At the mention of New York, he tensed. But only for a second. The next moment he was in utmost ease as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry to inform you, Ms. Hutton. You can’t.”

“What do you mean? You can’t force me to work here.”

“Did you read the rules and conditions before you applied and accepted the job?”

I frowned. “Yes?”

A tiny smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth. Something dropped in the pit of my stomach. “Then you must’ve read about the three months contract. In which, you agreed to the condition that you can’t leave this job at least for ninety days after accepting the offer. So that means, Emerald Hutton—” he closed the gap again, holding my gaze, “—you can’t leave this company and this city at least for three months.”

I gaped at him. Speechless. How could I forget about the clause? Because at that moment, it wasn’t a big deal for me. I wouldn’t have left the job even if it was for some years instead of just some months. But now…

“I don’t care about the contract. I’m resigning and no one can stop me. And how do you know about this contract, anyway?”

“I know a lot of things. And you will have to care, Ms. Hutton, if you don’t want a big red mark on your career.”

“I-I…” I didn’t know what to say. He had a point. Breaching this contract could be a big thumbs down for my career.

The look of triumph in his orbs vexed me.

And then I remembered his words.

“You can’t escape me anymore.”

No. I can’t let that happen. But what can I do?

I turned to Caleb, and before I could ask for help, he put his hands up. “I’m sorry, Em. I can’t help you with this. The contract states that, just like the employee can’t resign before the estimated time, the employer can’t fire them until it’s for something major.”

But it is a major issue for me! I wanted to scream.

“Please, is there nothing you can do? You could transfer me somewhere else,” I requested.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Em. And why transfer, though?”

“Uh, nothing. It’s just…” My voice trailed off.

“Are you scared of something, Ms. Hutton?” Ace appeared before me. “Is there anything that you think you can’t handle?” He cocked his head.

My jaw clenched. What was he trying to do? Was he challenging me?

“I’m not scared of anything or anyone!”

“You sure about that? Because it seems like you’re desperate to escape the city. What are you afraid of?” he fired back.

Something squeezed in my chest. His questions pricked me. Did he really not know why I wanted to escape this city so desperately?