Sam escorted her to the door when they arrived at the villa’s courtyard and then drove away. Deirdre stretched out her arms to feel for the sofa when she heard the sound of a light being turned on upstairs. She looked in the direction of the second floor abruptly. She was gauging who it was when she realized instantly after sensing the oppressive feeling they emanated. “Come upstairs.”Brendan spoke in an ice-cold tone. He opened the door to his room, and Deirdre braced herself and walked upstairs with stiff movements. She was flung on the bed by force as soon as she entered the room. The man leaned on her, his cold eyes bursting with terrifying evilness. “Deirdre, do you think that you can lord over me recklessly just because I’ve been treating you well over the past few days?” Brendan spoke in an icy tone. He was furious beyond comparison at the thought of the woman’s smile earlier. “I gave you freedom and tolerated you as much as I could, yet you ended up defending a man
The manager was finally pleased. “I’m very impressed with your work, McKinnon. I hope that goodwill stays.”Dispirited, Deirdre walked out of the manager’s office and stepped into the back of the restaurant. The cleaner had been waiting, so she rose from a crouch and approached Deirdre. “What’s wrong with you, Deirdre? Trevor told me he chose you, but you spurned him in return? Please, you’re not some run-of-the-mill young woman. Don’t you know that beggars can’t be choosers? Seriously, are you really planning to be a spinster for the rest of your life?”Her acrimonious tone somehow paled compared to the vitriol of her word choice. Irritated, Deirdre frowned. “Look. Just because I agreed to meet him, it doesn’t mean I’ll agree to be with him, okay?”“I’m only doing what’s best for you! Do you really think another man would even like you as much as Trevor does? God! He’s used to caring for other people. That’s why he wasn’t bothered by the fact that you’re an ugly blind woman! Lord,
The cleaner had wanted Deirdre to embarrass herself so much that she had made sure to leave a thick puddle of soap powder on her path. Deirdre had always considered herself lucky to be able to work in such an accommodating restaurant, where everyone treated her with kindness and respect, but after today, that opinion changed. She had managed to make a few enemies after all.“It’s fine.” She extended her other arm amid her agony. “Please help me out. If I get changed now, I can still make my shift.”The Good Samaritan was hard-pressed to go against someone so stubborn, so they led the way. The entire session was hell from beginning to end. Deirdre’s right hand could not conjure its usual force to press the keys, and it felt like there was an invisible thorn jabbing her elbow. She knew the customers were watching, though, so she forced herself to play despite the pain. By the time it was over, her back was bathed in cold sweat.Her shift was finally over. Like clockwork, Sam appea
“Do you really think I have no way of checking how long your shift really was?” Brendan raised a voice recorder, playing an audio clip of one of the restaurant workers speaking. “Deirdre McKinnon? She left at around nine,” they said. “I don’t have the deets, but if you’re looking for a pianist for your dining experience, I’m afraid you’ll have to come again tomorrow!”Deirdre’s face turned white as a sheet. She had not expected Brendan to come up with a counter-strategy. The fury in his eyes had only grown exponentially. “I hate being lied to, you know that? So why do you keep pushing my buttons? We’re finally out of the woods with Sterling Fuller, and you’re hooking up with Trevor Carlson now?”Deirdre’s eyes widened. She hardly had the chance to wonder how Brendan had managed to get his name before feeling a force clutching at her jaw. Pain. He bore down on her, his fury oozing out of him like miasma. Suddenly, it was as if they had gone back to that time again—those cursed d
Deirdre nodded, and Brendan—to the young woman’s wildest bewilderment—asked, “Was it bad?”She bit her lip in surprise. “A-Aren’t you mad?”Mad? Of course Brendan was mad. Furious, even. Furious for an entire day. He had been downright apoplectic in the evening, when he’d waited and waited for Deirdre to come home on time. Every second had burned! So what? All that rage had melted away—how could he stay mad after witnessing the lengths this woman would go to just to conceal her injury and the pain it caused her? How could he honestly tell himself that her maddening refusal to be candid was not motivated by her fear of his reaction?“If you could just... If you had just told me frankly that you were suffering from an injury, I would have calmed down much sooner!” Brendan went downstairs and called Dr. Ginger on the phone in the living room. As he ordered the doctor to come as soon as possible, Deirdre quickly protested from the bed. “W-Wait! You don’t need to get Dr. Ginger! It’s
Looking at Deirdre, the doctor suddenly understood why Brendan was so encouraging. Brendan himself did not seem overly emotive, but a closer inspection of his eyes revealed thawed frost and an almost shy smile blooming beneath. “Yeah. I believe you.”Dr. Ginger read the room and knew it was time for him to go.Deirdre went to search for the wooden music sheet upstairs. Halfway through, she stopped on the stairs, turned around, and declared, “For your information, Brendan, there is nothing going on between me and Mr. Carlson. Not today, not tomorrow… and not ever!”She let the handrail lead her back to her room. Behind her, Brendan’s handsome features seemed to soften into a fluffier imitation of themselves under the house’s gentle lighting. Was this her definitive denial of his accusation? This was the same woman who would make a conscious effort to spare him as few words as possible, but now… Look at how cute she was being, trying to explain herself!Deirdre woke up early th
“If getting a lofty gift troubles you, then you can balance the trade after you get your first salary. Buy me dinner.”That was it? A dinner was supposed to somehow be equal to a luxurious piano? Deirdre found the idea wild, though admittedly, she had no other excuse. The reminder of her salary eased her mind a little too, so she agreed. “Okay.”The call ended. She took a seat behind the piano and began to learn the songs on her sheet. As it turned out, Deirdre was quite possibly musically gifted, as it took her only an afternoon to master all but one song on the entire sheet. She was strapped for time to learn the last one, so she took the music sheet book to work. The front-desk girl immediately caught sight of the wooden book. “What’s that?!” She gasped. “Looks like the sort of stuff you’d keep in your cabinet of curiosities!”Deirdre flashed her a smile. “A friend gave it to me as a gift.”“Dang, hon! That’s code for ‘not-your-typical-friend’ if I ever heard one!” the front-d
As soon as the man made the offer, the others cheered. “Vyn, you are so generous! You’re even willing to spend so much money on this ugly woman. Being rich is indeed different!”“Since we are in the nightclub, women will definitely come to serve you. You’ve been thinking too highly of this woman. I think she’d certainly be willing to drink just for 200 dollars.”At the moment, Deirdre would have been too naive if she hadn’t sensed their hostility. She was getting so uneasy that she hurriedly went to open the door to leave.However, a hand suddenly stopped her and threw her violently against a wall. “What the hell are you doing? Escaping?”The man was furious. Even though Deirdre managed to protect herself with her arms when she was thrown against the wall, her chest was in so much pain that she was nauseous.The group burst into laughter. “After seeing so many beauties, it’s indeed quite interesting to see this kind of ugly woman with a distorted face! Do you think she’ll change i