Year Five: The Perfect Goodbye Plan novel Chapter 11

Silvia parted her lips slightly. “I don’t really care.”

“Don’t care?” Vianne’s smile was cool, almost mocking. “You spend every waking hour chasing projects and drafting proposals. Isn’t it all for the company’s profit—and that promotion to lead secretary? How could you not care?”

Silvia was blunt. “It’s just the two of us. There’s no need for polite small talk.”

“Are you misunderstanding—”

Vianne didn’t even get to finish. Silvia cut her off.

“Every move you make is perfectly calculated,” Silvia said, her tone cooling. “Just like your lipstick. You always pick the perfect shade for every occasion. I suppose when you’re alone with Shipley, you go for something even bolder, don’t you?”

“Silvia, you’re out of line. There’s nothing between me and Mr. Barlow except—”

Silvia gestured toward the open-plan office. “If you call that friendship, I doubt anyone out there would believe you.”

For a split second, surprise flickered across Vianne’s eyes—quickly replaced by a subtle, defiant glint.

But Silvia was done deciphering her expressions. Without another word, she turned and walked away.

She couldn’t focus on work the entire day. As evening crept in, her proposal still sat unfinished.

A sudden clap of thunder split the sky.

After dinner, she stepped outside and stared at the torrential rain pouring down over the city. The urge to quit on the spot, to just walk away from all of this, surged inside her. She couldn’t imagine facing either of them for even one more day, let alone the next three weeks.

Thinking back over everything that had happened today, Silvia finally felt her nose sting and her eyes begin to water.

“Forgot your umbrella again?”

A deep, unfamiliar voice broke through her thoughts.

Silvia turned instinctively—and froze.

“Kent?”

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