The Contract Said No Strings Attached (Charlotte) novel Chapter 294

Over the next few days, Garcia seemed determined to take things up a notch.

Every morning at work, she’d arrive with an armful of expensive gifts, handing them out to everyone in the office except Rebecca—and now, Director Porter was on the blacklist too. It was painfully obvious Garcia was trying to win people over, and just as obvious she wanted Rebecca left out in the cold.

At first, Rebecca didn’t notice anything amiss. But after a few instances of awkward silences and sidelong glances, she realized her colleagues were deliberately avoiding her. It became crystal clear something was off.

Whenever Rebecca tried asking a coworker a question, she was met with vague, half-hearted answers. No one wanted to talk to her for more than a few seconds. It didn’t take long for her to figure out why: Garcia was purposely isolating her, using little bribes to win everyone else onto her side.

Rebecca couldn’t help but find the whole thing childish and ridiculous.

What baffled her even more was how she’d managed to offend this self-absorbed princess in the first place. Then again, she could only blame her own friendship with Dylan—there was no escaping it.

Late one afternoon, just as everyone was getting ready to leave, Garcia suddenly raised her voice so the entire office could hear, “Oh no! My wallet’s gone! It had something really valuable inside!”

Immediately, her outburst drew everyone’s attention. People gathered around, asking what had happened.

Rebecca looked over instinctively, curiosity piqued.

Garcia feigned panic, patting down her desk and searching the area with exaggerated urgency. “I’m sure I left it here all day. How could it just disappear?”

That’s when someone piped up, “Could someone have taken it?”

An uneasy ripple moved through the group. Their office had always been a harmonious, drama-free place—nothing like this had ever happened before. The suggestion of theft sent a chill through the air.

A few coworkers murmured their agreement, pressing Rebecca to open her purse for inspection.

Of course, Rebecca refused. But before she could react, one busybody slipped behind her, snatched her bag, and unzipped it right there in front of everyone.

As the contents spilled out, a silver wallet landed on top for all to see.

Garcia immediately pointed, triumphant, “That’s my wallet!”

A gasp went up from the crowd, and a dozen pairs of accusing eyes fixed on Rebecca.

“I can’t believe you actually stole it!” Garcia exclaimed, her voice full of shock—though the satisfied gleam in her eyes said otherwise.