Chapter 034

34.

Samantha scoffed. “What do you think you're doing?” she asked, the annoyance evident in her voice.

Estella laughed. “What does it look like? I'm throwing a house party with my homies. Is anything wrong with that?”

“Everything is wrong with it, Estella. It hasn't even been a week since Dad traveled and you're already doing shits. And are these who you call your homies?” Samantha asked as she looked at them. They were more like gangsters with piercings and tattoos.

“If you have a problem with that, you can go to your room and sleep. After all, you are the prominent CEO of the Salvador Group, and I know you must be tired from all the meetings, file sorting, clearings and lots of boring stuff you do to make people think you're responsible.” she clicked her tongue.

Samantha couldn't believe this lady. She had no idea why Estella had to be so different. If the police get a whiff of this, the family's reputation would be at stake.

“Estella, what you're doing isn't right. I'd advise you stop this now!”

“Is that an order?” she laughed and turned to look at her “homies”, amused. “Guys, she is giving me an order!” she exclaimed, and they burst into a fit of laughter as well, clearly mocking Samantha.

Estella put a cigarette in her mouth, inhaled the smoke and puffed it out, blowing rings in the air and all over Samantha's face. “You know, Samantha, you're so uptight. You need to learn to relax and have some fun. You're not always going to be CEO, you know. And besides, what's the worst that could happen? Will the police come and arrest us? Please, we're not doing anything illegal… yet.” Estella said with a wink, her friends chuckling in agreement.

Samantha's eyes widened in disbelief. “You're unbelievable, Estella. I can't even begin to understand why you're behaving like this. And what's with these people? They're not even your real friends. They're just using you!”

Estella's expression turned cold, her eyes narrowing. “How dare you. My friends are not using me. We have a good time together, and that's all that matters. You're just jealous because you're so boring and straight-faced. You need to loosen up and live a little.”

“If this is what you call living, then count me out. If doing drugs and meddling with hooligans-”

“Who you calling hooligans?” One of Estella's friends, who had multiple piercings on her ears and nose, stepped forward, glaring at Samantha as if daring her to say it again or take back her words, but Samantha was not intimidated.

“You and the rest of your cohorts here.” she pointed at all of them.

“And who do you think you are to talk to us like that? Do you wanna get beaten up because I won't hesitate to dig my fingers into your eyes and pull your eyeballs out if you disrespect me.” The lady snapped, and the rest hailed her while Estella watched with a smile on her face.

Samantha sneered. “You're welcome to try, hooligan. And what the heck did you say about respect? You look like this, acting like a psychopath and expect me to respect you?” she laughed. “No, sweetheart. The only good thing I can do for you is to take you and your hooligan friends to a psychiatric hospital because you seem like mentally unstable people that can go crazy anytime.”

“What!” The lady raised her hand to slap Samantha, but Linda caught it, as she stepped forward to shield Samantha from her.

“What do you think you're doing? You can lose your hand for trying to touch her, do you know that?” she snapped.

The lady tried to wriggle her hand from Linda's grip, but her grip was firm and tight, hurting the lady in the process. “Let me warn you, if you ever in your miserable life try to touch her again, I will forget common courtesy and remove your teeth from all the right places. I won't have mercy on you!” she flung the lady's hand away.

Estella faced her. “Are you mad? Who gave a pauper like you the right to talk to my friend like that? Do you think you have some power because you are Samantha's personal assistant? Do you have any idea what I can do to you?” she asked, and Samantha rolled her eyes. “I won't waste my precious time on a leech like you. Apologize to her immediately!” Estella ordered, her gaze on Linda intense, but Linda stood unmoved by her outbursts.

“The person who should be apologizing is your friend, Estella.” Samantha folded her arms.

“I will not apologize to a mere assistant,” Estella's friend spat, her eyes blazing with defiance. “You're just a nobody, a disrespectful bitch, a-”

Linda's eyes flashed with anger, and she took a step forward, her voice low and menacing. “Say another word, and I'll make sure you regret it. You're not even worth my time, but I'll make an exception for you. You're a disgrace to humanity, and you need to be taught some manners.”

Estella's friend took a step back, her eyes widening in fear, as Linda's words struck a chord. She knew she was outmatched, and she didn't want to mess with Linda anymore.

“Whatever, let's just get out of here,” she said, turning to Estella. “This party is lame anyway.” she gestured to the other friends, and they followed her out of the house, cursing under their breaths.

Estella was furious as she pointed her index finger at Samantha. “You will regret this!” she snapped, her gaze shifting to Linda. “And you… I will make sure you suffer for what you did today!" she threw her cigarette to the ground, and huffed before storming off to her room.

Linda released a deep breath and turned to face Samantha, who looked at her with a shocked expression on her face.

“Linda, I didn't know you had this side to you.” she chuckled.

Linda sighed. “I would do anything to protect you. I won't let any ingrate bully you. Even if you have the power to stand up for yourself, as long as I am with you, no one can hurt you.” she assured Samantha, who chuckled.

“Thanks, Linda. I feel like a baby.” she beamed and Linda smiled.

Samantha had gone through a lot, and she was determined not to make the woman suffer again.

“I'll call the cleaners to tidy this place up. You should go up to your room and rest.” Linda said and walked away, while Samantha sighed as she thought of her mum.

She quickly rushed up the stairs to talk to her.