions.
After reviewing everything, Mr. Smith leaned back in his chair.
"Fine. If my employees won't be affected, I'll sign."
Nova immediately replied.
"You don't need to worry about that. We will take care of everyone."
His voice was polite.
But I could hear the hidden anger underneath it.
Mr. Smith nodded.
Then he added another condition.
"One last thing. I want to hold a public event tomorrow to announce the acquisition."
Will took a deep breath.
"Fine. We can arrange that."
A satisfied smile appeared on Mr. Smith's face.
Finally, he signed the agreement.
The moment his signature touched the paper, relief washed over me.
The deal was done.
I couldn't wait to leave.
Throughout the entire meeting, I had felt uncomfortable.
Every time Nova or Will spoke, Mr. Smith would somehow find a reason to look at me.
His gaze made my skin crawl.
And judging by the way Will's jaw tightened every few minutes, I wasn't the only one who noticed.
As soon as the documents were finalized, we stood up to leave.
Mr. Smith shook hands with Nova and Will.
Then his eyes landed on me again.
"Miss Minnie," he said with a smile. "I hope we'll meet again tomorrow."
I forced a polite smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Smith."
But inside, I was praying that tomorrow would be the last time I ever had to see him.
The moment we stepped outside the building, I finally released the breath I had been holding for the past hour.
I didn't know why.
But something about that man felt wrong.
Very wrong.
As soon as we stepped out of the Sky Wings building, Nova checked his watch and clapped his hands together.
"It's already lunchtime. Let's go to a nearby restaurant."
Honestly, I wasn't in the mood to eat with them. Especially not with Will still acting cold toward me.
"Nova, you guys go ahead," I said softly. "I have some work to finish at the office. I'll eat there."
Nova immediately narrowed his eyes.
"Minnie, I didn't assign you any important work."
I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.
"And I need to discuss something with both of you."
I sighed in defeat.
There was no escaping Nova when he decided something.
"Fine."
Nova smiled proudly, as if he had won a battle.
"I'll bring the car."
He walked toward the parking lot, leaving me alone with Will.
The silence between us felt uncomfortable.
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.
One hand was tucked into his pocket while the other held his phone. His expression was calm and unreadable.
For a moment, despite being angry with him, I found myself admiring him.
Then I mentally slapped myself.
Seriously, Minnie? He made you cry yesterday.
Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage.
"Will..."
He slowly looked up from his phone.
My heart immediately became nervous.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I really don't know how the file disappeared. Please trust me. I'll be more careful next time."
I tried my best to keep my voice steady.
Will stared at me for a few seconds before sighing.
"Don't apologize to me."
His voice was calm.
"You know I don't like people making mistakes."
The words felt like a slap.
I quickly turned my face away.
Don't cry.
Don't cry, Minnie.
Not in front of him.
I bit my lower lip and focused on breathing.
A few moments later, Nova arrived with the car.
I immediately opened the front passenger door and sat beside him.
Will silently took the back seat.
Looking at myself in the side mirror, I noticed my nose had already turned pink.
Great.
That was always the first sign before I cried.
I quickly covered my nose with my hand.
The entire drive was painfully silent.
Even Nova seemed to notice the tension.
When we finally reached the restaurant, we entered and sat at a table.
Nova and Will sat together on one side.
I sat across from them.
For some reason, seeing them sit together hurt my feelings.
It was childish.
But I couldn't help it.
The waiter arrived and took our orders.
I had completely lost my appetite.
"Just soup for me," I said quietly.
Nova and Will ordered actual food.
While waiting, I stared out the window, pretending to be interested in the traffic outside.
Then suddenly-
Nova cleared his throat.
"Before we eat, I need to tell you both something."
I turned toward him.
His expression was serious.
"About the missing agreement."
My heart immediately tightened.
Nova took out his phone.
"It wasn't Minnie's fault."
I froze.
"What?"
He unlocked his phone and handed it to me.
"I asked the security team to check the CCTV footage."
My hands trembled slightly as I watched the video.
A woman approached my desk.
She looked around carefully.
Then she sat at my computer.
And started using it.
My eyes widened.
"No way..."
I replayed the footage.
Again.
And again.
My heart dropped.
"Nova..."
My voice barely came out.
"This is real?"
Nova nodded.
Will took the phone from my hand and watched the video himself.
The temperature around the table immediately dropped.
His expression became colder with every second.
Finally, he lowered the phone.
"Who is she?"
His voice was dangerously calm.
Nova answered immediately.
"Alice."
I stopped breathing.
"Alice?"
The same Alice who sat with us at lunch.
The same Alice who acted friendly.
I felt anger rising inside me.
"She's from the development team," Nova continued. "And according to the footage, she deleted the file."
I couldn't understand it.
Why?
What had I ever done to her?
Before I could say anything, our food arrived.
The table became silent.
I slowly started drinking my soup while trying to process everything.
Across the table, I noticed Will looking at me.
This time, his eyes weren't cold.
They were filled with guilt.
Nova finally broke the silence.
"Don't worry, Minnie. I'll handle Alice."
I immediately shook my head.
"No."
Both men looked at me.
"Before anyone does anything... I want to talk to her."
Nova nodded.
But Will's response was very different.
"Fire her."
His voice was cold and firm.
I looked at him in surprise.
He was furious I realized how angry he was about what happened to me.
Nova looked between us and sighed.
"I think someone owes Minnie an apology."
I immediately looked at Will.
He took a deep breath and finally said,
"I'm sorry."
That was it.
Just a simple apology.
I stared at him for a few seconds before putting down my spoon.
"That's all?"
Will frowned slightly.
I looked directly into his eyes.
"Yesterday you didn't trust me even once, Will. You scolded me in front of Nova and made me feel like I was careless. I kept telling you that I didn't delete the file, but you never believed me."
The table became silent.
I tried to control my emotions.
"It's not the apology I'm upset about. It's the fact that you trusted a missing file more than you trusted me."
For the first time, guilt appeared on Will's face.
"Minnie..."
I shook my head and looked away.
"I accepted your apology, but that doesn't mean I'm not hurt."
Will remained silent.
"I lost my appetite."
I grabbed my bag and looked at Nova.
"I'll wait outside."
Then I turned and walked away.
The moment I left the table, Nova looked at Will and sighed.
"Congratulations, Will."
Will looked at him.
"For what?"
Nova smirked.
"For becoming the world's biggest idiot boyfriend."
Will POV
The entire ride back to the office was silent.
Minnie sat in the front seat beside Nova and didn't look at me even once.
Usually, she would turn around, smile at me, or ask me something random. But today she acted as if I wasn't even there.
And honestly?
I deserved it.
Her words kept replaying in my head.
"You trusted a missing file more than you trusted me."
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat.
The moment I saw the agreement was missing, I lost my temper. I didn't think like her boyfriend. I didn't even think like a boss. I just reacted.
I knew how important that agreement was, and I took my frustration out on the wrong person.
On Minnie.
When I saw the tears in her eyes this morning, I knew I had gone too far.
But instead of apologizing properly, I only said two stupid words.
"I'm sorry."
What kind of apology was that?
I groaned quietly and rubbed my forehead.
Beside Minnie, Nova looked at me through the rearview mirror and shook his head.
"You're thinking about it now, aren't you?"
I glared at him.
"Shut up."
Nova laughed.
"Nope. Not happening."
I sighed.
"I already apologized."
Nova almost drove into the wrong lane because he was laughing so hard.
"Will, that wasn't an apology."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"That was customer service."
I stared at him.
Nova continued, "A proper apology includes feelings, regret, and maybe a functioning heart."
I rolled my eyes.
"You're annoying."
"And you're an idiot."
I looked at Minnie.
She was staring out the window, pretending not to listen.
But I could see the sadness in her eyes.
That hurt more than her anger.
I would rather have Minnie yell at me for an hour than sit quietly and avoid me.
Losing her once had almost destroyed me.
And now, after finally getting her back, I was the one hurting her again.
I looked down at my hands and took a deep breath.
I'm sorry, Love.
Minnie POV
After returning to the office, I went straight to my desk. My eyes immediately landed on Alice. She was sitting calmly, typing on her computer as if nothing had happened. Taking a deep breath, I walked toward her.
"Alice, are you free? I want to ask you something."
She looked up and smiled. "Of course, Minnie."
I nodded and led her to the pantry. Once we were inside, I closed the door and turned to face her.
"Alice... did I do something to hurt you?"
She looked confused.
"No, Minnie. Why would you ask that? You look exhausted."
Without saying another word, I handed her my phone and showed her the CCTV footage.
The moment she saw the video, her face changed.
She looked at me nervously.
"Minnie, you're misunderstanding. That's not what it looks like."
I laughed bitterly.
"Really? You think the CCTV footage is lying?"
"Alice, why?" My voice cracked. "I thought we were friends."
For a few seconds, she remained silent before letting out a frustrated sigh.
"We were friends, Minnie."
"Were?"
Her eyes filled with anger.
"At first, I didn't believe the rumors about you and Mr. Will. I defended you whenever people talked behind your back."
I frowned.
"Then one night I saw both of you leaving the building together."
She looked directly into my eyes.
"I saw him holding your hand."
My heart skipped a beat.
"And that was when I knew the rumors were true."
I couldn't understand her anger.
"What does that have to do with you, Alice?"
The next words shocked me.
"Because I love him!"
The pantry fell silent.
For a moment, I couldn't process what she had just said.
"You... love Will?"
She laughed sadly.
"For years."
I stared at her speechlessly.
"I joined this company because of him. I stayed because of him. Every day I hoped he would notice me."
Tears formed in her eyes.
"But then you came."
"Alice..."
She shook her head.
"You're beautiful, Minnie. Everyone likes you. Even he likes you."
Her voice trembled.
"Do you know how it felt watching him look at you the way I wanted him to look at me?"
I remained silent.
Part of me was angry.
Very angry.
She had deleted an important company file. She had nearly ruined my career and damaged Will's trust in me.
But another part of me felt sorry for her.
Because I knew what unrequited love felt like.
I knew how painful it was to love someone who didn't love you back.
Alice wiped her tears and looked away.
"I wanted him to stay away from you. That's all."
I closed my eyes.
One mistake.
One jealous decision.
And she had destroyed our friendship.
When I opened my eyes again, I spoke softly.
"You should have talked to me, Alice."
She lowered her head.
"I know."
I took my phone from her hand.
"I'm disappointed in you."
Those words hurt both of us.
Because the truth was...
Before all of this happened, I had genuinely considered Alice a good friend.
And losing that friendship hurt far more than I wanted to admit.
Without saying another word, I turned and walked out of the pantry, leaving Alice alone with her regrets while I carried the weight of losing someone I once trusted.
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Author Note
Hello my dear readers 👋 i hope you like this chapter please don't forget to vote and support ❤️😀