Betrayed But Reclaimed by Her Boss.

Chapter 3

Aria.

With teary eyes and a heart full of dread, I hurried into my one-bedroom apartment. It was unrecognizable, my stuff strewn everywhere. Tears fell down my face as I pulled my drawers; they were broken.

My credit cards were gone. I collapsed on the floor and screamed in distress. The pent-up emotions from the Caleb incident. Maybe he was right; I was truly desperate for love because my life was a huge joke. My mother was too much of a narcissistic joke, gambling addict, and drug abuser to give two f***s about me.

My father ran and never looked back as well.

“Ria,” Jess called and entered. “Holy f**k! Is it this bad?” She found me desolate in my bedroom; my tears surged anew when I saw her.

“Aria,” she hurried to me and gave me a tight hug. “It’s okay.” She consoled me.

“No, it is not.” I cried. “Nothing about me is okay; I’m cursed, Jessica. I can feel it.”

“Hey, what is with these negative thoughts?”

I sniffled, showing her my left hand. “You lost your ring?” She immediately noticed its absence.

I chuckled sadly. “Mr. Anfieled ordered me to throw it away, and I did.”

“What? Your insufferable boss, why would he request that?”

“Because he bailed me out after I assaulted Caleb and bruised him up a bit.”

Her eyes bulged, blinking in shock, before falling into an expression of concern. “What happened in Arizona?”

I bit my lips, hesitant, but I finally forced myself to say it. “You were right. Caleb is an asshole; he is not even Caleb. Dave—that’s his real name. He has a child and a wife. He had no brother that was medically ill. I was the foolish other woman?” I chuckled because it was surreal to me.

“Oh my love, sweetheart, come here.”” She hugged me tightly while I wept my heart out into her arms.

“The house—I’m in serious loans, Jess. The medical bill I paid for his non-existent brother and now my mother. My rent is due; I’ll be homeless soon. I’ve lost everything.” I sniffled.

“I’ll book the next flight to Arizona. I’ll get it all back from him.”

“In exchange for my bail, since an assault charge would ruin my career, I promised not to fight for my money.”

“You promised; that doesn’t mean I can’t get it for you.”

“Well, he knows you. He knows we are friends. It’s not possible; I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”

I picked myself up from the floor, picking up a rumpled jacket thrown to the floor to wear over my leggings. “Where are you headed to?”

“To find my mother!”

I need to save whatever cents she hasn’t squandered already.

***

I pushed through the rickety door of the rundown gambling house, one of the places that hasn’t been raided yet. She must be here. The stench of m*******a and cigarettes filled the air. It was barely visible with the dim fluorescent lamps lighting up the pathway. Somebody retched right in front of me; I walked around them unmoved by the scene. I’ve seen far worse. Like when Mother brought the ratchety men she played with and had a f*****g orgy in our studio apartment. I had to live with Jessica so the smell of s*x, drugs, and spit would be gone. I spent days cleaning her mess. Like I have always done.

This wasn’t the first time my mother was stealing from me. I was so caught up with Mr. Nathan's consuming work life and relaxed with her six-month sentence in prison that I forgot to change my passwords. I searched the table for a woman with pink or some other bold color dyed hair and hazel-green eyes like mine and spotted her adjacent two tables ahead.

I disrupted her game with her friends. “My money now!”

“You little f**k, is this how you welcome your mother from her six-month term in prison?”

“You broke into my house and stole from me. You don’t want me to make that report.”

“What cops would believe a mother stole from her daughter? You are awfully stingy.” She dismissed me.

I bit my lips, holding back my tears.

“Why do you have to be so f*****g entitled?! I worked so hard for that money.”

“I almost died giving birth to you.”

“Doesn’t change the fact you are a terrible mother!”

“I know that! There’s no shame in that. There are a ton of good mothers; I’m representing the bad ones.”

Her friend threw his card, and she groaned. “Ugh, I lost again. Do you have any money on you?” I bit my lips, quivered, and broke down crying.

“She’ll pay you back, but I’m getting the money she stole from me, however.” I apologized and started packing the wads of cash they were gambling for.

She flicked a lighter on a cigarette and stood up from the table. “Do with her whatever you feel like.” She left without a second glance.

***

With bruised lips and a twisted ankle, I was thrown three feet in the air before landing painfully on my back. I groaned in pain and broke down in tears for the millionth time today on the cold tarred floor. Picking myself up, I limped to the closest cab I could find.

Jessica sprayed the anti-sprain spray on my twisted ankles. I hissed in pain. “You shouldn’t have gone there yourself. We need to make a report to the police.”

I bit my lips, holding back my tears. “I can’t get any of it back; she gambled it all and lost.”

My phone buzzed; it was from the complex management. A reminder I would be kicked out if I don’t make my rent payment tonight.

Jessica spotted the message and heaved a sigh. “You can always hitch up with me till things start brightening up for you. I’m certain you can overcome it.”

“It’s a new apartment, Jessica, with your new boyfriend. It’s your first relationship after so long; it would be insensitive for me to disturb the both of you.”

“Mark wouldn’t mind, I’m sure of it. I just need to talk to him.”

I hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much. What would I do without you?”

“Nothing.” She chuckles and pinches my cheeks. “Everything will be fine.”

***

I ignored the ache in my ankle and hurdled the mount of files in my arm, making way to distribute them to the departments. The chief financial officer was in a meeting with Mr. Adrian Anfield, the second feared Anfield brother; he was notorious for his ruthlessness—he fired another he was displeased with in a blink.

He appeared displeased with the reports, and I feared I would bear the brunt of his anger.

My earbuds glitched. “A cup of coffee.” The secretary called.

I cursed underneath my breath and hurried to the leisure area. I hurriedly made him a cup of coffee, put it on a tray, and headed to his office. Why wasn’t his personal assistant here? I was always the pawn made to suffer in the heat of their rivalry. Mr. Nathan and he weren’t exactly typical siblings. More enemies.

His voice thundered across the hallways.

“Call the auditors now. Have their properties seized and the investigators ready.”

I pushed the door open, quietly making an entry, praying I escape without any implications. “Your coffee, sir.” I noticed Mr. Nathan was seated right opposite him. They were sharing a tight glare. There was hardly any resemblance between them, which confirmed they were indeed from different mothers.

He took the cup rather calmly. “We found proof.”

“What proof?” Nathan asked him to calm himself.

He threw some papers. “Ten billion dollar fraud. Father was considering sending you to Bangkok to have you oversee the growth of the firms in Asia like you have always done, but this time, you might oversee the affairs of a jail instead.”

Andrian Anfield sent a grin to me, and I grimaced internally, weirded out by it. “I wonder what would happen to her after you are gone. Maybe she would take up the role of my 24/7 b*****b w***e. Her jawline and lips are so small. I feel hard already thinking about it.”

I could see Mr. Nathan's hands folding into a fist. “Leave!” He yelled. I expected Mr. Andrian to not make him angrier and leave courteously.

“I’m talking to you; leave my office this instant!” He yelled at me.

***

I flicked a lighter on a cigarette, and defeated, I dropped it. I had quit years ago. I can’t relapse because of a harsh, ruthless boss. He couldn’t even defend me.

I instead heard a footstep behind me. I turned and was surprised at who it was. His dark, turbulent sea eyes weighed me; I’m certain I wasn’t worth a dollar in his eyes. I bit my lips. “Mr. Nathan, Do you need me to help you out with something?”

“Remember how I saved your ass from rotting in jail? It’s time to repay the favor.” He led me into a car. His driver was nowhere in sight.

“How?” I stuttered.

“We would get engaged in thirty minutes. I’ll give you a diamond much better than the plastic your ex gave you.”

I blinked, my head buzzing. Did I happen to fall or get hit by a car? Is this my unconscious imagination to help forget my pathetic life? Even if it was a dream, it just turned into a f*****g nightmare.