The Rejected Luna (Avery and Kaden) novel Chapter 180

“I can’t believe it. I thought her connection was Mr. Taylor, but it turns out to be Mr. Lancaster himself. No wonder Taylor was sucking up to her. You definitely can’t afford to cross one of

Lancaster’s women.”

“Please. ‘Mr. Lancaster’s woman‘? He has a wife. Someone like her, who sleeps her way to the top, is just a homewrecker. It’s disgusting.”

The mocking, contemptuous voices weren’t quiet; they were clearly meant for me to hear.

I walked straight up to Linda, the ringleader of the gossiping circle. She was holding a mug of hot water, and when she saw me striding toward her, she couldn’t even meet my gaze, taking a nervous, strategic sip.

The others instantly fell silent.

A cold, beautiful smile spread across my face. “Go on,” I purred. “Why’d you stop?”

The others were too scared to speak, but Linda clutched her mug and shot back a sarcastic

retort.

“What, you have the nerve to do something so shameless, but we’re not allowed to talk about it? If you didn’t have powerful connections, if you hadn’t slept your way into some man’s bed, how could you have become a director at your age?”

I almost laughed out loud. “So you know I have connections, and you still flap your gums about me like a common shrew, Linda?”

Linda, only twenty–eight, was probably not prepared for my level of shamelessness. She bit her lip, her eyes filled with indignant fury.

It seemed my previous attempts to make an example of others hadn’t been effective enough.

I smirked, then snatched the mug from her hand. Before she could react, I poured the water over her head, watching with satisfaction as terror washed over her face.

Sharp intakes of breath filled the room.

My voice was deceptively sweet, as if I were utterly harmless. “You’d better watch yourself. If you say one more bad word about me, I’ll run straight to my backer and have him make sure you’re fired and blacklisted from every major company in the city. Understand?”

Linda finally broke, nodding in terrified submission.

I politely handed the mug back to her. “Good. To be honest, I’m not a fan of workplace bullying. You play nice, I play nice, everyone plays nice. But when your mouth spews such filth, I just can’t help but get physical. I do hope you’ll be considerate of my short temper.”

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13:05

Chapter 180

With that, my smile vanished. The only sound in the dead–silent office was the click of my heels as I walked back to my office. The silence held until I emerged moments later, handbag in tow, and left for the day.

In a word: satisfying.

Don’t let the bastards grind you down. Better to let your crazy out and make it their problem.

In that moment, a good portion of the misery Steven had caused me simply melted away.

I didn’t go to the hospital or head straight home. Instead, I found a quiet park bench and called Noah.

He answered almost immediately, his voice low. “Ms. Jones.”

My own voice was cool and collected. “I hear you’re Steven’s arch–nemesis.”

Noah sounded surprised, then let out a dry chuckle. “I thought you already knew.”

How could I have known? I rarely had eyes for any man other than Steven. Besides, having been reborn, some memories from so long ago were hazy.

“There’s no need to threaten Steven anymore,” I said. “He refused to sign the divorce papers.”

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