Page 29 of It Starts With A No

Without even a hint of an acknowledgment, he pushed Tamara aside and strode in. “Good morning, Clary. Just a few weeks into work and you’re already coming in late?”

Hugh clearly still had eyes and ears in the bank.

Clary smiled at Tamara. “Thanks. That’s all for now.”

Tamara nodded and closed the door behind her.

The digital lock whirred and beeped.

“Go on,” Clary said as Hugh strode right over to the sofa and dropped heavily onto it. She stared at him. “Do your worst.”

Hugh’s eyes widened, and he blinked innocently. “What do you mean?” He put his feet up on the coffee table. “Oh? The phone calls?” He waved it off. “I was upset. I got fired and got replaced by you. You should know how I feel.”

“So you would’ve been fine if it had been someone else.”

Hugh had never hidden the fact that he detested her. He never thought she belonged anywhere near the Eolenfelds. He didn’t think she deserved to be in the same school—the school founded by Mr. E—as the Eolenfelds. And he’d made that clear every single day of her life in school.

He stretched one arm across the back of the sofa. “You’re like an annoying parasite that simply won’t go away.”

She laughed once. “Exactly how I would describe you.”

His brows rose. “Look who’s grown a spine.” He smirked. “Looks like all this power is getting to you.”

Clary lifted her hands from the armrests and rested them on the desk. “I’m used to your pettiness.” She leaned forward. “But if you dare make things difficult for Tamara again, I’ll make it my personal vendetta to make sure you’re permanently out of Mr. E’s will.”

Hugh’s eyes narrowed.

“You should know how much your grandfather values my opinion.”

He shook his head. “This is why everyone in my family is convinced that you’re actually his and that cook’s daughter.”

Clary poked her tongue into her cheek. “Would you like me to punch you in the face again?”

Back in school, punching Hugh had resulted in her getting a two-week suspension, but it’d also caused Hugh to be expelled.

Mr. E had wanted to make the suspension go away, but Grandma Moretti insisted otherwise. There are consequences to your actions.

Clary was fine with it. She’d been prepared to be expelled. Hugh was an Eolenfeld, and she was only the orphan girl Mr. E had extended his grace to.

But Mr. E had pressed for an explanation, so she told him what happened. Hugh had gone around school spreading the story that she was the illegitimate daughter of Mr. E and Grandma Moretti.

She had warned Hugh to stop it, but he didn’t.

So …

She didn’t regret it, and she would do it all over again if he brought that nonsense up again. What she hadn’t expected was for Mr. E to get Hugh expelled, which only seemed to fuel the rumor that was probably already spreading among the Eolenfelds.

Hugh’s brows drew together. “Haven’t you suspected? Why else would he be so nice to you?”

She sighed. “I know where I come from, you idiot. You might not remember my parents because they were simply servants to you, but I remember them, you …” She blew out a breath through her mouth instead of spewing the curses at the tip of her tongue. I have the patience to deal with him. “You’re wasting my time. Say what you want and get out.”

“I came to offer you a deal.”

“No.”

“I haven’t even—”

“No.”

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