OLIVIA
The room fell silent.
No one moved or even breathed too loudly.
Then Mr. Fredrick straightened slowly, pushing his chair back and rising to his full height. Both hands came down on the table, grounding himself as he looked at me.
“I can assure you,” he said finally, “that this Vivienne will no longer partner with us. Our brand does not support bullying or harassment of any kind. And moreover, having you both on our new campaign would raise a lot of controversy. We’d rather move forward with you.”
His gaze didn’t waver, and neither did mine. For a moment, we simply regarded each other, two people perfectly polite on the surface, but fully aware of the power shift that had just occurred.
Then I nodded. “Then I’ll get back to you soon.”
No one spoke as I turned and walked to the
