Chapter 10
1577 Words
PING!
Clarissa jolted awake from barely two hours of sleep. Six in the morning, and her phone was already blinking with a new email.
The sender’s name made her heart pound: David William.
“What now?” she muttered, opening the message.
Subject: Urgent – Project Assignment 2
Ms. Clarissa,
Effective immediately, you are assigned to lead the international market research project for our European expansion. Complete report for Germany, France, and UK markets must be submitted by Thursday, 5 PM.
Database access: limited trial accounts only.
Failure to meet deadline will result in immediate performance review.
Regards,
David William, CEO
Clarissa read the email multiple times, each pass making her chest tighten.
“He’s lost his mind. This is impossible.”
Today was Monday. She had only four days to complete international market research that typically required a specialized team. With limited database access, no less.
But then she remembered David—broken, five years ago.
This wasn’t about work. This was about revenge.
David didn’t want to destroy her outright—too easy. He wanted Clarissa to experience suffering slowly, systematically. Torture wrapped neatly in corporate policy.
“Fine,” Clarissa whispered as she prepared for the office. “Game on.”
The office felt different that morning.
The moment Clarissa walked in, conversations died. Eyes that had been laughing casually now avoided her gaze.
“Morning, Maya,” Clarissa called out, trying to sound normal.
Maya turned with an awkward smile. “Oh, morning, Clar. You look... pale.”
Before Clarissa could respond, Ricky from the sales team suddenly stood up.
“I have a meeting,” he said quickly and fled, though there was clearly no meeting scheduled.
Clarissa frowned. “What’s wrong with him?”
Maya approached, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Clar, there’s something you need to know. There are rumors about you.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“About... your relationship with William. I mean, the CEO.” Maya glanced around, making sure no one was listening. “Everyone’s saying you’re getting special treatment.”
Blood rushed to Clarissa’s face. “Special treatment? Maya, you know how impossible the assignments he’s been giving me are!”
“I know, I know,” Maya raised her hands. “But perception is reality in the corporate world. And now people are keeping their distance.”
“They think I’m... with William?” Clarissa’s voice nearly disappeared.
Maya nodded uncomfortably. “Some say you’re sleeping with him. Others think you have blackmail material. Bottom line, no one believes your relationship is purely professional.”
Clarissa felt the world spinning. It wasn’t enough that David was destroying her mentally and professionally—now her reputation was in ruins too.
“But that’s not true, Maya!”
“I know. But people are scared,” Maya squeezed Clarissa’s arm. “They’re afraid that getting too close to you will make them targets too.”
Maya whispered again, her eyes widening. “Some say William has the power to bury someone’s career without a trace. He can get you blacklisted from the entire industry. Be careful, Clar.”
The threat made Clarissa’s chest tighten. This wasn’t just about her current job anymore—it was about her entire career future.
“I need to work,” Clarissa stood, her voice hoarse. “Thursday deadline.”
Maya looked at her with pity. “Clar, are you sure you don’t want to tell me what’s really going on?”
Clarissa shook her head quickly. How could she explain that the company’s CEO was the former nerdy student she had brutally humiliated five years ago?
“There’s nothing to tell,” she answered flatly. “It’s just work.”
But Maya’s eyes didn’t believe her. And Clarissa knew the longer she kept this secret, the more precarious her position became.
11 AM.
Clarissa had been sitting in front of her computer for four hours straight. Eyes bloodshot, back aching, she had completed only a quarter of her research. The trial database David had provided was severely limited—she could only access basic data without the details needed for comprehensive analysis.
It was like being asked to paint the Mona Lisa with crayons, in the dark.
“s**t,” Clarissa cursed softly, massaging her throbbing temples.
“Please watch your language, Ms. Clarissa.”
The familiar deep voice made Clarissa jump. She turned to find David standing beside her desk, impeccable in his black suit, expression glacial.
“Mr. William,” Clarissa stood quickly, heart racing. “I apologize, I didn’t—“
“I heard you,” William cut her off with a flat tone. “Frustrated?”
Every eye around them began turning, curious. Clarissa felt exposed, naked.
“I’m just... working on this project,” Clarissa answered carefully.
“Good.” William glanced at her computer screen briefly. “I expect nothing less than excellence. This project will determine your future at this company.”
The words sounded like threats wrapped in professional language. Clarissa swallowed hard. “I understand.”
“Do you understand?” William stared at her intently. “Because I feel you still don’t grasp how serious your situation is.”
William’s tone made the hair on Clarissa’s neck stand up. This was personal. Deeply personal.
“I will give my absolute best effort.”
“Your best effort,” William repeated with a thin smile. “I wonder if your best effort now equals your best effort... five years ago.”
Clarissa’s heart nearly stopped. Five years ago. A specific time reference.
“I don’t understand,” Clarissa lied, though her face had already gone ashen.
“You will understand,” William replied mysteriously.
Then he turned and walked away, leaving Clarissa frozen under the curious stares of her colleagues.
Maya approached with a worried expression. “Al, are you okay?”
Clarissa sat down with trembling hands. “I’m fine. Just... tired.”
But she wasn’t fine. Not at all. William was no longer hiding his personal agenda. He was beginning to drop hints that were increasingly clear, increasingly cruel.
And Clarissa knew the real game had only just begun.
9 PM. The office was empty.
Clarissa still sat at her desk, surrounded by stacks of printouts and charts. Her eyes couldn’t focus anymore. The letters on the computer screen appeared blurry, her head felt ready to explode.
But she couldn’t stop. Thursday’s deadline was approaching, and she had only completed half the research.
Her phone buzzed. A message from Maya: “Al, are you still at the office? Don’t push yourself too hard. Your health is more important.”
Clarissa smiled bitterly. Health. As if she had a choice in this situation.
She glanced up at the upper floor, the CEO’s office. The large window was still illuminated. William was still at the office too. Perhaps... watching.
Watching Clarissa slowly fall apart.
Clarissa stood and walked to the pantry to get coffee. In the dark pantry, she stood in front of the coffee machine, waiting.
Her reflection in the window glass startled her.
A pale face with sunken eyes, dark circles underneath. Hair disheveled. Wrinkled clothes. She looked like a shadow of her former self—the confident, beautiful girl now reduced to a fragile, desperate figure.
“Is this what you felt back then, David?” she whispered to her own reflection.
The question hung in the air without an answer. But Clarissa already knew the response. Yes. Exactly like this. Maybe even worse, because David had no one back then.
She closed her eyes, remembering David’s shattered face again. Those tear-filled eyes. The roses scattered on the floor. The love letter trampled underfoot.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered to the darkness.
But that regret came five years too late. And the man who now controlled her life wasn’t interested in apologies. What he wanted was justice.
Clarissa opened her eyes and looked at her reflection again. This time with different resolve, harder. She wouldn’t give up. She would finish this research, even if she had to pull another all-nighter.
She would survive.
And someday, when David felt satisfied enough with his revenge, maybe—just maybe—she would get a chance to offer a real apology.
With a cup of hot coffee, Clarissa returned to her desk. The computer screen still glowed, waiting. The data that needed analysis still piled up. The impossible deadline still loomed.
But Clarissa didn’t despair. She felt... determined. A determination born from suffering, from regret, and from the desire to prove she deserved a second chance.
Even though she knew David might never grant that second chance.
Not to the girl who had once destroyed his heart so brutally.
But Clarissa would keep fighting. Because now she understood—this was no longer about work or career. This was about redemption. About becoming a better version of who she used to be.
About proving that people could change.
Even when those they had hurt refused to forgive.
10 PM.
Clarissa immersed herself once again in numbers and charts. On the upper floor, the CEO’s office light still burned.
Two people who once knew each other, now working in the same building with an unbridgeable distance between them. One seeking justice, the other seeking redemption.
And as the night deepened, it carried both of them further into a spiral of conflict with no end in sight.
- Writer
