"It's just a necklace. Was it really worth bullying a young woman over?"
I looked at him as if seeing him for the first time.
"Just a necklace?"
A laugh scraped out of me, hollow, my chest so tight it had gone numb.
"Asher, you know exactly what it means to me!"
Something shifted in his expression, but the moment Winifred's soft sobbing reached him, whatever hesitation he had vanished.
"She helped the company land a major deal. It was a reward for an outstanding employee. You're the boss's wife. Can't you show a little grace?"
I scoffed.
The secretary who tanked projects and flirted her way up the ladder. Outstanding employee.
"Since when does a secretary get my things handed out as a bonus?"
The crowd around us fell silent, then the murmuring started, rippling outward.
Passersby recognized me, whispering among themselves.
"Isn't that the Pruitt heiress? Why is she fighting with Mr. Sanchez?"
"They'll work it out. She was crazy about him back in the day. And let's be honest, without the Pruitt family, he wouldn't be where he is now, so..."
Asher's face cycled between white and livid. His eyes snapped to mine, cold and foreign.
"Aileen, don't push it! Without me, you're nothing!"