She sniggered. "Whatevs. We both are bitches. Duh…"
I scoffed. "Did you follow me all the way here? What else do you need to know?"
"Um…" She sucked her teeth, narrowed her eyes at me. "Sort of. Well, I didn't follow you here, but fate did. She knew you'd be here tonight, so she pulled me here. She just wants you to know my victory."
I swallowed. I already knew where she was taking this discussion to. "You got the offer? You're now working with Green Stars?"
"You got it!" She snapped her fingers at me, gave me that menacing and cunning smile. "And, what makes me happy is that the company needed to do a small partnership with only one company. And, yes honey, that one company is my company."
I took a long shot of my drink, drinking it as if it was an alcohol. If I was one of those weird people who took alcohol, I would probably be drunk by now, owing to how frustrated I felt. Speaking of alcohol, that thing disgusted me as shit. To me, those who took it were nothing but irresponsible, and maybe wretched.
I tried to smirk at her. "And what if you've gotten the offer?"
"At least, now I know I don't have any competitors. Cause, obviously, no one can compete with GSF," she sputtered.
Even more infuriated, I only chortled at her. "You know what?" I sipped from glass, kept my sneer. "Everything works together for good. I didn't get the offer, which clearly means a better one is waiting out there for me."
"Pardon? That's stupid. There's no better offer than working with GSF. Are you planning to go to China or what?" She quirked an eyebrow at me, pulling that confused look.
"Nope." I faced her, kept my elbow on the counter as well. "I mean, if you hadn't gotten accepted, there'll be no way I'll be this determined to make my company even better than Seth Lee's."
She scorned. "Pi-lease, everyone knows he holds the highest rank and makes the most profit. You're nothing compared to him."
Okay. This was it. My anger had gotten to the peak. She had to hear some crazy words from me.
"When I saw the level at which your business is, I was a bit surprised that you're lagging behind." I stood up from the stool. Paying for my drink, I fixed my eyes completely at her.
"Keep quiet," she ordered. She knew how rude I could be, so that was probably the reason she wanted me to shut my lips.
Did she think I would listen to her? Louella should keep quiet? She had probably been joking. She also knew no one could ever shut me up.
I tucked some strands of my hair behind my ear, ensuring I was giving her that get-ready-to-cry look. "But now that you've proved to me that you underestimate yourself this much, I've gotten a clarification. I now know why your business is ever in an erratic state."
"Are you crazy?" She slammed her palm against the counter, leaped from her seat, glaring hard. "Hey, I only wanted to share my victory with you, not get insulted."
Ignoring her unnecessary words, I continued, "And, because of how you underestimate yourself, trust me, you'll always be stagnant. In the first place, what do I expect? Your business grew this much, only because you had great connections with the rich, cause you used to be a gold digger," and uttered.
"Louella!" She pointed her index finger at me, her teeth gritted. "Enough of this nonsense. I've heard enough now. Just get your ass off here, if you know you can't stay here with me."
I linked my arms on my chest. "When a monkey sees a banana and money, the monkey tends to choose banana, not knowing the money can buy more bananas. That's your case here, honey. I had thought you wanted this offer to grow your business, not knowing you only want the fam. You're like the unwise monkey. How much more stupid will you be? Your mistakes taught you nothing?"
"I swear, I'll get you arrested if you insult me further," she threatened. I couldn't believe it, but I saw tears in her eyes.
I turned in the direction of the door, but made no movement, just smirking at myself. "Also, if you don't mind, prove to be an idiot by seducing the chairman. You're pretty, you know? Cause…" I glimpsed at her. "A gold digger will always be a gold digger. Go on. Go ahead and be his mistress."
"I said that's enough!" She roared.
I just sniggered. "Bye, moron. See you when my company reaches the highest rank."
With that, I headed out of the restaurant, smiling because I had made tears to attack her eyes. But, opening the huge door of the exit, my smile abruptly disappeared. It was her. This devil. I was seeing her after two years. And then, karma reflected. I had just made someone want to cry, and seeing her made tears tingle my eyes as well.
I would admit, she looked prettier than the last time I had seen her. Just like Kelli, she was also wearing a dark pencil gown which hugged her curves. Her hair was in a ponytail, a great deal of makeup on her face. She wasn't as tall as I was, but I guessed those black stiletto shoes gave her a height of 5"9, which was my height.
She widened her eyes at me. "Ella? You're here?"
I swallowed my tears. "You shouldn't be here.This restaurant's been rented for the night."
"Good question." Her lips curled in a simper. She played with her fingers, being like the bossy idiot she always was. "Well, Kelli and I will have fun here for the night. I rented the place for us both, so don't be such an asshole by asking me something that's not even you biz."
My lungs choked. I felt a pain in my abdomen, which clearly signified I had to leave here. Although I was trying to hold my tears, it didn't seem to be working. I wouldn't cry in front of her, so I had to leave here.
"You know what?" I sighed. "Speaking with you is useless. Bye."
Saying that, I walked past her, trying to leave as soon as possible. Though I had walked fast, she grabbed my arm back, kind of spun me around. And then, there was that smile. The sly smile I hated to see.
"Don't forget to use enough tissue to wipe your tears, sister," she bit out.
I blinked so much. "I hate you, Becca. I ever will."
"Hate you as well. Scale balance."
With that, she left my arm, and walked away. Noticing I would cry anytime, I hurried to my car. And, just about to hop into the car, I saw a couple standing by a black SUV Jeep, just behind my car. The moment I saw their faces, my breath ceased. Suddenly, the place felt suffocating. It was my dad and his wife. The ones who ruined my life; the ones who made me develop a trauma.
Overly upset, I jerked open the door of my car. Neo was about to hop in as well, but I stopped him by raising my hand in the air, though not looking at him.
"Go with another car," I ordered.
"Okay," he said, and shut the door of my car.
Soon, my driver began to drive. Staring out the window, looking at the view of the streets, the memories came back haunting my head. It felt like my heart was being pierced, my stomach completely crumbling. My hands shook, a clear sign this trauma was about to attack me.
In order to prevent something terrible from happening, I let the tears leave my eyes. For the first time in two years, I wept. Not only did I weep, my strength vanished as well. I had ever been strong, but now, everything was gone.
I realized that my dad, stepmom, and step sister were my weakness. Or, I would say, my past was my weakness.
This was shocking. But yes, Louella was weeping. I had just broken my vow.
***
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The entire hall was silent. There was no doubt that everyone present in the great crowd in front of me, was in awe, feeling the intensity of the words I was speaking. I smiled a little, pacing around the stage. I stood behind the podium, and cleared my throat. "Now, this goes to the younger women in here." My hands settled on the podium, my shoulders raised proudly. "You see, people still tend to underestimate the power you have. But, I have good news for you. You're capable. What a man can do, you can also do. It's only about the mindset. Anyone can become successful. Don’t let anyone intimidate you." "Yeah," someone from the crowd agreed. I just smiled. They concentrated so much, as if their lives depended on my words. I continued, "Many ladies have lost
Seth laughed at me as I groaned and acted like a child. That was pretty annoying, but well, how could an adult be so scared to take an injection? I hated that thing so, so much.The doctor finally got rid of the syringe, and took care of the injected part of my skin. As soon as he was done with that, he arranged his box, and stood up. I kept squeezing my face like a crying child.He cleared his throat, and started, "Mrs. Lee, you're good to go for your trip. After all the tests we've done, I can confidently tell you that your body system is back to normal. The effects of the poison are completely diminished."I finally smiled. "That's good news. Thanks."Seth held my hand as he sat beside me. "Thanks, do
I sobbed. The pain I was feeling obviously wasn't as crazy as hers, but it felt like mine was worse. She gaped, groans leaving her mouth. Her lips quivered, quite obvious that she wanted to say something. Blood kept gushing out from the left side of her chest, as well as her mouth. Tears left her eyes, the gun dropping from her hand. Her body shook, seeming as if she'd lose her stability soon.I was shocked. Being shocked was an understatement.She was battling to live; battling to save herself.Alarmed, I cried, "Celina!" The moment I attempted to grip her arm, her body impelled backwards. Her legs tripped over each other, and like a weak mango tree, she fell off the cliff.Seeing that, my heart s
The beam of the rising sun shone against my eyes, making me blink slowly. I yawned, the sore pain in my head becoming quite worse. Trying to sit up, I noticed how uncomfortable I was, my hands and legs feeling stuck to something. It took a while for me to open my eyes, and to even notice all that was going on around me. The moment I realized where I was and what was happening, I gasped. I tried sitting straight on this old, dusty floor, and also tried moving away from the ray of the sun which was attacking my eyes. I looked down at my legs which were tied, struggling to help myself out of this bandage. This was already a new day, yet I was still not seen by the police. Were Becca and Celina stronger than them or what? But, I could not remain here, right? If they weren't going to come and get me, it seemed like I would have
I knew I was supposed to run over to him, and cuddled him crazily. Instead, all I was doing was to stare at him. I was really happy. To be honest, in the past few days, I had missed him a lot. There was really no point in denying that."Seth." Gently, I walked over to him, giving him a small smile. He was also smiling, but wasn't saying anything.He cupped my jaw when I reached him. "Sweetie, where have you been?" And pecked my cheek."Gosh, I've missed you." A tear left my eye. What was making me emotional? In such a terrifying situation?He leaned close, hugged me, pecked my forehead. "Oh yes, I've missed you too.""This is really hard for us." I returned his hug, weeping on his chest. "Becca and Celina are doing all this. They really want to have me killed. They're taking it too far.""I know it all. And, most of all, I'm glad you have no
Louella••••••••••I packed the last set of files into my backpack, ready to head out. Spotting a red file on my table, I narrowed my eyes at it, and grabbed it. The moment I skimmed through it, I couldn't help but gape. How in the world had I almost forgotten such an important file? This was the most needed file of all the files I had taken from here.I kept the file in my backpack, slung the backpack over my shoulder. I took a glance at my wrist watch, feeling a bit disturbed and puzzled. I had to leave here soon, before anyone would see me. If Seth had to come now, there was no doubt that he wouldn't want me to leave.First, I had to ensure that I was set to leave here. Once I got back to the beach house, since my phone was already turned on, I would book a flight online, and leave the country for a few months. In the meantime, I would ensure that I