The pen in Camellia’s hand circled every list of places looking for employees. She also crossed out additional notes on when to put the application there.
Some time ago, she even applied online to some companies that only needed a high school diploma, but all gave similar answers.
“We are sorry, Miss Duncan, but you don’t fit the qualifications we’re looking for.”
Surprisingly, all those companies wrote the same thing. It was as if someone was dictating to them. And the only culprit she suspected was Blake Hagen.
“You bastard,” Camellia cursed as she threw a pen against the wall until the lid broke.
She folded her legs under her body and hugged herself tightly while burying her head between her knees.
As hard as she could, Camellia held back the sobs until she felt tight in the chest.
“Hhhh...,” she sighed, deep breathing with a sense of despair. “What should I do?” she murmured, asking.
Her head was filled with debts and money. If it goes on like this, she won’t be able to survive in a month.
“I need a job,” she huffed as she rubbed her face.
Just now, Camellia was about to move off the mattress when her mobile phone rang.
She quickly picked up the phone next to her when she thought about her father's situation.
“Hello,” she greeted without looking at the caller ID on the screen.
At first, there were only static sounds, and the call was still connected. Later, Camellia could hear a masculine breath from across the line, which she believed to be who the owner was.
“What do you want?” Camellia asked unceremoniously. She didn’t even care about the man’s reputation, so she doesn't have to make small talk or be sweet and polite.
For her, Blake Hagen is a monster who likes to annoy weak girls like herself, nothing more.
“Ah, so you know it’s me,” the man replied with a crisp chuckle.
His intonation was more like a mockery in her ears, but strangely, the man’s heavy baritone voice made Camellia’s body tremble, but she shook it hard.
If only they had met in different situations, it would have been possible that she could have been very friendly toward the man. However, remembering how arrogant he was when offering to sleep with him made Camellia furious.
She is not a cheap girl, and until such time as she won’t let the man touch her body with his masculine fingers.
“Stop bothering me!” Camellia growled with apparent anger, making Hagen silent for a moment.
Knowing that the conversation would not benefit her, Camellia was about to press the end button when suddenly her fingers were stopped in the air when Hagen said, “Wait.” with an intense and hard tone of voice.
This time, it was Camellia who was silent.
The atmosphere turned a little heavy, so the girl had trouble swallowing saliva.
Camellia chose to walk near the window despite her discomfort. As the sunshine pierced her eyes, she unfurled the drapes and squinted.
Gradually her vision adapted, and that’s when she could clearly see a black car parked outside the house’s fence.
Instantly Camellia’s breathe choked, and with restrained anger, the girl tightened her jaws.
“What are you doing in front of my house?”
As soon as the question was thrown out, the car’s window glass dropped slowly. And that’s when Camellia could see the figure of a man with sunglasses sitting in the driver's seat, whom she believed was Blake Hagen himself.
“Hello, Princess. It’s nice to see you from this distance,” the man said in a scornful and defiant tone at the same time.
As if he was about to say, “Come out. I’m waiting for you here,” which, of course, Camellia would never do.
“What are you doing in front of my house?” asked Camellia again in a high tone.
She closed the curtains quickly and walked away from the window. With a sad gaze, the girl rubbed her face suddenly.
Again, it was only silence that Camellia received in response, and not long after, Hagen said, “I just want to remind you not to waste time by applying for a job.”
“Stop pestering me. Let me do whatever I do,” Camellia said in a bitter tone.
“I give you three easy options, Princess. That alone is enough to solve your problem,” Hagen explained, which again seemed condescending.
“Shut your mouth and leave me alone, you bastard,” Camellia pressed before hanging up the call.
She squeezed the mobile phone in her hand with all the anger restrained.
In less than a minute, her phone rang again, and at this time, Camellia directly pressed the rejection button. She was too annoyed by the man’s selfish attitude and tried to control herself.
Camellia was about to throw the flat object on the bed when suddenly she got one incoming message that read, “You should just accept the offer to sleep with me. That’s much more profitable for you.”
Reading the message, it felt like Camellia’s face was hot and made her want to swear at the man she believed was still waiting for her outside the gate. However, the following message made her choke.
“By the way, I like your shorts. Next time, I want to see you wear a bikini. You have a very nice round ass.
Instantly, Camellia stared around. She was sure Hagen couldn’t possibly see her shorts from such a long distance. There must be something in her room.
Otherwise, how could he know what she was wearing?
“Stop spying on me, you perverted man!”
Camellia’s footsteps as she crossed the sidewalk looked haggard. The girl even used a sling bag over her head to dispel the scorching sun that was slowly rising.And by enduring hunger, Camellia also quickened the pace.Several times her head turned back because she felt as if she was being followed, but still, there was no one around.“Calm down, Camellia. It’s just your imagination,” she whispered as she continued walking.When she approached a small restaurant, Camellia’s steps came to a halt. Her face lit up slightly when she found the job advertisement in the glass window.The girl glanced briefly at the vacancy before she finally went inside and ran into one of the waitresses who were not far away from her.“Hay, can I talk to your manager?” asked Camellia suddenly, which caused the waitress to look at her twice.“Excuse me?”Camellia cursed herself after hearing the hostile tone of the waitress. She felt very impolite, but the urgent circumstances dispelled all the manners she
Hagen’s hand stretched slightly as soon as he felt Camellia’s resistance weaken. He also removed the twist of his arm from the girl’s body.Gradually, he backed away. However, his gaze did not escape her in the slightest.“You’re really a man who has no feelings. A Heartless Jerk!” The girl was cursing with a fiery look.Hagen’s eyes, which had been looking at her with desire, turned a little sharper.“Ah, Princess, I didn’t even say anything that could hurt you,” he said with a smirk.When Camellia was about to say a swear word, she suddenly heard a loud, embarrassing sound coming from her stomach. It made the two speechless.It looked like Camellia’s cheeks turned red quickly, which stopped Hagen in his tracks. The color change on the girl’s cheeks caught his attention right away.However, suddenly Hagen laughed in a tone that showed disbelief.The glare that Camellia threw at him made Hagen not care. As soon as his laughter subsided, Hagen put his poker face back on.He asked, “You
Camellia kept her attention on the barren pantry. She was once more threatened with starvation, which made her want to sob. Particularly since all she discovered was a pile of stale bread.The girl fought back the tears that were about to fall, her hands shaking and her body slightly limp.“I spent the entire day hunting for a job, but it was not that simple.” She cried out, “What I have to do, Daddy?” in a low voice.Camellia realized she was out of options because all that was left was a couple packages of noodles and some bread.When the sound of her house bell sounded, the girl’s hand was just ready to take the bread.She closed the fridge softly after giving up on her meal plans. Her brow was furrowed and her heart was full of questions.When she reached the door in a hurry, Frank was waiting there.The man’s face was the same as hers, and the smile she had been wearing that was about to burst out turned into a frown.The two now exchange glances. They appeared to despise sharing
Camellia was awakened by the scent of butter and coffee. The girl looked around, her head rolling and her eyes blinking a few times. She had a confused expression on her face. Her forehead furrowed in shock as she took in the room’s incredibly familiar ceiling at first sight.As soon as the aroma reached her nose, her stomach started to churn painfully.She exclaimed, “Ouch.”Camellia rolled a little on the bed and buried her head in the pillow. “Ou, Ou, Ou.”“I warned you, but you’re only making things worse for yourself by being stubborn.”When a man’s voice unexpectedly appeared in the doorway, she was on the verge of crying.The sound source caught Camellia’s attention as she turned her head and blinked. Her eyes rounded for a split second. She tried to stand up with a gasping breath, but her stomach once again prevented her from doing so, keeping her on the bed.Hagen took a calm breath and gave the girl in front of him a chilly stare as she appeared to be trying to escape his gr
“Bed partner, he said?” As soon as Camellia locked the door to her home, she mumbled.Since then, two days have passed, but Camellia’s mind has never forgotten the message written on the piece of paper that Blake Hagen left behind. When she suddenly remembered the man, she even cursed at him.Hagen seemed certain that he could have her body, which made her angry.Camellia stomped on the door lock, and she said angrily, “I won’t let him get the answer he wants.” She turned around and was about to walk towards the house’s gate when she felt a pang of half-anger.She planned to seek employment opportunities today. In her dictionary, there was no word for surrender. She did not need to be terrified of Blake Hagen because she saw him as nothing more than a bully. Camellia vowed that the man would eventually lose interest in her.“Keep an eye on me, Heartless Jerk. I’ll show you that you’re not someone to be scared of.”The feeling overcame Camellia as she crossed the path to the gate and s
Hagen’s steps sounded heavy as he crossed his office room in downtown Lancester. The fifty-story building he named Blake Tower seemed to stand gallantly among the jungle of other concrete structures.Athena, Hagen’s secretary, looked pale as soon as she saw his arrival from the direction of the elevator. The twenty-five-year-old woman stammered and immediately chased after him with an uneasy gesture.“M-Mr. CEO,” the woman called with a trembling voice and her hands intertwined.She seemed to block Hagen’s steps towards the office deliberately.When Hagen noticed Athena’s familiar behavior, he realized what was going on, causing him to hold his wrath and his hands in his trouser pockets to clench into fists.Hagen halted his wide footsteps, and with a look as sharp as a dagger, he glanced toward the door and Athena.“Did that bastard do it again in my room?”Hagen’s voice sounded calm, and his expression also seemed flat, but for people who were already very familiar with him, it was
Camellia beat the bed several times as soon as she recalled what she had done to Hagen while at the bus stop. The image of the sighting incident on his masculine face made the girl want to hide for some time.“What are you doing, fools?” she whined as she buried her head in the pillow.“You can do that. What if he pays you back with something unexpected?” Camellia cursed as she bit her thumbnails nervously. “You already know how crazy he is.”She recalled the incident. At that moment, they were both shocked after her hand landed on the surface of the man’s cheek.Time seemed to stop for a moment. However, the engine sound from the direction of the man’s car brings them back to their situation. Hagen’s security assistant, who had been silent behind the wheel since they arrived, finally came out and approached, but Hagen’s stern voice stopped his footsteps.“Stay inside, Garry. Nothing happened,” Hagen said at the time with eyes that didn’t once escape Camellia’s gaze.Hagen also added,
Camellia tried to contact Bella the night after the incident, and from the two’s long conversation, her best friend also gave one very risky suggestion.“What do you mean?” asked Camellia in a slightly incredulous tone at her best friend’s suggestion.There was a tired breath across the line, which made Camellia feel guilty.She had already asked the only friend she had much help with, and hearing Bella take a breath, it felt like Camellia wanted to do the same.“Look, you won’t know if you don’t try. So, this is your last option if you want to find work,” Bella stated confidently. “After all, I know this man very well. He will help you. Trust me.”Upon hearing it, Camellia stood up and circled her nearly furniture-free room.She bit her bottom lip continuously as she cast a glance toward the window.Camellia doesn’t know why she felt something as if someone were watching from the outside, but no matter how much she peeked out from behind the curtains, there was no one there. That’s w