I Told You To Run But You Didn't (Georgia) novel Chapter 5

Georgia’s POV

“You shoved me forward,” I whispered, each word a spike of ice. “You used your wife as a human shield. So don’t you ever speak to me about dragging anyone down. You’re already at the bottom.”

“That’s enough!” Peter, Kiara’s self-appointed spokesman, jumped in. “It’s a man’s instinct to protect what’s valuable. Did you really expect him to choose you? Don’t flatter yourself.”

A slow, cold smile spread across my face as I turned to him. “Valuable? That’s fascinating. Because I distinctly remember you praising Kiara’s ‘fierce independence’ just last week. The ‘strong woman who isn’t inferior to any man.’ So which is it, Peter? Is she a priceless, fragile doll, or a powerhouse who needs no one? You can’t have it both ways.”

Peter’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Before he could formulate a response, Kiara glided forward, placing a placating hand on Lucas’s arm.

“Georgia,” she began, her tone dripping with condescending pity. “Lucas was simply acting out of chivalry. Don’t you think you’re being a little petty? Honestly, this kind of public bitterness is precisely why people call our gender narrow-minded.”

“Petty?!” Patricia’s voice cracked like a whip. She stormed past Lucas’s friends, getting right in Kiara’s face. “Are you out of your mind? He used his wife as a body shield for his mistress, and you have the nerve to stand there and lecture her on female solidarity? My God, the word ‘shameless’ doesn’t even begin to describe you!”

Patricia’s accusation dangled in the air, brutal and undeniable. For a moment, Kiara’s face was a mask of pure panic, the blood draining from it completely.

Then, a splotchy, ugly red blush crept up her neck, painting her in shame. She looked wildly at Lucas, then at his friends, seeking a defender.

“That’s a disgusting thing to say!” she stammered, her voice thin and reedy. “I am not a… a mistress!"

“Oh, really?” Patricia shot back, her arms crossed. “If you’re not his mistress, then what are you? The woman who warms his bed, wears his gifts, and waits for his wife to be thrown out? What’s the official title for that?”

Every eye in the vicinity was now locked on Kiara, their gazes a mixture of pity and morbid curiosity. She was a bug under a microscope, squirming for all to see.

Lucas, seeing his prize damsel cornered, finally found his voice. He turned on me, his face twisted with fury. “You will stop this, Georgia. Right now. Or I swear you’ll regret it...."

“Don’t worry, Lucas." I paused, letting the silence stretch. “I’ll hand in my resignation from Sterling Pharmaceutical first thing tomorrow morning.”

He stared, utterly blindsided. “Are you threatening me?” he roared, his voice cracking.

“No,” I said calmly, my voice cutting through his anger like glass. “I’m negotiating.”

My gaze slid to Kiara one last time, a silent, pitying dismissal. You won him. Enjoy your prize. Then I turned and took Patricia’s hand. “Let’s go, Tricia. The air in here has become toxic.”

As we walked away, Lucas’s voice, raw with impotent fury, echoed behind us. “You’re nothing without my name! You’ll come crawling back!”

Jasmine barely glanced at me, her eyes lighting up at the promotion. "The Helios Project? Oh, please," she scoffed with an airy wave of her hand. "Is that all? I can handle that in my sleep. Honestly, I never understood what took you so long with it, Georgia."

And in that moment, looking at the two of them—the incompetent tyrant and the arrogant fool—I felt nothing but a profound sense of release.

I thought of the 2 AM phone calls with international suppliers, the labyrinthine logistics I had personally mapped out, the impossible clients I had charmed. I had single-handedly carried the most difficult and vital project in this company, all while making it look effortless so they could feel secure and brilliant.

The urge to please them, to be their quiet, indispensable pillar, was gone. It had been burned out of me in a restaurant full of jeering sycophants.

A small, genuine smile touched my lips. Let them have it. Let them run it straight into the ground.

I was a new person now. And she didn't clean up other people's messes.

I held Lucas’s gaze, letting him see the absolute finality in my eyes. He was still expecting me to fight, to cry, to plead. He was still clinging to his pathetic threat from the night before.

My smile vanished, replaced by a cold, clear certainty.

"Don't worry," I said, my voice quiet but carrying the weight of a slammed vault door. "I won't be coming back."