“Apologize.”
I couldn’t help but look up and ask, “Why? Why should I apologize to him?”
Aria felt as if I had been testing her patience again and again.
“I assigned your job to him. You shouldn’t be bullying him.”
Some coworkers who knew the truth tried to speak up for me, but Aria silenced them with a single cold glance.
One of my subordinates stepped forward, his voice firm.
“President Aria, it was he who bullied Brother Calix. He even told Brother Calix to kneel. That’s why we—”
Zayden quickly cut in, his tone dripping with false humility.
“Sister Aria, I’d better leave. Everyone is standing up for Brother Calix. I don’t deserve this job.”
Seeing the aggrieved look on his face, Aria turned to me, her voice hard.
“Are you sure you won’t apologize?”
I lifted my head high and stayed silent.
Without another word, Aria ordered the security guards to press down on my shoulders and force me to kneel.
One of them kicked my knee, and I fell with a heavy thud, forced to kneel before Zayden.
Still unsatisfied, Aria ordered them to make me bow to him.
“I told you, I am your sky. Don’t test my limits.”
Her words silenced every coworker who had wanted to speak up for me.
In that suffocating office, only Zayden looked delighted as I knelt and bowed my head to the floor.
“Sister Aria, isn’t this too much? After all, Brother Calix is your lover. Even if he wounded my pride, you shouldn’t humiliate him like this.”
Aria looked at him with even more tenderness after hearing that.
“If he dares to hurt you again, I’ll make him pay a hundred times over. A thousand.”
She pulled something out of her bag and looked down at me.
“I want you to crawl through Zayden’s legs. Use your dignity to repay him.”
The office fell into a heavy, deathly silence.
I raised my head, my mind reeling in disbelief.
She truly wanted me to crawl between Zayden’s legs.
Zayden was trembling with excitement.
“Sister Aria, is this really okay? Won’t Brother Calix be angry?”
Aria stepped closer, her eyes glinting as she mockingly patted my face.
“You don’t want to lose this, do you?”
She waved the object slowly in front of me.
One of my subordinates finally couldn’t bear it any longer. He broke past the guards and reached out to pull me up.
I looked at Aria, my heart seething with hatred.
“That’s the only thing Percival left behind. How could you use it to threaten me?”
Aria’s expression turned impatient.
“No matter how much you treasure that, you shouldn’t have cursed Percival to die.”
“Enough. Stop wasting time. Crawl.”
I stared at her, loathing burning in my chest.
In the end, ignoring my subordinate’s desperate attempts to stop me, I slowly bent down and began crawling, step by step, toward Zayden.
Zayden watched me with a sneer, and Aria urged me to move faster.
Some coworkers looked on as if it were a show; others turned away, unable to bear it.
In that moment, I carved the hatred deeper into my heart than ever before.
Aria, I would make you pay.
Just as I took the first step, Aria caught the look in my eyes and stiffened.
A strange unease flickered across her face.
Then, she suddenly called it off.
Zayden seemed to sense it was enough and quietly pulled her away.
As they turned to leave, Aria carelessly tossed something onto the floor.
“You treasure this so much, here, I’m giving it back.”
I rushed over and picked up the little charm that held Percival’s baby hair.
“Percival…it’s Daddy’s fault. I didn’t protect you.”
My cries were so raw, so hoarse, that even the coworkers watching couldn’t bear to look any longer.
After my subordinate brought me home, I sent a message to Professor Achilles.
[No need to renew the patent for the project with Ellison Corporation.]
Professor Achilles replied quickly, reminding me, [The reporting date has been moved up. Pack tonight and get ready to depart.]
By the time I finished gathering all my things, Aria finally returned just before dawn.
