5 - Frustrated

CRYSTAL'S POV

"Why is he here again? I thought I told him to leave me alone. Isn't he a big shot with many companies to manage? Why is he bothering me when I'm not even on his level?

I looked at the man I had loved years ago - the one who left me without a valid reason - and who still caused me pain every time I saw him. I didn't want to acknowledge him, but rather ignore him.

"Didn't you hear what I just asked? I said, why are you late to work?" he questioned me.

I looked around and saw that a few of my teammates were already around, but some had not even arrived. There is no way I would have missed the time; I came in thirty minutes earlier than my assigned time. I don't know what he's on about.

"I'm not late, sir. I'm actually thirty minutes early. You can check the duty roster, and please get off my desk. I've got work to do before the official time." I replied to him in the calmest way possible.

I'm trying so hard to ignore him, but he's trying to make himself acknowledged. I don't know if he's trying to make everyone find out we were acquaintances in the past. What will everyone think of me if they find out I was his ex-wife? No one would believe I got this job on my own.

Staying away from him is the best thing that would happen to me right now. Besides, he's only here to make my life bitter, and I don't want him around me.

"Who gave you permission to come at that time? From now on, if you arrive before this time, you'll be fired! Do you understand?" He shouted at me.

"Yes, sir." I replied with no emotions.

He gave me a threatening look and left my desk. None of my colleagues dared to speak up, as they were all intimidated by him. They all looked away, trying not to get involved in the mess.

They'll likely avoid me to prevent getting in trouble with him.

I thought he would leave, but he went into the supervisor's office. Either way, it's none of my business, as I'm only here to work in order to make a living. I won't back away easily just because of him. I earned my spot here.

I didn't realize how useless avoiding him was going to be until he came back to find me. I thought he would just leave and not bother me, but I was wrong. He was just too ready to bother me. I don't know what I'm going to do with him bothering me every time.

"What can I do for you, sir?" I asked him in the calmest way possible while trying to keep a smile on my face.

But he wasn't happy to see my smile. He just felt like he was too irritated by me. I don't know how to feel about it. Why can't I just control myself and not let him get to me?

"I need you to finish working on the transfer files the supervisor is bringing to your desk by today," he said authoritatively.

I was about to agree until I saw the supervisor bringing a very large pile of files towards my table. My heart dropped, and I felt nervous. This is way too much for me to handle in a day. It would even take me about a week or two to finish this.

"But sir... These are too much for one person to finish even in a week, talk less of a day. Could you please give me some more time?" I tried to beg him, hoping he wouldn't refuse me even if he hates me so much.

"Are you saying you're not going to do it?" he responded harshly.

But then again, why else would he be doing this if he doesn't hate me? I was hoping there was some humanity left in him, but I'm disappointed. I felt embarrassed, looking at all the eyes on me. I just joined this company, but I already have so many scandals. Now I'm being bullied by someone who's not even part of this company.

"I'm not saying I won't do it. I'm just trying to explain the fact that this is too much for me. Unless I'm not a human being, how will I finish something like this in a day? There's not much time left for today," I explained calmly to him.

He scoffed, "The way I see it, you are trying to protest against me, aren't you?"

"Even if I'm a newbie here, this is way too much for me. Don't you think?"

"What did you just say to me?"

"If you have grudges against me, you can always tell me about it. I don't know what you have against me, but you shouldn't bring personal feelings into work." I clearly protested against him and got a reaction from everyone.

He stared at me with hatred in his eyes without saying anything. I hate the look in his eyes so much. Why won't he just leave me alone after all this time?

He moved closer to me, and I had to step back. "You can turn in your resignation if you know you can't do this job properly."

With that said, he walked out of the department angrily. Did he just ask me to resign from a job I just got? I decided to run after him. I have to stop him from making me jobless.

"This isn't fair. I worked hard to get this job. You're a partner in this company. Why do you want to take away the job of a lowly employee?" I shouted, making him stop.

He turned around to look at me. "You're right. You're nothing but a lowly employee. Seeing people like you makes me angry. You should quit your job if you have some dignity left in you."

I scoffed, "Why should I do that?"

"What?"

I wanted to cuss at him for making my life so miserable, but I had to hold myself. I tried to put up a fake smile, though it hurt me so much that he was treating me as if we weren't even something in the past. Even if he hates me so much now, how could he forget about all of that so easily?

"It took me a long time to finally be able to land a job like this. I worked so hard to get this job. There's no way I'm going to let it go easily."

He sneered, "We're going to see about that. You think staying here would help you land another rich man? That's not going to happen under my watch. See what happens when you use someone like me."

I watched him walk away while I finally fell on my knees, letting all the tears that were threatening to fall before come out. I was holding back so much because I wanted to show him that I was strong even without him.

Why does he make me waver so much? Why is he hurting me for something that happened in the past? He never told me what happened, so I never got the chance to understand what exactly I did to him. The only thing I can see is that he thinks I'm a gold digger.

Do I hate him or love him? I can't say I love him anymore after what he did to me, but I'm not sure why my heart keeps acting up around him. I badly wanted to forget him too. I didn't know I would be meeting him like this.

I wiped my tears and turned around to go back to the office. Everyone was staring at me, but I ignored them and continued my work. The only way I can get him off my back is if I do what he wants.

I gave a call to Olivia, telling her how I got so much work to do at the company with the rest of my teammates and for her to take care of my son. I also got to speak to him on the phone before I could continue my work. There was no way I could tell her that I was the only one working at the office.

She might throw a tantrum and ask me to quit the job. It's not going to be good for my record if I only work a few days at places and quit. Besides, Alexander already knows I'm in this city now. He's going to do whatever he can to make my life a living hell no matter where I go.

"I can't believe you actually made someone like Alexander Hunter angry enough to punish you like this," I heard my supervisor say while I was working.

I turned around abruptly and saw him standing behind me with a wicked smile on his face. Panic rushed over me because I was alone with him in the office.

"Sir... Are you on your way home?" I asked, feeling so uncomfortable with him staring at me.

He laughed at me and stopped suddenly. "You think I'm going to go home when you're alone in this office? What kind of supervisor does that?"

"W-what do you think you're doing? Stay away from me!" I yelled at him, trying to push him off.

"You better cooperate with me because there is no one here to save you. It's me and you tonight, darling." He laughed maniacally while my heart pumped so hard that it felt like I was going to have a heart attack.

What am I going to do now? I need to get this evil man off my back.

"Help! Someone help! He's trying to assault me!" I shouted, and he slapped me.

"I'm going to make sure you pay for everything you've done so far. For humiliating me in front of so many people, I'm going to make you pay!" he shouted, taking off his jacket, ready to assault me.

I looked around me and nothing I could grab was close by. I would rather die than watch this man do something like that to me.

"Don't touch me, you bastard! Help! Someone help!" I shouted. Just when I thought I had lost all hope, someone came to the office.

"What do you think you're doing right now?" We heard a familiar voice, not just familiar but Alexander's voice.

My heart skipped a bit when he appeared in front of us, looking enraged.