God, why was I always so scattered!? This was my fault. If only I’d cleaned up and erased my so-called footsteps in the snow…

“I’ve been working hard,” I said again in a small voice. Surely, that counted for something? I’d tried to be the best employee to Hannah I could be. Minus the lying and deceit, of course.

“You’ve been doing what I asked of you, yeah. But you’re hardly ever in the office anymore, and I’m starting to see why. How long did you think you would hide this from me?”

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “I made a mistake, and I panicked. I couldn’t afford you to...