DAMARIS' POV

I walked home with my head bowed in shame and with a bruised ego, each step pulling something deeper from me, something I didn’t think I would ever get back. The morning traffic buzzed past me like nothing had changed, as if the world hadn’t shifted on its axis while I lay beneath a stranger, giving him the one part of me I had promised I would save for the right time and for the right person.

The front door creaked when I pushed it open, our tiny apartment smelled faintly of lemon oil and the stew I never finished making. My hands still trembled as I locked the door behind me, just in case they came back, Alice or her mother, or worse… guilt.

I didn’t sleep, I sat on the floor, still in the dress Alice had shoved at me after the switch, still smelling of Vince Montclair. I scrubbed myself raw in the shower hours later, but I could still feel him.

It wasn’t until the sun was out that someone knocked again but this time, it was softer. When I opened the door, my mom stood there, wrapped in her old coat, her cheeks pale but her eyes alight with something I hadn’t seen in days.

Leeway.

"Mom!" I gasped and rushed to hold her before she could fall over.

She was languid, but she smiled against my shoulder. "They said the charges were dropped, no explanation. Just… released, just like that."

I helped her to the couch as she walked funny, and her breath was shallow and slow. I made her tea, though my hands kept shaking as I poured it, but I could tell that she was perusing me with quiet suspicion. "Damaris… what did you do?"

I blinked. "What do you mean?" I asked, playing dumb and oblivious like I have got no inkling of what she was talking about.

"To get me out." She said gently, but firmly. "I know you, baby and I know Arlena Blackwell. She wouldn’t have let this go without a price, so what did you do?"

I turned my back on her and stirred the tea for too long, while thinking of what to say. "You are out. That’s what matters." Silence stretched behind me.

"Damaris…" I forced a smile, blinking hard. "Drink your tea, mom. You need to rest."

She didn’t argue again but later that night, her cough worsened and by morning, she was burning up with fever.

We went to the hospital in a taxi, sitting in silence as she reclined against me, wheezing. The emergency nurse barely looked up as we were ushered to a cracked vinyl chair in the waiting room.

"Damaris?" I turned, startled as I heard my name.

A lanky man in a navy suit stood near the reception desk, holding a clipboard and squinting at me. Then his face broke into a grin. "It’s really you."

"Jordan?"

Jordan Myers, my friend from high school. He was really sweet and nice, in fact, he asked me out a couple of times, but I saw him as a friend and nothing more...

"It's so nice to see you again." We hugged briefly before I gestured over to my mom. "She’s been sick." I said. "They’re running a few tests." I added.

His smile softened. "You still looking for work?"

I nodded slowly, embarrassed. "Yeah."

He handed me a card. "I work in HR at Mont Enterprises, and we have an opening for an executive assistant. Just send me your résumé and I’ll push it through." This is the best news I have heard in a while.

I gaped at him. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious, I can still remember how smart you are, reliable and we need people like that, like you."

Tears stung my eyes. "Jordan… thank you."

He smiled and turned to the front desk. "Also, I’ve got her bill. I will cover the cost."

"Wait, no, I can’t let you..."

"You can." He said gently. "And you will, you can call it an investment in the future."

...

I sent the résumé that night after we got back from the hospital, thankfully, my mom is doing fine, much better.

The next morning, my phone rang, a call from Mont Enterprises, they wanted me to show up in the afternoon for an interview.

I wore my best professional outfit, did a little make up and made sure I looked really presentable. The receptionist at the tall glass tower gave me a name badge and directed me to the 39th floor.

My hands were shaking as I stepped into the sleek boardroom and then I saw him... Vince Montclair.

Seated at the head of the table in a charcoal suit, one hand resting near his jaw as he read over my file. His eyes lifted, dark, calculating, unreadable and I froze in my spot. It was at that moment that I realized that Mont Enterprises actually belongs to Vince Montclair.

I couldn’t breathe as he stared at me, he didn’t blink as he said, "Have a seat, Miss Rowe."

I let out a breath when I realized that he didn’t recognize me. Why would he? The lights had been dimmed, and I’d barely spoken, plus I looked different now, didn’t I?

I forced myself into the chair and answered every question, mechanically, professionally, like I hadn’t lost every part of myself to this man just nights ago.

He signed the final page and passed it across the table. "You’re hired." Just like that.

I barely made it out of the building before I brought out my phone and called Jordan. "I can’t take the job."

"What?" He said. "Why not?"

"I just… I can’t, there are things I can’t explain."

He hesitated before speaking. "If it’s Vince, don’t worry. He’s hardly ever in the office."

"It’s not that." I lied. "Just… thank you so much for everything but I can’t." I hung up as tears blurred my vision.

I need the job but I can't, I was forced to promise to stay away from Vince after our encounter that night, and after seeing what Arlena did to my mom, I can only imagine what she will do to me if she finds out about the job.

---

When I got home, mom was on the couch, clutching a tissue and trying to muffle her coughing. "I need to start working again." She said as I sat beside her. "Now that I’m out, I’ll apply for other cleaning jobs."

"No." I grabbed her hands. "You’re not going back to cleaning and scrubbing other people’s floors, especially while you’re sick."

"What choice do we have?"

"I got the job." I blurted it out before I could stop myself. "I took it."

Her eyes filled with tears and excitement. "You got a job?"

I nodded. "It’s full-time, good pay, office work and benefits, including health insurance that covers you as well."

"Oh, baby… you’re amazing."

I smiled, but it felt like glass cracking across my face, I had taken the job. I was walking right back into Vince Montclair’s world. Right into the place I had sworn to avoid after what I did, after what they made me do.

I didn’t know what Alice and her mother would do when they found out, but I did know one thing, I wasn’t letting my mom work in her condition... If I had to work or walk with the enemy just to give her a comfortable life, then so be it.