She Comes Home to Me

Your boss can steal your work and break your body—but every night, Audrey still comes home to you.

Plot

Modern Workplace Romance She Comes Home to Me A Bittersweet Romance Workplace abuse • Unwavering loyalty • Emotional healing • Building a future together — The Hook — Your boss can steal your work and break your body—but every night, Audrey still comes home to you. — World Logistics — SETTING: Modern-day, realistic corporate life. WORKPLACE: A wealthy family-owned independent video-game studio ruled by nepotism. YOUR ROLE: A talented systems designer whose best ideas are repeatedly stolen. ROMANCE: Established, loyal, and strengthened through honesty and mutual care. — The Situation — Richard Beaumont is wealthy, physically imposing, and protected by the family that owns your studio. As creative director, he steals your ideas, humiliates you in front of your coworkers, and becomes violent whenever you resist. His obsession with Audrey has turned every rejection into another injury to his pride. He believes money, status, and strength entitle him to any woman he desires. Reporting him risks your job. Fighting back gives him the excuse he needs to destroy your career. Every path within the company belongs to his family—and every night, you risk returning home carrying wounds you can't hide. — The People at the Center — Audrey Ward Your Girlfriend • Doctor • Age 26 The kind-hearted girlfriend who tends your wounds, guards your dignity, and helps you build a life without fear. Conrad Webb Default Player • Systems Designer • Age 28 A systems designer facing workplace abuse who must learn that loyalty cannot be bought and freedom must be fought for. Richard “Dick” Beaumont Creative Director • Protected Heir • Age 35 The wealthy creative director who steals ideas, weaponizes privilege, and cannot accept that Audrey will never choose him. — What Happens Next — ENDURE: Survive Richard’s pressure without letting him define your worth. TRUST: Stop hiding your pain and allow Audrey to stand beside you. CREATE: Develop an independent game in the safety of your shared home. ESCAPE: Build a marriage, company, and future that Richard cannot control. “You don’t have to beat him, Handsome. You just have to come home.” — Audrey Ward He owns the company. He does not own your future.

Opening scene

Friday, October 9 · 8:23 PM │ Beaumont Interactive — Launch Reception Beaumont Interactive liked to call itself an independent studio. The phrase appeared beneath its logo, throughout its recruitment material, and across the towering screens surrounding the company’s latest launch reception. While there was no multinational publisher issuing orders from another continent and no distant corporate owner demanding quarterly sequels. There was still the Beaumont family. They controlled the board, owned most of the studio, and occupied enough executive positions that family preference had become functionally indistinguishable from company policy. Employees still filed performance reviews, complaints, and promotion requests through the proper channels. Those channels simply had a habit of returning answers and solutions favorable to the Beaumont family's interests. Tonight, the studio’s employees gathered beneath trailers, review scores, and footage from their newly released sequel game. One of the features receiving the most praise was its redesigned progression system when compared to its prequel. The first game had punished experimentation, flooded players with meaningless rewards, and eventually collapsed under its own economy by the middle of the campaign. You had spent most of the previous year rebuilding it: ability pacing, combat rewards, upgrade costs, difficulty curves, and the numbers connecting all of them. ...And Richard Beaumont had just spent the previous fifteen minutes explaining how his leadership had rescued it instead. “My team brought me plenty of puzzle pieces,” he told investors gathered near the presentation stage. “As their leader, it was responsibility was turning those disjointed pieces into the coherent vision we have today.” A branching skill tree you had personally designed appeared behind him as Richard smiled and polite applause moved through the room like a wave. At thirty-five, he had the polished appearance of someone raised to represent a wealthy family in public. His charcoal suit fit perfectly. His posture was relaxed. Even his jokes were rehearsed enough to sound spontaneous. Of course, Employees laughed when he expected them to. Several members of the systems team stood close enough to hear one another and far enough from Richard to speak honestly. “He changed the title slide,” one designer complained. “That was his only contribution.” Another glanced away from Richard and shrugged in defeat. Audrey stood beside you with a glass of wine in one hand. She had arrived knowing almost no one and had already learned the names of half your immediate team. When a junior developer nervously tried to explain a technical problem from launch week, Audrey listened as carefully as she would have listened to a patient describing symptoms. She did not pretend to understand everything, but she listened because it mattered to the person explaining it. Richard had noticed her in the crowd before leaving the stage. Made evident by the fact that his gaze returned to her twice while an investor spoke to him. The third time, he excused himself and crossed the reception floor. “You.” He placed one hand briefly against your shoulder, smiling as though greeting a valued colleague, though the stiffness in his forearm made it feel like he was pushing you away. Then he looked at Audrey. “So this is the famous Audrey Ward.” Audrey offered her hand. “Doctor Ward is fine.” “Richard Beaumont, but you already knew that.” He accepted her hand and held it a moment longer than the greeting required. "But my friends call me Dick." “...You neglected to mention that his girlfriend would be the most stunning woman here.” Audrey withdrew her hand without displaying offense. “That would have been a strange thing to put in the RSVP.” Richard laughed, “Fair. Although if you were my woman, I wouldn't hide you away. I would show you off at every opportunity.” His gaze shifted toward you for only a moment, “That is why people like me get promotions.” Beside him, the nearest screen replayed footage of the progression system. Audrey followed his glance, “Is that the system you've been working on?” she asks you. “Oh, that is one of my larger redesigns,” Richard said. “You simply followed my vision.” Audrey looked back at him, “Wasn't he rebuilding it before you settled on the final direction?” Richard’s smile held, “Creative work is iterative. Employees explore possibilities. Leadership decides which possibilities have value.” “I imagine good employees make that decision easier," she replies with a sip of wine. Richars laughs again and gently corrects, “They make themselves useful.” The word lingered just long enough to become an insult, hen Richard lifted his glass toward you. Finally acknowledging your presence again. “And You is very useful.” Audrey’s expression remained courteous, “It is true that he’s extremely talented,” she tries to pivot the insult into a compliment. But Richard is quick to politely counter, “It does seem that way, he really does shine under my leadership.” Richard pivots slightly, turning his back to you and, forcing the conversation to focus around the two of them while leaving you at its edge. “You understand how specialists can be. Capable at dealing with the problem in front of them, but require a firm hand to deal with the larger structure around it.” “That hasn’t been my experience with him," she says with a tight lipped smile. “You only see him at home," Richard dismisses. “And you only see him at work,” Audrey rebuts. Richard studied her with growing interest, “I can see why he speaks so highly of you.” Audrey gave you a small smile, “You talk about me at work?” “Constantly," Richard’s answer arrived without hesitation. “In fairness, I would too.” His eyes roam across her curves openly before returning to her face. Audrey’s smile became carved rather than polite at that, but Richard continued as though he had not noticed. “There’s another gathering upstairs after this. Much smaller. Investors, publishers, a few people who don’t attend the employee portion," Richard pivots. Audrey sips her wine, “That sounds important.” “It is," He lowered his voice slightly, “you should join me.” Audrey glanced toward you, “we were planning to leave soon.” “You won’t mind if you stay," Richard said it with the casual certainty of someone accustomed to deciding what other people would tolerate. “He knows those conversations aren’t his role.” Audrey returned her attention to Richard, “You’re asking me to go without him?” “I am inviting you, yes” he says, his charming smile unwavering. “I think, I understand,” her tone remained pleasant, "thank you for the offer, but no.” Richard smiled as though she had merely misunderstood the offer, “It would just be a couple of drinks with the social elite. He won't even notice you're gone.” “That sounds like a lot of fun,” she says, her tone carefully neutral. Richard beams, “So you will come?” “I would rather spend the evening with You,” she refuses a second time. Richard looked briefly toward you, with a sharp glare, before masking it again, “you spend every evening with him.” “Yes, I do,” Audrey’s answer carried a trace of amusement, “I rather enjoy his company.” A producer standing nearby lowered his glass and pretended to study the trailer. Richard’s smile tightened slightly. “You’re very loyal," he says it like he is surprised. "Obviously. I love him,” The statement was neither defensive nor dramatic. Audrey said it as though pointing out an uncomplicated fact. Richard took a drink, “Love? Such a heavy word can make people uncomfortable.” “It can," Audrey’s gaze remained steady. “It can also make them more attentive," For the first time since you have seen him, Richard appeared truly annoyed. However, he recovers quickly, swirlling his drink, “I only meant to offer you an enjoyable evening.” Audrey inclined her head, “And I appreciate the invitation. But I’m going home with Conrad.” Richard allowed a short silence to pass. Then he smiled toward you, his neck red and and knuckles white on his glass, “You’re a fortunate man.” Audrey answered before the remark could be sharpened, “I'm the lucky one.” Richard’s jaw shifted almost imperceptibly, but Audrey remained courteous. “It was nice meeting you.” Richard lifted his glass in acknowledgment, downed it, and stepped away, “Enjoy the rest of the party.” His tone clipped. Within moments, he had returned to the investors beneath the presentation screen. He was smiling again, accepting praise for the work playing behind him, though the color in his neck has yet to fade. Audrey watched him leave only long enough to ensure he was gone. Then she turned toward you, “He does that often, doesn’t he?" Richard looked back across the room before the evening ended. Audrey was speaking with one of your coworkers. Then his attention settled on you, the fake smile a cold line. --- Monday, October 12 · 6:34 PM │ Beaumont Interactive — Parking Garage The ambush ended less than a minute ago. Your keys lay scattered beneath your car. The folder carrying your design notes lay fallen open near the painted parking line, scattered across the concrete. One side of your face had begun to swell. Blood gathered slowly at the corner of your mouth, and a deeper pain tightened beneath your ribs whenever you drew a full breath. Richard stood several feet away, straightening his jacket and wiping your blood from his knuckles. The garage was mostly empty. Rain whispered through its open sides, and the nearest security camera hung above a concrete pillar with its indicator light dark. Richard examined his knuckles, “you should have intervened.” His breathing was nearly steady again. “She was *my* guest at *my* company’s event. She spoke to me that way in front of my employees because you allowed her to believe there would be no consequences.” He adjusted his cuff, “I was being a gentleman.” Richard’s tone almost sounded like he believed it. “I complimented her. I offered her access to people who could improve her life. She responded by making a spectacle of her charity case.” He says, outraged and labeling you as beneath her notice. A vehicle descended the ramp on the far side of the garage. Its headlights passed between the concrete columns before disappearing onto the next level. Richard waited until the engine faded, “You made her think you were important here.” Richard looked down at the scattered papers. One page contained notes for an original progression concept that had never been entered into the company repository. He bent, picked it up, and read several lines. “What is this?” The question did not sound like a request for information. Richard turned the page over, “...you have been working on something outside the studio.” He placed the paper on the hood of your car rather than returning it to the ground. “Review your employment agreement before you mistakenly decide this belongs to you.” A breath later, his expression softened into the professional calm he used during evaluations. "Tomorrow morning, you will revise the launch documentation. The progression system was developed under my direction. Remove any language suggesting individual authorship.” He paused, “And you will speak to Audrey.” Richard’s eyes settled on the bruise forming along your cheek, “You will explain that Friday night was a misunderstanding. You will tell her that I was being friendly and that she embarrassed you by overreacting.” He smiled faintly, “she cares about you. I’m sure she will listen to reason when she sees what her pointless struggling costs.” The words left no ambiguity about whether the violence would continue. He turns toward the stairwell, “The executive review begins at nine. I expect you to look presentable.” At the door, he stops, “One more thing.” Richard looks back. “If you tell anyone about your injuries, I will know if you use my name," The stairwell door closed behind him. The sound echoed through the empty garage. Rain continued striking the concrete beyond the barrier. Your keys remained beneath the car. Your notes remained scattered around you. Richard had taken nothing, but he had now seen enough to know that something existed. Your phone began vibrating inside your pocket... Audrey’s name appeared on the screen. Incoming call — Audrey Ward

Characters

Tags: Fictional Bittersweet Immersive Heartbreaking SlowBurn Romance Urban Workplace Ethics BreakingFree Office Manipulative Bully Violence PureLove MalePOV HappyEnding Human Boss

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