Page 50 of The Owner's Temptation

Because now I know.

No one bid on me.

I wasn’t picked.

My heart thuds in my ears. Loud. Heavy. Final.

I told myself I wouldn’t let this define me. That if it didn’t work out, I’d move on. That this was just a steppingstone.

But even though I’ve been applying for other jobs, I’ve beenhere. Focused. Trying.

And it still wasn’t enough.

I bite the inside of my cheek hard, trying to will the tears away.

Because when you’re the last girl sitting in a room full of empty chairs?

You don’t need anyone to tell you you’ve failed.

You already know.

Eve’s expression is unreadable as she crosses the room. Each step across the marble floor hits like a judge’s gavel hammering in my verdict.

She stops directly in front of me.

My breath stutters.

“Come with me, Sienna.”

That’s all she says.

No folder. No sponsor’s name. No smile.

Just four words.

I nod numbly and stand, my legs stiff and unsteady beneath me. I gather my things with mechanical precision, following her like I’m headed to an execution.

Because I am, aren’t I?

She’s taking me to sign a final form. To be walked out the back door of The Ledger with polite apologies and a folder that saysNot a Good Fitin bold letters across the top.

I should ask her.

Should say something. Ask why but I don’t.

I’m not sure I want to know the reasons.

The hallway is too quiet. Too clean. Every soft step feels like a nail hammered into my coffin. My pulse beats in my throat, my ears, my wrists.

The elevator heads up to the topmost floor. We don’t take the path the other girls did when they went off to meet their sponsors.

Oh, God. Maybe they throw the undesirables from the rooftop like discarded dreams.

We exit the elevator and descend down a corridor I haven’t been in before. The walls are lined with black marble, threaded with veins of gold. Opulent. Stark. Intimidating.

Just like this place.

Just like the rejection I know is coming.

---