Misery is lodged in my throat. Like my heart was trying to climb its way out of my body to escape the agony that’d been wrecking me since Morgan walked out of here yesterday, and on its way up, it got stuck in my throat, choking me ever since.

Have you ever seen that Mel Gibson film Payback? The one where Mel’s character is betrayed by his wife and best friend for money. She shoots him in the back, and they both leave him for dead. Only he survives and goes after them for revenge.

Well, I’m kind of like Mel Gibson in that movie. Except I’m not a criminal, Morgan isn’t my wife, she wasn’t fucking my best friend, and she didn’t shoot me in the back even though it feels like she did.

But what she did do was betray me.

Also, I’m not going to go after her for revenge. So, actually, scrap what I just said. It was a fucking stupid analogy.

But that’s the theme of things with me at the moment when it comes to Morgan—stupid.

I pour more Jack into my glass and take a good gulp.

Yep. I’m drinking in my office during the day. Fucking sue me.

I hear a commotion outside my office. Then, my door is flying open, and a pint-sized woman with short, dark hair is barging into my office with Chrissy hot on her heels.

“Um, who are you?” God, even my voice sounds monotone.

It’s so bad that I can’t even muster up the energy to be pissed about a complete stranger just walking into my office, uninvited.

“I tried to stop her, Wilder. But she’s pretty damn fast for a small person. She even managed to get past Leah.”

I actually feel like raising a glass to this chick, whoever she is. She’s definitely got some balls. Getting past Leah and Chrissy is no easy feat.

“I’m not small.” She glares at Chrissy over her shoulder before looking back at me. “And my name is Joely Harper. I’m Morgan’s best friend.”

At the mention of Morgan, I feel like all the oxygen has just been sucked out of the room.

“Do you want me to toss her out on her ass?” Chrissy asks me.

Joely tosses a laugh over her shoulder. “I’d like to see you try.”

Yep, she’s definitely Morgan’s friend.

And I need to get Chrissy out of here before a catfight breaks out in my office. “No. It’s fine. She can stay. Can you close the door on your way out, please, Chrissy?”

Chrissy gives me a look of concern, and I give her a nod, telling her I’m fine.

She gives Joely one last angry stare and then walks out of my office.

“What can I do for you?” I ask Joely.

“Well, first off, you can pull your head out of your ass and go apologize to my best friend for breaking her heart and also for firing her.”

I laugh. She’s straight to the point; I’ve got to give her that.

“And the second thing?”

“After you’re done apologizing for both of those things, then you can beg her for her forgiveness and give her, her job back.”

I laugh again. This chick’s a riot.

“Hang on…let me think about it.” I tap my finger to my lips. “No. And no.”

“You’re a fucking idiot. You were an idiot in college, and apparently, you’re an even bigger one now.”

“And you’re a bitch. And there’s the door. Don’t let it hit your ass on the way out.” I down the rest of my whiskey and slam the glass on my desk.

She ignores me and comes over to my desk to take the seat across from me.

I blankly stare at her. “Do you have a hearing problem?”

“No, I can hear your bullshit just fine.” She folds her arms over her chest. “Did you know Morgan was in love with you in college?”

My eyes snap up to hers. “Morgan hated me in college.”

Joely unfolds her arms and leans forward. “Trust me, she was in love with you.”

“So…why…” I shake my head, trying to clear my tangled thoughts.

“Why didn’t she act like it? It’s called self-preservation. But then you’d know a little something about that, right? Isn’t that what you did yesterday when you tossed Morgan out of here? Because you thought she’d betrayed you? Isn’t that what you’re doing now while you sit here and tell yourself that you did the right thing by firing her? It’s what we do when people hurt us. We go into defensive mode and protect ourselves in the only way we know how.”

“You’re right. People do that. But here’s the thing. I never hurt Morgan in college. She just started hating on me for no fucking reason.”

She laughs now. “It was thirteen years ago and eighteen-year-old Morgan’s first term at Northwestern. She’d somehow landed the roommate from hell. Tori Watson. Ring any bells?”

I cast my mind back. Something is there, nagging in the back of my head, but I can’t reach it properly to figure it out.

“No.” I shake my head.

“Shame. I don’t know if I’d have preferred that you did remember her. And what you both did to Morgan that night.”

“I never did anything to Morgan,” I growl. I don’t like this chick’s tone or the things she’s implying.

“Morgan had just finished a shift at Starbucks. She came home and couldn’t get in her room. Tori had locked her out because she was inside, hooking up with a guy. You.” She points a finger at me. “Morgan eventually got her to open up the door. But Tori wouldn’t let her in. Told her to find somewhere else to sleep. She spent the night on my dorm room floor.”

“Bullshit. Morgan wouldn’t have stood for that. She’d have told her to fuck off.”

“The Morgan now—yeah, you’re right; she would have. The Morgan back then? Not a chance. She just took it like she did.”

“So, Tori locked her out. How is that my fault?”

“It’s not. But you just stood there and said nothing—besides offering to let her join you and Tori.”

I wince because that sounds exactly like something I would have said.

“You left Morgan with nowhere to sleep, which is shitty in itself. But it was what she heard you say after the door was closed that hurt her most.”

“And what did I apparently say?”

“Basically, you said she was fat.”

“Bullshit. I’ve never called a girl fat in my life.”

“‘Anything over a size four, and I show her the door.’”

Her words freeze in my ears. That was something Coop and I used to say when we were younger and fucking idiots.

But, no, I wouldn’t have said that about Morgan. Would I have?

“Morgan wasn’t fat in college.”

“No, she wasn’t. Not if you take the actual meaning of fat into context. But she wasn’t exactly thin either. And, to morons like you and your frat buddies, she wasn’t a size four or below; therefore, she was fat.”

I swallow back, a sick feeling starting to swirl in my stomach.

“So, she hated me for something I said that I don’t even remember saying. That’s not exactly fair. And it doesn’t excuse what she’s done to me and my family’s company.”

“You’re right; it wouldn’t be fair. If she’d actually done any of those things that you accused her of.”

“I saw the email.”

“And I saw her devastation last night. Like I did all those years ago when you stood by and let a bunch of your frat buddies call her fat at a party. You did nothing, and then you went upstairs and screwed one of her best friends. But I’m guessing you don’t remember that either.”

I close my eyes and force my mind back.

“Hannah,” I say, opening my eyes.

“Hannah,” she echoes. “So, you do remember.”

“But how was I to know? I didn’t think Morgan gave a shit about me. I didn’t know I was hurting her back then. But she knew exactly what she was doing when she went to Coveted Lingerie with her idea—our idea.”

“You know, Morgan wasn’t going to tell me about what had happened with you and Hannah because she didn’t want to cause problems between me and our so-called friend. But I know Morgan, and I knew something was wrong. It took me weeks to coax it out of her.”

“I’m sorry about the thing with Hannah. But that was then, and this is now. She sold us out.”

“Do you really believe that she would go behind your back like that?”

“I spoke to the supplier. I saw the—”

“Email. Yeah, you said. But you know what your problem is, Wilder? What your problem has always been when it comes to Morgan? You never saw her all those years ago. And you’re still not seeing her now.”

She gets up from the chair and walks toward my office door.

She pulls it open and then stops, turning back to me. “Don’t make the same mistake again with her. Because I promise you, you will regret it.”