Legitime

The sky was dark, and the only thing that illuminated the Deveraux Estate was the lightning. Beatrice hated lightning so much, especially when it was accompanied by loud thunder. "Beatrice, please!" However, there was something louder than the thunder in this gloomy weather. "Let's talk! Let me explain..." It was the plea of Niklaus, her husband, or, as what her father liked to call it: the useless son-in-law. Beatrice sobbed as she watched her husband through the floor-length window of her room. No. She would not listen to what he wanted to say. She was sure everything that came out of his mouth was a lie. She wouldn't fall for his trap ever again. Beatrice picked up her phone, dialing the security office in her home. "I want Niklaus Bandbridge out of the estate right now." Her voice was cold as she said this over the phone. The security guards acted instantly. They went near Niklaus. Surprisingly, Anton, the name of Beatrice's father, was also there. Anton used his crutch to hit Niklaus all over the body. "You are a good-for-nothing son-in-law! Leave my daughter alone!" Niklaus didn't fight back. He let Beatrice's father and the rain hit him. What was the point of fighting when he lost the person he'd spent so long and hard fighting for? Niklaus accepted the hits as he reminisced the events that happened that led to this or that time when Beatrice messed up and ran into him to ask for help. It went like this: "Is red better?" Beatrice asked the lady assisting her, but her eyes were focused on the mirror in front of her. She was so engrossed in checking what the shoes looked like on her feet that the sales lady felt like Beatrice didn't really care about her opinion. "Or white?" Beatrice asked another question, eyes still glued to her feet. She was wearing two different colors of Christian Louboutin heels: her left foot was sporting the red shoe while her right foot looked good with the white version of the heels. "I think the white one suits you best, Madame..." The assistant said, smiling at Beatrice. The latter snorted, though. "White suits me, I know, but..." Beatrice pouted. "I like the red color better, so I'll take this." She kicked off the white pair, asking another assistant to help her wear the other pair of red shoes. The second assistant crouched down, squeezing the heels of Beatrice's right foot. "Ouch!" She hissed at the assistant when she felt a little discomfort in her foot. "I'm sorry..." The assistant bit her lip, apologizing upon realizing that she had hurt Beatrice, one of their regular customers. The assistant knew she couldn't make a mistake. A rich girl like Beatrice was a brat. She could get fired if this mentioned brat got pissed off. "Whatever! I don't want to fit these shoes anymore!" Beatrice rolled her eyes and kicked the shoes off her feet. The assistants' faces turned pale, her heart beating erratically. Was this their end? Would Beatrice lash out and get them fired? "I'll just take both colors, and oh!" Beatrice pointed at the array display of heels. "I'll take all of those as well. You know my size, right?" "Yes, Madame!" The first assistant beamed, amazed that Beatrice's mood wasn't ruined. Wow. That was close. She knew that she and the second assistant could lose their job with a snap of Beatrice's fingers. It had happened before. Marie, a store assistant who used to work at this store, got kicked out because she joked about Beatrice having big feet. The latter didn't find the joke amusing, so she told the manager to fire Marie. The manager couldn't do anything. If she refused Beatrice's command, she'd get fired as well. Cases like this seemed unfair; people would even say that Marie should sue Beatrice as well as the management where she worked for unfair treatment. Yes, her joke was uncalled for, but firing her was too much. However, that's precisely the problem: people who weren't in power couldn't go against people who were in power. The former would be guaranteed to lose, notwithstanding if they were in the right. In this case, Beatrice was the person in power. She was a Deveraux. She came from a family of lawyers and judges. As a matter of fact, her parents currently run the most prominent law firm in their country. Their company offered all kinds of law services, but their main focus was litigation. Deveraux Law Firm's revenue reached up to 4.16 billion dollars annually—this was the reason why no one could stand against Beatrice and her family. In the world where they lived, money was the most important of all. You could literally have everything you wanted if you had money. Beatrice usually bought the silence of people, making them like robots, just simply following what she wanted. It didn't help that her family was spoiling her. Beatrice was an only child, making her the sole heir of her parents. She knew she was secure for the rest of her life--this was why she chose a different career path. She took a degree related to art since she found joy in painting and sculpting. Her parents didn't approve of her choice, so Beatrice decided to annoy them more. Her plan was to build an art museum before, but she wasn't doing anything to make this dream of hers come true. She realized her parents would never appreciate her talent, so it was better if she would not do anything at all. She didn't want to pour her heart into something only to be scoffed at. Beatrice's heart was full of hatred, causing her to do things that would drive her parents crazy. Her plan now was to do the opposite of what her parents expected her to do. She would not study the law, she would continue to spend her money on her caprices, and she would just play around, screwing boys and never taking them seriously. She would never give any chance to those men her parents wanted her to meet and maybe date. She would not marry anyone. She didn't need a man to make her feel validated. She didn't need a man who would be the cause of her parents' joy. She knew it. Her parents wanted a son; too bad what was given to them by the Gods was a girl. Guess she was bound to piss off her parents from the very start, huh? "Thank you for shopping with us, Ms. Deveraux!" The manager grinned, escorting Beatrice towards the exit. Beatrice's bodyguards were carrying her shopping bags. She spent a whopping twenty-three thousand dollars in this store. She gave the manager and the two assistants a thousand dollars each as tips. "We hope to see you again soon!" "Oh, you will," the corner of Beatrice's mouth turned up. She also raised her brow. "But only after you fire her," she pointed at the assistant who hurt her foot a short while ago. The manager's face turned white, lips trembling. She was put in a position she didn't like again. "We'll do, Madame..." The manager said this because she didn't really have a choice. "Good. See you soon, then." With a final smirk, Beatrice left the shop, ignoring the loud cry of the assistant who just got fired and had a family to feed.