Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

I obediently stayed still and held onto Hayden even tighter.

Thump, thump…

His heartbeat was strong in my ear, and that’s when it hit me–I was practically glued to his chest.

But fear had taken over everything else, and I couldn’t even bring myself to care.

I clung to him like my life depended on it, convincing myself that if I held on tight enough, I’d know for sure it wasn’t me moving–it was just the lift swaying.

After what felt like forever, the shaking finally stopped, but I didn’t let go until his voice cut through my thoughts. “Looks like you’ve got a new co–worker.”

I blinked, slowly pulling away, and looked down to see what he was talking about. When I realized who it was, I froze.

Shock turned into a rush of anger as I slammed the button to lower the lift.

When we touched down, Tanya was standing there, wearing her usual fake innocent smile. “Ms. Kay.”

I wasn’t in the mood for her games. “What are you doing here?” I asked, not even bothering to hide the edge in my voice.

It wasn’t about being rude, but seriously, a pregnant woman like her had no business being here. The park wasn’t even open yet, and half the safety checks weren’t done. If anything happened to her, no one would be able to deal with the fallout.

Especially since the baby she was carrying was “one–of–a–kind“.

But her response floored me. “I’m here to work.”

I stared at her, sure I’d misheard. “Excuse me?”

“Mr. Johnston asked me to come. He said I should oversee the safety inspections here,” Tanya replied, and I nearly lost it. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

“Is he out of his mind? You, overseeing safety inspections?” I shot back, completely losing my cool. Everyone was staring at me, shocked. Tanya wasn’t alone–she had the project manager with her, and Demi and Wayne were already there too.

“What do you mean?” Tanya asked, her voice dripping with fake sadness.

“I mean it’s completely inappropriate for a pregnant woman like you to be here,” I said, already pulling out my phone to call Jace.

Of course, he didn’t pick up right away. It wasn’t until the call was about to end that his voice finally came through. “What’s going on?”

“Why did you send Tanya here?” I asked, cutting straight to the point.

I’m not one to beat around the bush–I say what needs to be said.

“I sent her to work. Didn’t she tell you?” Jace responded, like it was no big deal.

I glanced at Tanya and pushed harder, “Do you seriously think it’s a good idea for her to be working here? What if something happens? Who’s responsible?”

“You are, obviously,” Jace’s answer knocked the wind out of me.

Before I could even react, he kept going, still in that calm tone. “You’re the project lead for the

amusement park. Not only do you need to get it finished and ready, but you also have to make sure all the staff are safe. That’s your job, got it?”

And that’s when I realized–this was a setup. One Wayne wasn’t enough, so now he was tossing Tanya into the mix too, just to mess with me.

I tightened my grip on my phone, glaring at Tanya’s fake–pitiful expression, and sneered, “Well, if someone’s got a death wish, that’s not my problem.”

Tanya’s face darkened, and for the first time, Jace actually sounded pissed. “How can you be so mean?”

C