Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

“Obviously! Missed you treating us to lunch, too,” she shot back, bold as anything.

“Done. Let everyone know–dinner’s on me tonight at SeaView Dining,” I said, not even pausing to think.

“Wait–seriously?” Her eyes went wide. Cute.

“Dead serious,” I said, giving her a nod.

“Yay!” she squealed, doing a little bounce before running off.

I couldn’t help but smile. Somehow, her energy seemed to lift the whole office. The vibe felt lighter already.

After dropping my bag on my desk and taking a quick look around, I decided to swing by Ron’s office.

“Come in!”

I opened the door to find Ron practically buried under a mountain of paperwork. He didn’t even glance up to see who had entered.

I walked closer, noticing the stacks of documents–most of them from my department.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had been going on. My peaceful break? Yeah, that had been courtesy of Ron’s hard work.

“You’ve been running yourself ragged. Why not hire someone else to help out?” I

asked.

Ron froze mid–signature, his pen hovering over the paper. When he looked up, his surprise was clear.

For a second, he just stared, then he shot to his feet. “Oh my god, you’re back! I thought you-”

He cut himself off, but I knew what he meant. He didn’t think I’d come back.

If he really thought that, then why hadn’t he hired anyone? Was he waiting for me to quit officially?

“So, are you letting me back, or…?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

“Of course! What else would you do? Quit? No chance. I wouldn’t approve it anyway,” he said, flashing a sly grin. “Besides, your contract says you can’t resign until you’ve worked at least a year.”

Wait–what? That was in the contract? How did I miss that?

“Sounds a little predatory,” I teased.

“But you signed it,” Ron shot back with a playful smirk. “So, technically, you agreed to be ‘predated.“”

He didn’t look the least bit sad.

Maybe he didn’t know about Hayden’s passing.

If he didn’t, that was probably for the best. Knowing wouldn’t do anything but add to the grief.

Yara once told me Hayden had confided in her. He said the only family he had was Yuna, and if anything ever happened to him, she was to keep it from his sister. No need to tell anyone else either–because, in his words, no one would

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It had been over a month since he died. Surely Ron noticed he’d been gone this

whole time.

But now, standing here, he hadn’t even mentioned him.

Maybe Hayden was right. No one really cared about anyone.

Then Ron frowned, like something had just clicked. “Wait–you’re back, but where’s Hayden? Holed up in that studio of his again?”

I stared at him, my throat tightening. Finally, I said, “He’s not coming back. Not

ever.”

The smile froze on Ron’s face, his lips trembling. “W–What do you mean? He’s leaving? But this is his company. He wouldn’t just-”

And there it was, unspoken until now. This was Hayden’s company.

The favoritism, the special treatment–it all made sense.

773

“Mr. Shane,” I said, keeping my voice steady, “Hayden’s gone. He passed away over a month ago.”

The words hit like a thunderclap, and Ron just… froze.