Chapter 4

I raised my hand to wipe it, but only caused more blood to gush.

Still, I stayed silent when I saw Giles glaring at me venomously, as if I had killed his mother.

I didn't entirely believe the conversation I'd overheard. We were childhood friends; we'd given ourselves to each other at eighteen, leaving home to strive for success in the big city.

After all we'd been through, I couldn't believe he would hurt me so much over a pretty secretary.

But he did, and it was reality.

Only now did I truly understand that all my faith and existence were nothing more than a joke.

I watched as Giles carefully picked Sue up and patiently rubbed her slightly reddened knees.

Then, he wheeled on me with an icy glare and snapped, "Apologize!"

"No, it's alright," Sue said, waving him off. "Ms. Singer has done so much for the company. No matter what she does, she doesn't have to apologize to a minor employee like me."

Giles, however, was still glaring at me. "I'm telling you to apologize because I don't want things to get bad between you and your colleagues. And giving you more work is for you to realize your potential.

You only made a hundred million in five years, so I gave you a bigger target in hopes you could improve further. If I don't train you now, how would I find the peace of mind to let you take over?"

Train me?

More like train me to death.

At the same time, my hands and clothes were covered in my own blood, while more was trickling down to the floor.

Seeing that, Sue took some tissues, wiping her snot first before handing them to me. "Here, use this. You're bleeding a lot."

Giles raised a brow but said nothing as he took out an imported wet towel, wiping Sue's hand before taking her back inside.

Then, turning to me, he growled, "The apology can wait. Now get back to work."

Bang!

With that, the door was shut in my face, muffling any sound from inside.

I stayed on my knees, using the tissues to wipe the blood on the floor.

Suddenly, a pang of nausea, and I hung my head, vomiting a mouthful of blood.

The nurse nearby promptly called for help, and I was suddenly on a stretcher and rushed to the ER.

But even as I coughed blood, I shook my head. "There's no point. I can't afford this."

There were tears in the nurse's eyes. "Where are your parents? You could at least call them..."

My mother had died in labor and my father died in a workplace accident. The rest of my relatives then kicked me out of the house once they split my parents' wealth amongst themselves, none of them caring if I survived.

Perplexed, the nurse asked, "Well, don't you have anyone else?"

I used to. Giles had been family for me for so long that I put him before myself.

But now... "Nope."

Hearing that, the nurse didn't press the issue but kept pressing me back into my bed whenever I tried to leave, while a doctor hooked me up to a monitor.

By the time I stopped bleeding, they were busily tending to other patients.

Since no one was watching me, I left my phone as collateral and sneaked out.

When I got home, I washed my clothes, dozing off before I knew it... and was then woken up with a bucket of cold water.

I opened my eyes to find myself staring at Giles, glaring furiously at me.

Sue's eyes were puffy from tears, but she kept pretending to be the mature one. "Please, Giles. Ms. Singer must be upset you took me to the hospital and threw my mom's treasure into the river to punish me. I can understand that. Please don't blame her...

Sure, it's the only thing my mother left me, but she's gone anyway. The living matters more, just forget it."

Giles snorted coldly as he dragged me out of bed.