Page 78 of Money Reigns
My fingers tug at the ribbon. The lid lifts. Inside, nestled in velvet, are pens, sleek black with gold trim. My name engraved in delicate script.Olivia Baker.
My chest tightens.
“They’re beautiful,” I whisper.
“So you’ll stop using those cheap ones that smudge,” he says smoothly. “You always end up with ink on your fingers.”
Heat explodes across my cheeks.
He noticed that?
I glance up, but his expression is unreadable. Cool. Calm.Toocontrolled.
Before I say anything, he taps the second box. “That one, too.”
I obey, lifting the lid. My breath catches hard.
A watch.
White gold. Delicate, expensive. The band gleams with diamond accents that wink beneath the light. Not just jewelry, a statement. Something I could never dream of affording, not in three lifetimes.
I make a sound, barely audible, but he hears it.
“I can’t Warren, I don’t—”
His eyes flick to mine, silencing me with a single look. Not cruel. Not cold. Just… firm. Immoveable.
“Did you want yellow gold instead?” he asks, like that’s the problem. “Or platinum?”
I blink. “I don’t understand why I’m getting gifts.”
Why me. Why now. Why this.
“The watch,” he says, “is a reward. For coming in on time lately.”
My lips part, but no protest comes.
Because beneath the embarrassment and confusion, there’spride.
Stupid, helpless pride that henoticed.
So I nod.
I swallow.
And I say softly, “Thank you.”
I can’t breathe.
He lingers for half a second too long once it’s secure. Then lets my hand go.
But his voice doesn’t waver.
“I’m going to HR this morning,” he says.
The bottom drops out of my stomach.
I blink up at him, throat tightening so fast I nearly choke. “What?”
