Ella's POV:
I sat at my desk, staring at the Elevator Arec and Joanne had just walked in. What just happened? The cold, venomous way Joanne had spoken to me left me shaken. I always knew she wasn't fond of me, but this? This was something else.
"I don't know what you did to manipulate Arec…"
Her words echoed in my mind, twisting and turning until I could barely focus on the work in front of me. Did she really think I was manipulating him? That I somehow tricked Arec into this? It was absurd, but the bitterness in her voice felt so real, so personal.
I sighed, trying to brush it off. Maybe she's just being protective of Arec, I reasoned. She's known him for a long time; maybe she feels like I'm taking him away from her. But something about the way she looked at me, the contempt in her eyes… I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it.
