65
There were a lot of women in the marketing department. And as they say, if women were to gather together, if they don’t talk about themselves, they’d naturally talk about other people. That small theory had been proven right today.
What had happened in the morning spread throughout the entire company in just a mere few hours. By the time they were having their lunch break, Shadow was already the center of attention. She’d feel eyes following her direction everywhere she went.
Her face was still swollen from the slap, but she continued to keep her head high. Halfway to the bathroom, she could hear a bunch of her female colleagues discussing their opinions as to what really happened.
“What’s going on? I heard that only one woman applied for a leave today. There wasn’t any man!” One of them whispered.
“Isn’t it obvious?” One of them arched up an eyebrow. “Jessica and Dawson must’ve worked together to set Shadow up! Why else would there be this mysterious male colleague that suddenly disappeared? Ugh, the nerve of them!”
“But she’s just been here for a few days! How could she offend Manager Black?”
“Everyone knows what kind of bastard he is, feeling up the women whenever he gets the chance. If I know any better, I’d say this little matter had been addressed by Shadow herself! That’s why he had gone to the hospital.” The colleague gritted her teeth in disgust.
“Could she really be that ruthless?”
“What are you saying? If anyone’s ruthless here, it’s Jessica ,” the other intercepted. “Have you seen the slap? I could hear it a mile away! They’re sisters or stepsisters, but still! How could she beat her own family so mercilessly?”
Shadow leaned against the wall, not bothering to say a word. It was only when they had left did she step into the washroom.
Standing in front of the wash basin, she gazed at the mirror.
Her reflection was awful. While the left side of her cheek was pale and pristine, her right cheek was dark blue. It looked like it had been painted on given the large splotches that danced across her skin. Her fingers slid down her cheek, and she looked scary.
Jessica really hit her hard.
It was even worse than the time Jessica had slapped her back at the Eden Castle . Jessica must’ve really wanted vengeance this time if she really thought of damaging her reputation just to get back at her. Shadow slowly drew her hand away.
“Wait and see. Let’s see who gets the last laugh.”
While it was still lunch break, Shadow went out to eat. This time, no one invited her for lunch, far too busy gossiping about her and staring at her from afar, but she couldn’t care any less. After all, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to socialize.
Just as she had gone out, her phone in her pocket rang out.
It was “Alpha Dominic “.
Why he was calling her? She frowned and picked up. “What’s the matter?”
“Let’s eat together,” Alpha Kilian responded, sounding as if he didn’t hear the impatience laced around her tone. “I’ll wait for you at the entrance of Eden Group.”
He didn’t even wait for her to reply before he hung up the phone.
Shadow gazed at her screen, tugging her hair in annoyance. “Great, just great,” she murmured to herself as she sighed. Seeing as she had no other choice, she grabbed her phone and went out of the office. “Just what the day asked for.”
After exiting the Eden Group’s entrance, she immediately spotted the black Bentley by the side of the road. In the morning, when she had gotten off that car, she secretly checked that model on the internet.
The starting price was about ten million dollars! And that was the base price! It’s still dependent as to the owner’s customization, and by the looks of it, “Alpha Dominic ” really spared no cent in beautifying his vehicle.
That was just too grand.
If Jessica wanted to buy a car worth ten million, Jason would’ve refused. That was how expensive and unreasonable it was!All content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
There were already a few of her colleagues discussing Alpha Dominic ‘s car. Not wanting to garner any more attention, Shadow ducked her head and moved towards the car’s direction. Hopefully, nobody would notice her like this.
Just then, another car came by the road. She had planned to wait for the car to pass, only to see it stop right in front of her.
The driver stepped out of the car and opened the door to the back seat. Out came Lisa .
A long time ago, Shadow tricked Lisa into the restaurant and she didn’t show up. Since then, they hadn’t seen each other.
“Take two thermal food boxes.” Lisa instructed the driver. Looking up, she immediately caught sight of Shadow .
She frowned and was completely shocked. She looked at Shadow in disbelief and asked uncertainly, “Are you Shadow ?”
The corners of Shadow ‘s lips inched upwards, but her eyes still remained cold. Her voice was filled with mockery as she spoke. “Do you think I’m Shadow ?”
They had lived under the same roof for more than twenty years, yet her own biological mother couldn’t even recognize her! Was her make-up really that good?
Lisa only noticed how Shadow ‘s looks had changed, but ignored the swollenness of her cheeks.
It was unknown whether it was Shadow ‘s or Lisa ‘s sorrow.
“You had plastic surgery? Was that the reason you didn’t come when I called you last time?” Lisa approached and looked at Shadow carefully.
This time, the smile on Shadow ‘s face had faded completely. Bitterness appeared across her face as she glared at Lisa . “I looked like this ever since I was young. But you’ve always said that I shouldn’t be prettier than Jessica . So the older I grew, the uglier I made sure I look.”
“How is this possible? You’ve been so ugly all these years…” Lisa repeatedly shook her head. How could Shadow have pretended to be so ugly for so many years? All under her watch?
Shadow gazed at Lisa steadily and said in a voice filled with sorrow, “I wanted to be a good daughter. I wanted to make you happy, so I had been doing it all my life ever since I was young. Because that had always been what I did. Whatever you want… I’ll always oblige.”
Now, the old woman was at a loss for words.
Now, looking back, Lisa remembered how obedient her daughter has been all these years and how beautiful she was. Her grades had also been brilliant. Yet after she had scolded her, saying that she shouldn’t be better than her older sister, her grades became worse. And her complexion became dark yellow. Back then, Lisa had thought that the fates were listening to her… unaware that her daughter was doing it all willingly.
“You’ve done that to yourself. You can’t blame me!” Lisa said defensively.
Shadow blinked for a while, stunned by her response. After all these years of abusing her position, she was going to deny everything she did? Her eyes turned red as she looked at Lisa . “Mom, am I really your biological daughter?”
“You…”
“Let’s go and eat.”
A male voice interrupted Lisa ‘s words abruptly. When Shadow looked up, she saw that “Alpha Dominic ” had already appeared at her side. Had he been there this entire time?
He was tall and muscled that he had to lower his head when he looked at her.
Her bright eyes were bloodshot as she gazed up at him. Those beautiful eyes that once held so much flame and happiness had now filled with tears and dullness as the same pair of eyes he had seen when she first arrived at his home. She looked pitiful.
As soon as he saw the side of her face, he could feel the air being pulled out from his throat. His eyes darkened completely, and the vein under his forehead stood in attention. However, within a few seconds, he concealed to his indifferent self and expressionlessly pulled her away.
Huh? Lisa stared up at him, surprised. Wasn’t he Alpha Dominic ? Why would he pick her up?
Could they be together?
Thinking of what had happened back at the car, the older woman interceded, “Wait!”
The two of them turned around in response, and Lisa continued, “Shadow , I brought a lot of food for your father and sister. Do you want to join in?”
Just as Shadow was about to refuse, Alpha Kilian replied, “Sure, I haven’t eaten yet.”
But… She had only prepared food for three people. Lisa fidgeted. However, even if she wanted to say otherwise, she knew that “Alpha Dominic ” was still Alpha Kilian ‘s cousin. Although he may not have been the Young Master of the Lances family, it wouldn’t bode well for her to offend him.
Shadow also furrowed her eyebrows in response and looked up at him in confusion, nudging him subtly with her elbow slightly.
The man didn’t say another word in response. Instead, he tightened his grip on her forearm and shot her a calming look, a stark contrast from his usual cold gaze.
As soon as Shadow met with his gaze, she could feel her nerves untangling and her shoulders relaxing. It was a weird feeling. Not saying anything more, she stood quietly beside him.
Lisa had been a full-time housewife. Other than spending money on her appearance to please the Eden family, she was also knowledgeable as to how to handle difficult guests. Knowing that “Alpha Dominic ” wasn’t the type of man to be neglected, she shot her driver a look. Immediately, the man went up to inform his boss.
Jason came down very quickly, and Jessica soon followed.
As “Alpha Dominic ” was here, Jessica ‘s face had been caked with thick make up. Although she still looked beautiful, everything about her features seemed forced and fake, especially as she gazed up at him.
She was watching him as if she was staring at the most expensive bag at the store.
Noticing this, Shadow stood in front of “Alpha Dominic “, wanting to block Jessica ‘s line of sight.