She Cheered for His Office Crush, Then Left Her Husband Behind novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: All-Hands

The all-hands was in the ground-floor auditorium, with three hundred chairs and a coffee station run by Margot Hayes.

She had been hired, she told me, "on merit."

She wore a name tag that said MARGOT, CATERING, and a second one under it that said MOTHER OF THE DIRECTOR.

Nobody had asked her to wear the second one.

Tristan and I sat in the second row, side by side, with an empty seat between us for his coat.

He took the coat off the seat and put it on his lap.

I put my hand on the armrest.

He put his over it.

Everyone in the room saw that, and nobody made a sound.

Dennis Tidwell walked up to the podium with a sheet of paper and a golf tan.

"Good morning," he said. "I'm going to do this in order."

The room went quiet.

"You've all seen a photograph. You've all read a thread. Some of you wrote a pretty good paragraph about it." He looked at the analyst, who was sitting on his hands in the back row. "I'd like you to hear it from me."

"Mr. Hayes and Ms. Stratton are married. They have been for two years. They told HR themselves, together, at a hearing last Wednesday."

A rustle went through the room, and then a long, rolling hum.

"The policy exists because a manager should not review his wife," Dennis said. "He agreed. He has recused himself from every review that touches her, effective the day he told us."

I felt Tristan's hand tighten.

"As of this morning, he's no longer director of client operations. Nobody asked him to resign, and nobody is firing him. He declined a payout. He will be the director of strategic accounts, outside her reporting line, on the same floor and the same salary."

← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend