The Paper Wife’s Empire novel Chapter 192

An hour later, Holden was stewing in his office, frustration simmering beneath the surface, when HR called unexpectedly, asking him to come in for a chat.

He had a sinking feeling as he made his way to their office, and sure enough, there they were.

Nova and Ramona.

So, the girl really had teamed up with Ramona and sold him out.

Holden caught a flicker of nerves in Nova’s eyes when she saw him, but with Ramona by her side, she quickly regained her composure.

He stared directly at Nova as he took the seat across from her, outwardly calm though his mind was racing.

He’d always considered Ramona a tough opponent, but handling one of her junior staff should have been laughably easy. He never expected Nova would actually risk crossing him for Ramona’s sake.

Yet Holden’s lips curled almost imperceptibly. Most department heads in the company were in his pocket. Even if Nova reported that he’d tried to steal Ramona’s project data, what real harm had been done? He already had excuses lined up to brush this off.

After all, Ramona was new to the company; keeping tabs on her at Melinda’s request was just office politics, nothing more. And HR? What could they really do to a senior VP?

“Holden, you have two options,” Ramona said before HR could even figure out how to begin. “You can apologize to Nova, promise never to harass her again, and accept disciplinary action for violating company policy. Or, I go public with your behavior and bring Melinda and the board into this conversation. Let’s see how they want to handle your misconduct, and maybe prevent the rest of the staff from living in fear.”

She glanced at Nova, making it clear whose side she was on.

The day Nova quit, Ramona had reached out immediately. She’d known something was off, checked the security footage, and discovered Nova had been in her office, using her computer. That was enough to force a meeting.

Nova hadn’t wanted to drag Ramona into it, and she was worried Holden might retaliate against her family. But she’d already made up her mind to do the right thing, and she didn’t want Ramona to misunderstand. So, she told her everything.

She’d only gone to Ramona’s office to put Holden at ease—she never gave him any real data.

Nova would rather pack up her mom and little brother and leave Havencrest City than stab Ramona in the back.

Ramona believed her, but she hadn’t realized Nova had been carrying Holden’s threats alone. That was exactly how Holden operated—he manipulated people into isolation, making it harder for them to reach out for help.

For Nova to come to Ramona would have meant shifting that burden onto her mentor, which was the last thing Nova wanted. Ramona and Holden were already at odds, and Nova didn’t want to be the spark that set off a direct confrontation.

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