"Oh, and all those times I was supposedly 'late' or 'left early'? I was out meeting with partners, courting clients, bringing in resources for this company."
My words landed like a bomb. The room dissolved into chaos.
"No way. Isn't Vice President Pruitt just a pretty face who slept her way up? You're telling me she closed a ten-million-dollar deal?"
Every word was a needle in my heart.
They were right to doubt me. For five years, I'd let Neal take credit for every deal I closed—all to build his reputation, to make him look like the visionary founder everyone admired.
And what did I get? Everyone saw me as a trophy girlfriend who'd ridden his coattails to a title I didn't earn.
I'd done it because I loved him. I never bothered to set the record straight.
But I was done staying silent.
Then came the sound of soft sobbing.
Tania pressed her hands to her face, eyes glistening with tears, the picture of wounded innocence.
"Mr. Gilbert, I'm so sorry—this is all my fault!"
She pulled out a bank card, holding it toward me with trembling hands.
"I'll give the twenty thousand back to Vice President Pruitt right now. Please don't blame her anymore. I couldn't bear it if I came between you two."