Betrayed and Dumped: She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 37

“This is for you.” Liam handed Rebecca a small box. She popped it open and stared—inside was a car key. Not just any key. A Mercedes key.

Right away, her mind flashed to the shiny new Mercedes van parked downstairs. She felt her brain short-circuit. “Is this a company car? For me?”

“Yes. Mr. Duncan had the corporate services team order it just for you.”

After Liam left, Rebecca remembered bumping into Stephen by the door last week after work. He’d asked if she had a driver’s license. So he’d been planning this all along.

Company cars for execs weren’t unusual. Sometimes even sales got them, all so employees could work more efficiently. Rebecca had spent five years at NovaStack Cloud and Bruce had never once thought to hook her up with a car. She wasn’t even officially on the job at Sunforge Tech yet, and Stephen had already set her up with a Mercedes.

The comparison stung. Bruce really hadn’t cared about her at all.

Rebecca thought for a second, then dialed Stephen’s extension. He picked up right away, like he’d been waiting for her. “Did you get the keys?” He sounded amused.

Rebecca pressed her lips together. “Yeah, I got them. Thank you, Mr. Duncan.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for. The car’s in the company’s name. It’s not a personal gift.”

“Still, I’ll be the one driving it, so thank you,” Rebecca said.

Stephen let out a soft laugh. “Alright, I’ll accept your thanks.”

He shifted gears. “You’re heading to Meridian Tech today for the POC, right?”

“Yeah, Justin and I are going this afternoon.”

“Great. If you need me to step in or help coordinate, just let me know.”

He waited for a reply, but the other end was silent. He kept holding the phone, only realizing after a moment that Rebecca had already hung up. Embarrassment crept in. He couldn’t believe he’d spaced out like that.

Later that afternoon, Justin knocked on her door. “Ready whenever you are,” he said.

A few of his team members strolled by, talking in low voices about the flashy Mercedes van downstairs. When they spotted Greg, they stopped and nodded hello.

Greg smirked. “You know whose van that is?”

They shook their heads.

“That van was bought just for Ms. Harper,” Greg said, his tone sharp.

They all glanced at each other, eyebrows raised. Nobody said anything, but everyone was thinking the same thing—there had to be something going on between Mr. Duncan and Ms. Harper.

Greg offered a thin smile. “Don’t get the wrong idea. They have a professional relationship. She earned her spot fair and square.”

His team watched him walk away, thoughtful and quiet. Was it really just professional? Did she really get the job on merit? Their boss definitely knew something they didn’t.

Before long, someone couldn’t resist starting a conversation in the group chat. It didn’t even take the whole afternoon for the rumor to spread all over the company; people were already whispering that Rebecca had slept her way to the top.