CHAPTER 5

~Audrina~

I entered the corporate lobby while holding the check in my shaking palm. The smell of old coffee and polished wood wafted into the room as I walked up to the front desk, my heart thumping with anxious expectation.

As I walked up, the middle-aged woman working at the reception looked up from her computer screen, her expression hard to read.

With a hesitant "Excuse me," I said, extending the check to her. "I'm trying to find someone, and I heard he works here. Could you please assist me?

As she accepted the check from my hand, the receptionist's eyes sharpened, and her lips tightened into a tiny line. She ripped it in half and threw the fragments back at me without saying anything. Her move was so abrupt and out of the blue that all I could do was look at her in disbelief.

"What? What was that for?" My voice trembled with disbelief and confusion as I mumbled.

She gazed at me with hardly concealed disdain, her look intensifying as she didn't respond. "You need to leave immediately.” Her tone made no room for debate: "If you don't, I'll have security escort you out."

"But... I need to find someone," I pleaded, trying not to let my desperation show through in my voice.

Her eyes narrowed a little, but her stubbornness did not waver. "You've been coming here and making trouble for about a month now. Her statements were like a slap in the face: "We don't want your kind around here."

Anger and irritation welled up inside of me, but I knew that in order to obtain any information, I had to maintain my composure. Breathing deeply, I picked up the ripped bits of the check from the ground and held them out to her, trying in vain to make my case.

"This check came from your company," I stated, my voice quivering with fury. "I need to find the man who wrote it."

Although her look softened a little, her icy spirit was still in her gaze. "It doesn't matter where it came. Now leave before I alert security."

"Until you tell me where he is, I won't leave!" I matched her vigor with a demand.

She chuckled, her eyes brightening with astonishment. "Have you lost it? Do you really believe you can come in here and start giving me directions? I don't work for you.”

I gave her a sarcastic look and said, "Listen up, lady; I might be if you are not careful."

"I'm not here to make trouble; just give me the answers I need, and I'll leave afterwards," I indicated after a brief pause.

“And why do you believe that there is room for negotiation on this?” She put me to the test.

I was unable to comprehend why someone was so keen to obstruct my way. Had I not known any better, I could have thought that I had accidentally taken her mate in a past life or something similar.

"You do realize how extremely unprofessional this behavior of yours is, right?!" I questioned her, waiting for her to give me another terrible answer.

She glared at me three times in a row before spitting out, "Don't lecture me!"

“I was busy before you came here.” She pointed out the obvious.

“And I still don’t know why I’m having this conversation with a person who seems like she should be in a brothel or the slums.”

What?!

“Madame, you had better watch your mouth before I fix it up for you.” I gave her a warning.

The receptionist, however, just rolled her eyes, her contempt visible on every wrinkle of her face. With a tone full of mockery, she sneered, saying, "Oh, please, spare me the dramatics."

"I've previously worked with people like you. Constantly seeking assistance and anticipating special treatment for a beauty that doesn’t exist."

Her remarks pierced me deeply and brought back unpleasant memories of all the times I had experienced discrimination and humiliation just for being me.

However, I resisted showing her how deeply her remarks had upset me. Rather than backing down, I squared my shoulders and met her stare directly.

"I don’t seem to get it; did you find your fiancée with me in a strip club or something?!”

Instantly, a bitter laughter escaped her and filled the air. “You wish! My man would never.”

“You really think so? With this bad attitude of yours, you actually have someone who... I was cut off at that moment.

She curled into a sneer, her eyes flashing with contempt. "Save your nonsense, for who cares." she spat.

“And as for that imaginary man of yours, it’s either you visit a psychiatrist on your way out of here or perhaps he lied to you about his identity just to get in between your stinky legs.”

Her remarks made me shrink, and I felt a wave of fury come up inside of me. How could she, without knowing the whole story, make such terrible accusations?

"Excuse me?" I spat, my voice trembling with anger. "Who do you think you are, making such fucked-up stories about me? Do I look like a mad woman or a hooker to you?!”

Her features briefly displayed hesitation as her eyes expanded in surprise. "You definitely do, and a whore always gets dumped after a night stand.”

“In fact, you shouldn’t be roaming the streets freely; the king’s soldiers should capture and execute you immediately, cheap slut!”

“That’s it!”

Her words fanned the flames within me, and before I could stop myself, I reached up and gave her a forceful slap across the face. Everyone turned to stare at us as the sound of the slap resonated across the lobby and hushed the room.

The receptionist recoiled in shock, her hand flying to her cheek as she stared at me with wide eyes. "You... you little..."

“Shut it! I have had enough!” I shunned her.

I would have to set an example for these lowlife people, starting with the devil's first mistress in front of me, if I ever wanted to turn my life around, stop living in self-pity, and let them break the last bits of my heart.