Chapter 1
1
He was obsessed with her. Like, pathetically obsessed.
My husband, the CEO, was drooling over the new intern, Tiffany, and to impress her, he handed over the formula I’d slaved over for three years – just so she could rush it to market first.
Seriously?
I went to him, ready to rip him a new one, and caught him and Tiffany in a seriously compromising position right there in his office.
I tried to stay calm, my voice shaking as I begged him to pull the drug. “It’s not finished, Liam! It’ll kill people!”
Tiffany, hanging off his arm like a cheap accessory, just smirked.
“Oh, honey, I practically finished it myself. What could possibly go wrong? Liam, is she just jealous that I’m getting the spotlight?” She purred, “Should I give the project back to her, sugar?”
Liam exploded, turning on me like I was the enemy. He ordered me out of the company. Like, now.
The next day, six patients dropped dead at the launch event. Panic set in fast. Liam and Tiffany, those two-faced snakes, immediately pointed the finger at me. I was the one who had screwed up the formula, they claimed.
The enraged families attacked me, beating me to death. They cremated my body that night and dumped my ashes in a landfill. I died full of hate.
Then, I woke up. Back in Liam’s office, the day he told me about the intern.
This time, I’m not going down without a fight.
This time, I’m divorcing him.
I’m handing that formula over to Tiffany. Let them choke on the mess they’re making.
If they want something that was stolen, then they can have it.
“Ashley, this project lead position is for Brittany now. Make sure you hand everything over to her.”
I sat there, staring at Liam. His face used to be so sweet to me, but now his eyes darted to the door every few seconds.
He seemed annoyed that I wasn’t talking. He didn’t care what I thought. He was already telling me what was going to happen.
“I already signed the papers this morning, okay? Stop making a scene. Brittany is better for this project than you!”
“She’s young, she doesn’t have any experience. You’re so talented, you can always work on something else. But Brittany needs this to make a name for herself. It’s just one project. Don’t be so greedy.”
My chest was tight. I was clenching my fist so hard, all my work down the drain.
No one knew that I was reliving all of this.
When the company almost went bankrupt, I took over this project to save it. Liam used to bring me food and make me feel like everything was worth it.
I only ate one meal a day for three years. I slept in the lab. I didn’t have time to go home.
I passed out because I was so unhealthy. A bunch of times I had to go to the emergency room.
I was young, but my body felt old.
Now, he was just handing my project to an intern. The formula wasn’t even finished! I was trying to tell him that the drug wasn’t safe for the patients, but he just said that I didn’t want anyone else to be recognized, and then he gave it to Brittany.
And then people died. Hundreds of patients couldn’t breathe.
The man in front of me tried to save Brittany. He said that I was the one who was responsible for the deaths. I was beaten to death by angry families.
I guess God took pity on me because now I had another chance.
I unclenched my fist. My palm was bloody.
I knew what Liam was. I knew what would happen if I tried to tell him that the drug was dangerous.
I didn’t want Liam. I didn’t want the same ending.
“Okay.”
Liam froze. He didn’t think that I would agree. He grabbed a file from his drawer and put it in front of me.
“Ashley, here’s a new project. It pays just as well. It’s all yours.”
I didn’t do anything, so Liam just shoved the file in my hand.
I looked at the file, and it was trash. Brittany had already messed it up.
He just gave the project that I was invested in to Brittany and then made me work on Brittany’s mistake. Liam was awful.
I walked out of his office and tossed the file in the trash.
Brittany appeared behind me and gave me a smug look.
“Ashley, how does it feel to be dumped by your man? Does it sting?”
She was smiling, but the smile was hideous. She used the file in her hands to lift up my face.
I recognized the name on the file. It was the drug that I had been working on for three years.
Her eyes moved up and down my body. She said, “Did you see that? You’re getting old!”
I glared back. Brittany just got worse.
“Don’t be disobedient. I’m the leader now. You’re not getting this back.”
“Oh, honey, I saw all your hard work. But Liam didn’t notice. He only has eyes for me.”
Brittany put down the file and whispered in my ear.
“Did you know that Liam says you’re old, ugly, and not attractive? He says he’s embarrassed to be seen with you. He wants to throw up when he looks at you.”
“He also said that you’re gross down there. He doesn’t want to touch you.”
I didn’t think that Liam thought that I was so awful. He was trash-talking me.
Brittany saw that I wasn’t saying anything, so she let out a scream and fell to the ground. Liam came running over to her and helped her up.
“Ashley, you witch! Why would you hurt Brittany?”
“If she’s hurt, then get as far away from me as possible! Don’t ever come near me again!”
He looked at Brittany with worried eyes. He crouched down and started to blow on Brittany’s ankle. It wasn’t even red, but he was acting like she was dying.
I was about to say something, but he pushed me away. I fell to the ground, and my hand was cut.
“Get out! I need to take Brittany to the hospital.”
I got up and stood in front of them. I pulled out a divorce paper and held it out to him. He seemed confused.
“What’s this?”
I said, “Why don’t you open it and see.”
Liam was reaching for it when Brittany started moaning.
“Oh, Liam, it hurts so bad!”
Liam snatched the pen from my hand.
He gave me a vicious look and wrote his name.
They disappeared, and I was left with the coworkers who were staring at me. I didn’t care, so I went back to my desk.
My coworkers kept looking at me. When the boss wasn’t looking, they brought their files and dropped them on my desk.
“Ashley, you’re not the leader anymore. Here are your files. I need these back by the end of the day.”
“You’re the oldest one here. Just help us out. You aren’t hideous, are you?”
Everyone on the project was new. Liam was trying to save money, so he hired inexperienced people. I was the only one who knew what was going on.
They had been saying this about me.
A lot of people wanted to see me suffer, so someone yelled, “Did you see the new hire? Brittany is the new leader!”
“It’s better to follow Brittany. All Ashley ever does is experiment. Brittany is the only one who can get us a promotion. She can make us rich!”
“Yeah, Ashley is working, but Brittany can kiss up to the boss. She can make our bonuses bigger.”
I just laughed.
Last time, I was beaten to death, and then Brittany made them the scapegoats. They got sent to jail.
The drug killed a lot of people, but my drug didn’t cause people to die. They added something.
I’m not saving them this time. I want to see who gets hurt.
Brittany won’t save you from hell.
They saw me just standing there.
“Is Ashley crazy? Did this hit her too hard?”
“How could she be? She was useful to Liam. We could always use her, too. She was the one doing all the work before, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah, she was easy to boss around. Brittany is the leader now, so we don’t need the old hag.”
I had told Liam about these people before, and he told me not to be selfish. He said that it was my job to help the team.
I tried to do a good job.
But they thought that I was weak. They used Liam to make me do everything.
I threw all the files on the ground.
“I used to be the leader, so I helped you. Now, you can ask Brittany.”
“Don’t bring your trash files to my desk.”
My coworkers ran away. They were furious.
Liam came back with Brittany. They walked up to my desk. I was confused, and then Liam slapped me.
“You witch! You’re not happy with what I did, so you take it out on Brittany?”
“Apologize to Brittany!”
Brittany was crying. She looked at Liam with sad eyes.
“Liam, I was clumsy. This isn’t Ashley’s fault. She just wants her project back. I put a lot of work into it, too.”
I didn’t want to deal with them. I was looking for a band-aid in my drawer.
Liam got mad. He grabbed my desk and flipped it over. Then he grabbed my wrist.
“You won’t change, will you? Let’s go to the office.”
Liam dragged me to the office. I couldn’t stand up. Liam slapped me and I crashed into the corner of the desk. My head started bleeding.
“That’s what you get for bullying Brittany!”
Brittany was giving me a smug look.
Liam grabbed a file from his desk.
“Sign this, and you’re forgiven. Go work on the new project. Give it to Brittany when you’re done.”
Liam tossed the file on the ground. I looked at the patent transfer.
I was shocked. Last time, I refused to transfer the patent, but Liam still told everyone that Brittany was the reason why the drug was released. He didn’t care that I said that the formula was dangerous. He released it anyway.
When the drug hurt people, Liam blamed me. I was beaten to death.
Liam and Brittany took all the money and moved out of the country.
I laughed.
If they wanted it so badly, then they could have it.
My body was heavy. My hands were the only thing that moved. After a minute, I could move again.
“I’ll sign.”
Liam was confused. He didn’t think that I would agree so quickly. He just thought that I was stubborn.
He said, “Don’t try anything with this. You aren’t allowed near the lab.”
Brittany grabbed Liam’s arm. She said, “Ashley hasn’t given me the files yet!”
I got up and started washing the place that Liam had touched.
I pulled out some paper towels and signed the contract.
My phone rang. I opened it.
[Ashley, the new drug is done. Your patent is approved.]
I looked at Liam and Brittany. They were hugging each other while holding the patent to the dangerous drug. I put my phone away and went to leave.
As I was leaving, I could hear Brittany.
“Ashley, don’t forget to come to my drug launch tomorrow!”
I turned around and gave her a smile.
“I’ll be there!”
I was going to be there. And I was going to make it a nightmare for them.
The next day, I woke up early and went to the company.
Reporters were going into the hall. I walked in with them and sat in the back. I waited for the show to begin.
Liam was on stage. He praised Brittany.
He was acting like he did last time. He asked ten patients to come and show everyone how well the drug worked.
The launch was all about Brittany. Liam didn’t say much. Then he gave the stage to Brittany.
Brittany walked onto the stage and saw me.
“I want to thank my boss, Liam. He made me feel better when I was stressed.”
“I also want to thank Ashley. She was annoying while I was doing research, but I got through it. She didn’t stop me from being successful.”
She looked at me. Everyone looked in my direction.
This was huge news for the reporters. They started taking pictures of me.
The reporter in front of me turned around and asked, “Ashley, why would you do this? Are you and Brittany fighting?”
I didn’t say anything. My coworker said, “What else could it be? Liam and Brittany are beautiful together, and Ashley is jealous.”
Everyone looked at me like I was disgusting.
Brittany gave me a cold smile. Then she said, “Don’t talk about Ashley. She didn’t mean it. Luckily, our drug is working.”
“My team and I worked hard for three years. We’re happy that the patients are getting better. All the work was worth it.”
My coworkers were acting proud.
“Ashley, see? That’s why we didn’t want to work with you. You’re selfish. You want all the credit. You don’t care about us.”
I laughed. Who had been working hard for three years? Brittany was never around. And they didn’t know anything. They wasted my time.
I clenched my fist. I didn’t want to talk to them.
I looked at the patients. They didn’t look well. The little girl was the worst. She was small, so the dose of the drug was too much.
The girl grabbed Brittany’s dress and said, “I don’t feel good. I’m hot.”
Brittany didn’t know what was going on. She said, “Are you sick? Ask your mom to take you home.”
I shook my head. She didn’t know that the drug was the problem.
Liam saw what was happening. He told some of his employees to take the girl to the hospital. The hospital was too far away. Last time, the girl died on the way.
I couldn’t let the girl leave. She would die.
I walked forward. Brittany stood in front of me.
“Ashley, I worked so hard on this launch. Are you going to ruin it?”
The little girl passed out.
“Get out of my way!”
I slapped her. Her cheek turned red.
Liam was furious. He ran over and grabbed Brittany.
“Ashley, are you crazy? Why would you hit her?”
Brittany looked sad. Liam looked at her face.
“You witch!”
He was about to slap me.
The girl’s mom was worried about her daughter. She kneeled in front of Liam and Brittany.
“Save my daughter! Please! Help her!”
Brittany helped the mother up. She said, “She just has a fever. We’ll take her to the hospital.”
I looked at the mother. I said, “She’s going to die!”
“Ashley, stop lying! I’m calling the police!”
“I’m not lying. She won’t make it to the hospital.”
A lot of people looked worried. It was strange that a fever could make someone pass out.
Then, a woman ran into the launch. I knew her. She was my best assistant. She was holding a report and yelling, “The drug is dangerous! It can kill people!”
Brittany was scared. She hid behind Liam.
Liam knew what would happen if they were found out. He swallowed.
Everyone started talking.
The families were furious. They looked at Liam and Brittany with angry eyes.
The reporters ran over to Liam and Brittany.
“Liam, did your company make a dangerous drug? Did you lie to us?”
“Brittany, did you make this drug? Are these normal side effects?”
Brittany was trapped. Liam stood in front of her.
“Stop taking pictures! Don’t take any more pictures!”
Then, he looked at me.
He grabbed the microphone and pointed at me.
“It was her! Ashley made this drug! She lied to me! I didn’t know that she would play with people’s lives!”
Brittany agreed with him.
“She’s right! Ashley, how did you know? Are you trying to hurt people?”
I didn’t say anything. I grabbed the drugs from my bag and injected the little girl. I looked at Liam and Brittany.
I pulled out a stack of patents and threw them into the air.
The patents rained down on us.
I grabbed the microphone.
“You two! This patent is in Liam and Brittany’s names! Why are you blaming me? And,”
“You two don’t care that people are dying! You’re just trying to avoid blame! I’m going to ask what everyone is thinking. What are you going to do for the families? Are you going to pay them? What are you going to do about the legal stuff?!”