No Love Left for Him Chapter 2

I didn’t want to explain. I knew no one would believe me.

“You know what? Forget it,” Victoria said with a flick of her wrist. “It’s not like I’m hurting for one bracelet.”

If she had just said she might have misplaced it, the whole thing would have blown over. But what was this half-accusation, this insinuation? I refused to be a suspect, the focal point of office gossip.

As Victoria turned to leave, I grabbed her arm. “The company has security cameras. If you’re accusing me, we can go check the footage together.”

A smirk played on her lips, her eyes filled with a mockery I couldn't quite decipher.

I expected her to refuse. I never imagined the one to shut it down would be Lucas.

He wrapped an arm around me, his voice a soothing balm. “Nina, that’s enough. It’s okay.”

He always used that tone to comfort me when I was down. And just like that, the dam of humiliation and hurt I’d been holding back broke.

“I’m not okay,” I said, looking down at him, my voice already thick with tears. “My mom sent me something. I left the meeting to put the oranges she brought me in my drawer.”

All I did was go back to my desk to put something away. Something my mother had taken two subway lines to bring to me, all the way from her own small garden.

But Lucas didn't seem to care why I'd gone back. He said it didn't matter, that he would handle it, no matter what I’d done.

But that’s the point, I wanted to scream. I didn’t do anything! My reputation was more important than any amount of money!

I insisted on checking the security footage. A flicker of impatience crossed Lucas’s face, followed by a derisive laugh. “Nina, come on. This is as far as I can help you.” His voice dropped, laced with a cold logic that chilled me to the bone. “Weren't you just saying your mom’s sick and the roof at home is leaking? That you needed money for a new house? You’re desperate for cash. You have a motive.”

He leaned in closer. “And the security camera in the office just happened to break today. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Nina?”

My head buzzed. Suddenly, something Victoria had once said to me echoed in my mind. You and Lucas are from two different worlds. I hadn't understood it then, but in that moment, I finally did. It wasn’t a threat; it was just the truth. Lucas Knight, the golden boy who’d grown up coddled in wealth, looked down on the poor. It was etched into his very bones.

Did he not understand how important a reputation was? No, he did. He just never believed me from the very beginning.

Someone pulled open my drawer. The oranges my mom had brought me tumbled out, scattering across the floor. I watched, numb, as one or two were crushed under an careless foot.

The last thread of my composure snapped.

Lucas’s voice continued, oblivious. “Nina, I was already planning on buying you two a house. Why did you have to go and do something like this?”

I couldn’t listen anymore. When I looked up, my eyes were burning.

“Mr. Knight, my family may be poor,” I said, my voice shaking with rage, “but we are not thieves.”