CH.112

"How dare you refuse to let me in!" a woman screeched from somewhere near the entrance. Do you imbeciles have any idea who I am? Have you peons so quickly forgotten that no one—absolutely no one—stops me at any establishments under Gaard Corp?" Her voice rose in pitch with each word.

Serena felt irritation coursing through her veins. She knew that voice. Oh, how she knew it. The voice had haunted her for years, dripping with false sweetness in public but vicious and cruel when they were alone.

It was a voice she always hoped never to hear again.

The spa's manager could be heard trying to placate her in an anxious voice.

"Please, madam," he pleaded, "I assure you, it's not that we don't recognize you. It's just that we have some very important guests at the moment, and we simply cannot risk offending them. If you could perhaps come back later-"

"Come back later?" the woman shrieked, cutting him off. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I don't come back 'later'. I go wher