Chapter 5 Kicking Someone When They're Down

"You!"

I was furious beyond words, yet utterly helpless.

What Jeremy had just said mirrored exactly what my father had once told him. Eight years later, he was serving those same words back to me, unaltered.

"What do you want?" I asked through gritted teeth.

Jeremy's cold laughter filled the room. "Your father treated me that way years ago, but I'm not petty. I've shown my goodwill by accepting you and offering you a job."

"You've been applying everywhere these past few days without success. Must be frustrating, isn't it?" His smirk widened.

I stared at him, realization dawning. "You did all this?"

Jeremy shook his head. "You give me too much credit. Has it occurred to you that you might simply be worthless on your own?"

I laughed inwardly, not believing his lies for a second.

"What do you really want?" I asked again.

"Rest assured, I'm quite generous. I gave you a job, so you should be thanking me. Say 'thank you.'"

I clenched my jaw tightly. The more he pushed, the more infuriated I became, yet I was powerless to resist.

"What's wrong? Don't want to?" he taunted.

Reluctantly, I forced out the words.

Jeremy smiled with satisfaction. "Quite obedient. You're more pleasant this way. By the way, since today is your first day, I've prepared a welcome ceremony for you. Will you accept?"

Without waiting for my response, he continued, "Your silence means yes. People from Recruitment and Maintenance will be there. We'll meet at Phantom Night—the club you used to frequent."

"Now, get to work. Before your shift ends, I expect bathrooms on floors one through thirteen to meet standards. I believe you can do it."

I stared at him silently, then turned and left his office.

Looking out the window at the Lakeview skyline, I couldn't help but reflect on how the mighty had fallen.

If my father were still alive, Jeremy wouldn't dare act so arrogantly.

Thinking of my father sent waves of grief through me. In my heart, I felt responsible for his death.

I pushed these chaotic thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. Story of my life: I always planned for the best, but ended up getting the worst. So, what was my secret? Brilliantly low expectations.

After a day of exhausting work, my shift was nearly over. My back ached as I put away my cleaning supplies and headed for the elevator.

I had managed to clean all the bathrooms thoroughly without stopping. Thankfully, after accidentally seeing Griffin's private parts earlier, I knew the third bathroom wasn't my responsibility, or I might have worked myself to death.

As I stepped into the elevator, I encountered him again—Griffin, CEO of Skyline Group.

When I saw him, I felt awkward and unsure how to proceed. As I was gathering my thoughts to apologize, the bodyguard beside Griffin spoke up.

"This is the CEO's private elevator. Please exit."

"What?" I was stunned. Griffin was honestly a weirdo. Exclusive bathrooms, sure, but private elevators as well?

Griffin raised his hand, halting his bodyguard, then gestured dismissively. The bodyguard nodded and exited at the next floor.

I noticed Griffin's gaze turning toward me. "I truly didn't do it on purpose," I said quickly.

Griffin raised an eyebrow. "You saw it?"

I froze momentarily, confused. "What?"

When he didn't elaborate, I suddenly understood what he meant and hastily explained, "No, no, it was too small—I didn't see anything."

After the words left my mouth, I noticed Griffin's expression darken further. I rushed to clarify, "That's not what I meant! I meant your pants blocked it, and it was somewhat small."

"I..." I found myself at a loss for words, making the situation increasingly awkward.

"Forget it. I don't want a third person knowing about this," he finally said.

I nodded quickly in agreement.

After leaving the building, I drove to Phantom Night. By the time I arrived, my colleagues were already seated, with Jeremy surrounded by numerous bottles of alcohol.

Seeing me enter, Jeremy smiled. "Let me introduce everyone to our newest Skyline Group employee, Aviah Lynch. Let's give her a warm welcome."

As applause filled the room, confusion spread among some colleagues.

"Aviah? That name sounds familiar."

"Wait, isn't she the daughter of Alexander, once Lakeview's richest man?"

"I remember now! She's the one who was caught sleeping with another man the night before her wedding. The whole thing blew up, and everyone saw the evidence at the ceremony."

They spoke without lowering their voices, seemingly unconcerned that I could hear them.

The female colleagues who had initially shown me some kindness now looked at me with disdain and contempt after learning about my past.

Jeremy made a dismissive sound. "Everyone, please, let's not bring up painful subjects. We're all colleagues who'll be working together daily. How can we poke at someone's wounds like this? This is Aviah's welcome party. She prepared all these drinks to treat everyone. Let's give her a round of applause."

More applause followed, but someone questioned, "Can she even afford all these?"

Another person retorted, "Don't sweat it. Why are you concerned about this? The subject herself isn't even reacting."

Jeremy raised his head proudly, giving me a triumphant look.

I saw the greed in the men's eyes and the contempt in the women's. Unable to bear it any longer, I fled the private room.

Behind me, Jeremy's hearty laughter erupted.

I stopped in the main hall, my chest heaving and body trembling slightly as I tried to regain my composure.

Then, that detestable voice followed me. "What's wrong? Can't handle it already? I thought these five years would have helped you accept the reality of society."

"It seems you still imagine yourself as the princess you once were. How do you plan to survive in Lakeview with that attitude?"

My anger finally boiled over. "You did this deliberately! Making me join the company, humiliating me in front of colleagues, making me uncomfortable—you're getting revenge!"

"Exactly!" Jeremy interrupted. "What's the best part of your downfall? Watching a princess like you slumming it with the rest of us."

"In the past, when I saw you, I could only fantasize about what kind of man would marry such a beautiful woman. Even in my dreams, you remained unreachable."

"Who could have predicted how unpredictable life can be? Look at you now. Your beauty remains, but that aura of distinction is completely gone."

"By the way, this event costs around two hundred thousand dollars. Not much—for the person you used to be, you wouldn't even blink at such an amount."

"After all, you were rich and took your dignity seriously."

My heart grew cold. For my former self, two hundred thousand dollars would indeed have been nothing. But now, I didn't even have fifty dollars to my name. Where would I find two hundred thousand dollars to cover this bill?

I finally understood—his true revenge had been waiting for this moment.

Yet I had still underestimated him.

"You don't have money to pay, do you?" Jeremy's face lit up with excitement. "If you really can't pay, you could beg me. Spend the night with me, and I'll cover the bill."

"After all, you're already kind of a slut. You slept with another man the night before your wedding, and I heard your fiancé was in the next room. Since you enjoy such games, why not play with me?"

The sound of a slap echoed through the room.