The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I picked it up and saw that it was Filiz calling. A lump formed in my throat, so I just let it ring until the screen stopped flashing, signaling the call had ended.

Today, I had to call Erick and tell him I wouldn’t be coming back to work. I felt deeply ashamed—he had trusted me with this job, and I didn’t know how he would take the news. But it was undoubtedly worse to let Alexander destroy his company. If that happened, I’d never be able to live with the guilt.

I went straight down to the dining room and found Mary clearing the table.

—"Ma’am, I thought you weren’t coming down for breakfast, so I decided to clear the table," she said kindly.

—"Oh, no, Mary, don’t worry. I understand. It’s already quite late," I replied with a small smile.

—"Don’t worry. I’ll bring your breakfast right away," she assured me before disappearing into the kitchen.

Five minutes later, she returned with the tray. I ate quickly and went back up