Gone with Yesterday

Tabitha’s face wasn’t giving anything away. She looked up indifferently and paused for a lifetime before murmuring, “Sure.”

With her approval, Christian’s grin widened, and he stepped on the gas pedal.

“I have been dying to see you in a wedding dress. Today is the designer’s last day in the city. At least you can voice your opinion if anything needs alteration.

“I can’t believe that you’ll be my wife in less than a month. We’re finally getting our happy ending,” Christian rambled on, lost in his emotions.

Tabitha looked out the car window in silence, not even bothering to put on a fake smile.

She wondered if Christian was truly happy and whether she or Kelsey was his happily-ever-after.

The sharp shrill of a ringtone broke Tabitha free from her thoughts.

Christian put the call on loudspeaker without a care. “What is it?”

His secretary sounded anxious. “You need to get to the office right now, Mr. Loader. Miss Cook is facing some serious issues.”

As his face grimaced, Christian swerved the car to another lane and slammed on the gas to get to the office.

Thrown by the force of the turn, Tabitha lunged forward until the seatbelt whipped her back against the seat with a thud.

She had barely gotten better, and the jerk left her head spinning.

Christian managed to cut the thirty-minute drive short by two-thirds.

He killed the ignition, jumped out of the car, and bolted into the office building.

While they got on the elevator, Christian finally took notice of Tabitha behind him, and she didn’t look quite right.

“Tabitha, um… I need to tend to some urgent business. Why don’t you wait for me in my office?”

Pale in the face, Tabitha shook her head. The elevator doors opened before she had a chance to get a word out.

Not sparing even a second for Tabitha, Christian was out of the elevator and took strides to the conference room.

He burst through the door and witnessed Kelsey standing alone against the senior executives, her fists clenched.

One senior member threw Kelsey’s business proposal onto the desk brutally.

“Oh, give me a break. Don’t talk to me about your academic achievements overseas. You haven’t proven yourself over the years. You’re just Mr. Loader’s side piece. You have no right to put us on this project.”

The others let out a snicker.

“That’s enough.” An angry growl interrupted their laughter.

Christian’s presence pushed Kelsey to tears.

Fuming with rage, Christian pulled Kelsey behind him and narrowed his eyes dangerously at the senior executives.

“Kelsey is here on my authority. You can take up any issues with me. Don’t take your anger out on a new hire.

“Besides, Kelsey has already produced results. She’s behind the new patent we’re filing for.” Christian switched up the tone.

A wave of shock swept through the room.

The executives exchanged whispers, clearly taken aback by Kelsey’s achievement.

Kelsey was baffled as well. She looked into Christian’s eyes, her eyes welling up.

“Christian…”

He gave her a look of assurance. “Relax. No one gets to look down on you on my watch.”

Standing at the door, Tabitha gripped the doorframe to stop herself from falling.

It never occurred to her that the secret development project she had been working tirelessly on would be handed on a silver platter to Kelsey by Christian himself.

Tabitha dropped her jaw to say something, only for Christian to pull her out in no time.

“I’m sorry, Tabitha, but you saw what was happening in there. I had to do that to give her standing in the company.

Tabitha’s voice was raspy. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

“It’s just for now. I’ll make it up to you later.”

Fighting back the agony, Tabitha smiled and uttered callously, “Don’t bother.”

Christian didn’t have to go through the trouble because there was no future for them down the line.