ISABEL'S POV

“That’s not true,” I said, but even as the words slipped out, I knew they didn’t carry the weight they should have.

Melissa stared at me, unmoving, her expression unreadable at first. Then her lips curved slightly — not into a smile, but into something sharper.

“So you expect me to make a scene?” she asked slowly. “To embarrass myself? To risk getting caught or questioned, all so your IT guy can walk in unnoticed?”

“That’s not how you should look at it,” I replied, forcing calm into my voice. “It’s temporary. Just a short distraction.”

“A distraction that puts me front and center,” she shot back. “While...