Behind the scenes

"What a shameless, brazen man, daring to set his sights on Ms. Judd when Ethan's right there! He's about to regret it."

"I don't think he knows what's coming yet. Although Ethan might be an intern, his father is the company executive. Any man who tried to covet Ms. Judd all ended up on a gurney."

Whispers rippled endlessly through the surrounding employees. Ethan Irwin, the righteous intern-assistant, towered over me, his eyes brimming with barely contained contempt.

The next second, he grabbed my hair and lifted me off the ground. A searing pain exploded across my scalp, causing my legs to nearly give out. I let out a muffled groan, only to get punched in the face before I could take my next breath.

"You're a man—why are you moaning like that? Who are you trying to seduce here? I'm telling you. Ms. Judd is out for a meeting and won't be in the office today. You'd better forget those dirty thoughts of yours. Otherwise, I'll make you regret ever setting foot in here."

I suppressed the raging fury inside me. As I prepared to explain myself, my phone, which had fallen to the floor at one point, started ringing. I fixed my gaze on the screen, and it was Daniel Wilson, my supervisor, calling.

I reached out to grab the phone, but Ethan was a step ahead of me and snatched it away. In front of all the employees, he put the call on speaker.

Daniel's voice rang out, "Hey, Ozzy. Are you there yet? Have you seen Cece?"

Hearing the nickname of my older sister, Celeste Judd, Ethan instantly exploded. He screamed hysterically into the phone, "You stupid, dead broke geezer! How dare you let your son think he can hit on Ms. Judd? That nickname's not for losers like you two!"

The groundless lashing took Daniel aback. He was just about to refute, but Ethan hung up without a second thought.

"What are you waiting for, Ethan? Just get rid of him! Look at how calculating he looks. Maybe some broke father heard Ms. Judd was hiring for an assistant, and he wanted his son to take the chance and marry into her family!"

Ethan's lackey stood at the side, hands on his hips as he sized me up and down with unmasked mockery. I gritted my teeth and, ignoring the pain from my scalp, tremblingly explained, "I'm not here… for the assistant—"

Before I could finish my sentence, a piping hot drink came splashing all over my face. At that moment, that same searing pain from earlier—only now ten times worse—bloomed across my entire body.

I collapsed to the floor, rolling around and clutching my head. By then, countless blisters of all sizes had formed on my exposed skin.

None of these absurd turns of events prompted the bystanders to take any action. Instead, they stood and laughed.

"Ethan, you shouldn't have done that! A sugar-baby-wannabe like him might play the victim in front of Ms. Judd later!"