Marcus had little interest in engaging Cassandra, but since she'd pushed the question directly, he gave her a straight answer.
"That night, I evaluated your piece and Eleanor's separately. You already knew my assistant had mixed up the two submissions. You took the credit that belonged to Eleanor without a flicker of hesitation."
"I"
"Did I say something untrue?"
Cassandra had nothing to come back with.
"If you genuinely want to apologize, Eleanor's the one who deserves it. Not me."
"Young people. Shortcuts and opportunism only get you so far."
Marcus's lecture left Cassandra seething internally.
He'd made the mistake. His assistant had mixed up the boxes. Why was the blame landing entirely on her?
Fuming, she watched Eleanor hand a jewelry box to Geoffrey Kang across the room.
A
