Chapter 23: Are You Threatening Me?

"You betrayed me, Ryland. You don’t deserve my help. So I will not help you!"

"Oh, Abigail, come on. Why mix business with our personal problems? That’s very unprofessional. You shouldn’t abandon your project just because you are mad at me. You have a responsibility to the company."

"Who said I have a responsibility to your company?"

"Me. You might hate me, but I’m your boss!" Ryland snapped. He could no longer hold his anger.

Abigail laughed, hearing his shameless words. She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to say that.

"Ryland Wood, I can’t believe you forgot how you started the company and what you promised me. I was never your employee. If I were your employee, you wouldn’t be able to afford my salary. You know that, right?"

"You—"

Hearing nothing more from Ryland’s side, Abigail smiled before continuing.

"Now, you recall who I am in your company?"

"Abigail, please help me this time. If you help me, I promise not to say anything that could hurt your Grandma."

"Are you threatening me?" Abigail coldly asked. She was strongly tempted to give this shameless man a mighty slap if he were standing before her.

"I’m not. I’m just being honest with you now. I need your help, Abigail. I will give you one percent of the profits...ugh, no... but five percent from this project if you help me. How?"

"My answer is NO! I won’t help you with anything. From the day I caught you cheating, I no longer considered you my fiancé or even a friend. You’re nothing to me, Ryland Wood. And please stop bothering my Grandma!" She ended the call before Ryland could say another word.

Abigail felt her whole body shaking after she ended the call.

Standing from her seat, she looked at the stunning city in the distance, but her annoyance at Ryland blinded her. She couldn’t enjoy the scenery at all.

She tried hard to dismiss Ryland from her thoughts, but all his words still danced in her mind, torturing her.

After taking another deep breath, Abigail walked to the stairs; however, once again, she halted when a text message from Ryland appeared in her inbox, successfully ruining her mood.

"Abigail, the meeting with the client is the day after tomorrow, at the usual place. I will assume you will come. If you do not appear, then I’m sorry to say I will tell Grandma about us. You decide!"

She stared at the text for a few more seconds, reading it repeatedly, strengthening her anger toward him.

Frustrated, Abigail threw her cell phone into her bag and stomped down the stairs.

As much as she tried to forget what Ryland did—threatening her to achieve his goal—she couldn’t erase him from her mind.

***

When Abigail arrived at Crimson Leaf Cafe, she was relieved to see it was busy. Many customers were lined up at the cashier waiting for their orders, which excited her as she needed the distraction.

Despite her shift not starting for another ten minutes, she quickly put on her apron and assisted Lana in making coffee.

She proceeded to make one coffee after another, and in just a few minutes, her mind was no longer consumed by thoughts of Ryland.

As the number of customers dwindled, Lana suddenly spoke to her.

"Are you alright, Abigail?" Lana asked.

Abigail’s hands paused as she was about to steam milk for a latte. She turned to face Lana. "Why do you assume I’m not alright?" she asked, looking confused.

Without waiting for Lana to respond, she proceeds to complete the last order, a coffee latte.

Lana chuckled and stood beside Abigail. "Wow, you look awful. Did you fight with your boyfriend?" she whispered.

Abigail couldn’t help but laugh inwardly at Lana’s guess about her situation, which was almost correct. She was actually fighting, not with her boyfriend, but with her scum ex-fiancé.

As she placed the order on the counter, waiting for the customer to collect their coffee, she casually replied, "I don’t have a boyfriend, boss."

"Really? But why do you seem mad at someone and vent your anger by working nonstop? Did you know that you haven’t taken a rest since you came?" Lana asked, narrowing her eyes at Abigail.

"I haven’t even had a chance to touch the coffee maker; you operated two machines all by yourself, dear. That is magnificent!" Lana continued, grinning when she saw Abigail’s eyes widen slightly.

Abigail shrugged, unable to answer. Earlier, she had super focused on her job to dismiss her anger and worry after Ryland threatened her.

"Alright, alright, girl. Sorry if I’m asking too much," Lana said, smiling at Abigail while gently patting her shoulder. "You look exhausted, Abigail. Go take a rest inside," she said and left.

Abigail only nodded but didn’t leave her spot, still standing behind the counter. She took her cell phone from her pocket and saw a new text from an anonymous sender on the phone screen.

Before checking who had texted her, Erica, the cashier, spoke to her.

"Sister Abigail, you can take a rest inside. I think we don’t have any new customers coming, and it’s only five minutes before we close," Erica smiled as she looked at the packed cafe hall. Despite being filled with customers, no new ones entered to place their orders.

Abigail was taken aback by Erica’s words. Glancing at her watch, she realized it was almost nine.

’Gosh! How could I work like a robot earlier? I didn’t even realize I had been standing here for almost five hours,’ Abigail couldn’t believe what had happened.

A sour smile slowly appeared on her lips as she understood why Lana suspected she was not alright.

"Thank you for your hard work, Erica," Abigail said with a smile as she walked toward the staff lounge. She opened the text, but a few steps later, she abruptly stopped.

"Hi, Abby. It’s me, Sawyer. Are you at Crimson Leaf Cafe? Can I place a delivery order, please?"

She was stunned beyond words, reading a text message from Sawyer, her savior.

’Sawyer...’ Her heart instantly became calm when she whispered his name.

Abigail thought Sawyer would never contact her again. Hurriedly, she saved his phone number and replied to his text message.