Monday morning, Noreen had barely set foot in the lobby of Aurelion Group when she ran into Jude.


    He always had too much time on his hands–anything for a good show, especially if she was the star.


    Too bad for him, he was about to be disappointed.


    “Noreen, bet you didn’t expect to see me, did you?” Jude said, his wordsced with the usual sneer.


    Noreen didn’t bother replying. She brushed past him and headed straight for her desk.


    Jude trailed after her, refusing to let up. “I bet you spent your whole weekend wondering how to keep your job here, didn’t you?”


    She shot him a frosty re.


    Jude just grinned, convinced he’d hit a nerve. “What, did I get it right? You’re mad because I figured you out? Let me tell you, Noreen, it doesn’t matter if you want to leave or not–you’re out today. I’ll be watching you


    the whole time.”


    He pointed at his own eyes with two fingers, then at her. “Always watching!”


    Ignoring him, Noreen powered on herputer. The first thing she did was send her resignation letter to print.


    She’d already submitted her resignation more than once, but who knew if Seth still had a copy? Just to be sure, she printed another.


    “Jude, what brings <i>you </i>here?” Bianca appeared with Seth, both arriving together.


    Jude’s eyes lit up as if he’d stumbled on some office scandal. “The two of youing in together this early–is it what I think it is?”


    He threw a pointed look in Noreen’s direction, clearly hoping for a


    21:25)


    reaction.


    But Noreen didn’t even flinch. Her mind was elsewhere: if Seth and Bianca were already living together, why had he acted so desperate that night? Like a man starved of affection.


    Two days had passed, and she still felt sore. She pressed print, then finally got up to retrieve her resignation letter.


    Jude scoffed under his breath, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. “What a good actress.”


    He smirked. “You’ll be crying soon enough.”


    He was convinced Noreen was just pretending to be calm, certain she was a nervous wreck inside.


    “Jude, why are you always picking on Secretary Gilmore?” Bianca piped up, pretending to stand up for Noreen. The concern sounded just a little too practiced–fake, even–but at least she made the effort.


    Seth, of course, didn’t even react.


    Jude had insulted Noreen plenty of times before, and Seth had never once taken her side. He’d seen it and always chosen to look away. Clearly, her difort had never mattered to him.


    By the time Noreen snapped out of her thoughts, her resignation letter was waiting in the printer tray. She double–checked it for mistakes–she didn’t want any dys. Honestly, she didn’t want to spend another second in this ce, even if it had once been somewhere she thought she’d protect forever.


    Satisfied, she walked straight over to Seth.


    Jude instinctively moved to block her path. “What are you doing?”


    Noreen held out the letter. “Mr. Harcourt, here’s my resignation. Please approve it.”


    Seth looked at her–cold, detached, not a flicker of emotion in his eyes.


    Jude snatched the letter from her hand, reading it over and over, convinced she was putting on an act.


    Bianca stole a nce as well. It looked just like the other stack of resignations Seth kept locked away in his desk drawer.


    “It’s really her resignation! Seth, just sign it!” Jude was practically more eager than Noreen, as if terrified she might change her mind.


    But Seth refused, his voice even colder than his expression. “Take it to HR. They’ll handle it.”


    Without another word–or another nce at Noreen–he strode <i>into </i>his office and closed the door behind him.


    His reaction left the other two stunned. He couldn’t have made it clearer: he wanted nothing more to do with her.