I Slept with My Boss and Ran Away

Meredith steadied her nerves as the waiter brought over the coffee. She picked up the cup, intending to sip slowly, but almost lost her grip when the hot liquid scalded her lips. That was a miscalculation.

Wincing from the burn, Meredith managed to set the coffee back down without a visible reaction and forced a smile. “Mrs. Sterling, if I were to actually name a price, it would break the rules. We’re all young here, just having fun-who takes it seriously? If I took money, it would be dishonorable. Besides, you might then accuse me of blackmail, and how unjust would that be?”

Stella, taken aback, had expected Meredith to passionately claim that she was truly in love with her son, perhaps to inflate the price or just take the money and run. But Meredith’s casual dismissal as just playing surprised her.

Instantly angered, Stella retorted, “You’re just playing with my son? Are young women today so shameless? I will make sure my son sees your true colors.”

Meredith laughed. “Mrs. Sterling, aren’t you being a bit hypocritical? I can be a toy for your son, but he can’t be a pastime for me?”

Stella’s face turned a shade of iron blue. In her eyes, Meredith was an indecent woman, not fit to be part of the Sterling family. It was fortunate she had extracted the truth from Harvey Fieldmouse; otherwise, she would still be in the dark, and her son deceived by this siren.

“You are despicable,” Stella fumed. “Thank goodness I found out early, or my son might actually think you are a decent woman. Miss Florrick, whatever your intentions, be it false love or pretense, cut it out. My son’s wife will definitely be the heir to Falconer Holdings, not some unknown like you. We’ve already arranged a marriage.”

Heir to Falconer Holdings?

Meredith was stunned. Stella wanted Terrence Sterling to marry Joy Chaucer? The Chaucer and Sterling families were indeed a good match. Meredith had always sensed that only someone of equal social standing would marry into the Sterling family, not someone like her with no background, who had just lost her job.

She hadn’t expected it to be Joy Chaucer. Fortunately, Joy didn’t know about her relationship with Terrence, or else being fired would have been the least of her problems.

Meredith recalled the night of her birthday when Mrs. Wooten had mentioned Miss Chaucer to Terrence. So, that Miss Chaucer was Joy Chaucer. Rumors had circulated that her boyfriend planned to propose on Joy’s birthday-turns out, that boyfriend was Terrence Sterling.

When she had spoken to Terrence about this, he seemed to know everything but said nothing. Perhaps it was all just a game to him, always intending to return to his circle and marry someone of equal social standing.

Stella’s words woke Meredith up to much reality.NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.

After Stella left, Meredith sat in the cafe for a long time, her coffee cooling, uncertain of her next steps. Suddenly, it began to rain outside.

Meredith glanced out the window. Today had been remarkably unlucky: jobless and humiliated by her boyfriend’s mother, and it was about to get worse. When she got home, soaked, and had just changed clothes, the doorbell rang.

If it was Terrence Sterling, he would have a key. He wouldn’t ring the bell.

Puzzled, Meredith opened the door to find two police officers standing there. “Sunfield Police Department. We suspect you’re involved in a murder case. Please come with us.”

Meredith was flabbergasted. A murder case?

“Wait, there must be some mistake. How could I be involved in a murder? Who was killed? I haven’t done anything,” she protested.

“Joy Chaucer. She was injured in a car accident an hour ago. The brakes failed. Someone tampered with her car’s brakes,” one officer explained. “The victim claimed you had a grudge against her after she fired you, giving us reason to suspect you sought revenge.”

Meredith wanted to scream that Joy Chaucer was insane. Revenge on Joy? As if she would do something so foolish.

“This is a misunderstanding. I really didn’t do anything. It wasn’t me; I don’t have the guts for that.”

“Please come with us. We will find out what happened.”