Chapter 14: Chapter 14
ANGELIQUE SLOAN’s POV
It’s been a few days since I’ve last seen Greyson. I seriously did everything that I could just to avoid getting in contact with him. We weren’t even having any sort of communication online since I lost my phone. Since the days that we haven’t been together, I haven’t eaten anything.
“Damn, I never imagined that living my life alone would be this difficult for me to get by,” I mumbled to myself as I tortured myself by staring at the people inside the restaurant who were cheerfully eating.
“Aren’t you that imbecile woman who called herself as Greyson’s secretary and even gave me the documents of Greyson?” a familiar lady’s voice asked from the other side.
I turned to face her and wasn’t surprised to see the lady from the seventh floor of that building. “Did Greyson tell you to come and search for me? If he did, then kindly tell him that I have no plan to return to where he is,” I said instead of answering her question in a polite way.
She raised her brow in confusion. “Excuse me? I haven’t even seen that man for a while now. He’s most probably thinking of disposing of me now since he already found someone else.” The tone of her voice changed.
Even though she looked like she doesn’t care, she sounded like she would be in pain if Greyson actually decides to leave her behind and replace her. As far as I know, I was supposed to take over her job, which is why I was starting to feel guilty for her.
“Can’t you just work under Greyson even though there’s someone else who’s going to take over your spot? Like, apply for a different position. In that case, you can still be with him,” I offered a suggestion.
The woman didn’t lend her hand to me, instead, she instantly pulled me to assist me in standing up since I was crouching on the streets just a few seconds ago. “Your manners kind of remind me of someone I used to be close with,” she mumbled to herself as she rubbed the edge of her shirt. “Greyson isn’t that kind of person to give second chances to whoever it is,” she said to decline my offer. “He dislikes people who are unprofessional and anyone who would degrade someone else while he’s around.”
Back then, Greyson has been the type to forgive anyone as long as they would sincerely apologize. Based on everything that she said, it was as if the Greyson that I knew back then, and the Greyson that she knew before and up until now are totally different.
“If that’s your perspective, then there’s nothing more than I can do about it. May I ask for your name? It’s awkward for us to continue talking without knowing each other.”
“You can simply call me Airi, the girl who manages Greyson’s business matters or whatever you call it.” She smiled as she introduced herself shortly. “If what you said back then was true, that you’re Greyson’s secretary — then, I want to apologize and congratulate you for your position,” she sincerely said with a short bow of her head.
I continuously waved my hands in front of her. “There’s nothing for you to say sorry for, Airi,” I hurriedly said as I held onto her shoulders to make her look at me. “I’m Angelique. I have only recently started to work under him, but how do I say this…” I hesitated whether I should tell her about what I witnessed and also the emotion that I felt while watching him do those vulgar things or not.
“You’re getting uncomfortable at the corner as you watch Greyson flirting with other women? You want to make him your own? You want to make him fall in love with you?” Airi consecutively questioned, which all hit bullseye, making me bite my lip as I turned silent. "I'm correct, aren't I?" she followed up with a faint sigh.
Airi held both of my hands and gently squeezed it, as if she was about to send me her deepest sympathy. "Don't tell me that you've gone through the same scenario already? Did the two of you also agree on the same thing and signed a contract as well?" I asked out of curiosity. I was actually hoping that she would tell me otherwise.
"Yes. It was a contract for marriage to be more precise," Airi answered.
At that point, I knew that I could no longer trust Greyson. He must've been tired of Airi, which explains why he chose to play with me this time around and make use of the video he filmed to blackmail me until he's also exhausted of me.
"At first, I was really hesitant to accept Greyson's offer because of the danger it could bring me and the women that I'll exploit. However, the money that he pays me every single day was too high for me to even consider my feelings," Airi firsthandedly explained how they started. "I was an orphan. No matter how hard I try to search for a job that suits me, there were always qualifications that were required which I couldn't reach. Approximately five to six years ago, I stumbled upon Greyson and maybe he realized that he can use my despair as his weapon… since he was there by the moment that I got rejected while I was applying for a service crew assistant.”
Airi was starting to get a bit teary eyed, so I walked ahead of her to let her be free of expressing herself without getting too much exposure. “Don’t worry, everything that you’d say to me would be kept as a secret. I don’t have the hobby of spreading anyone’s story, knowing that y’all entrusted me with it,” I assured her so that she would not think twice in telling me her point of view.
“Believe it or not, it was like I was being hypnotized because I seriously didn’t blink for the whole hour of our discussion. Greyson instantly made an offer based on my situation, he even told me that he would be the god that would lift me up from my sufferings and he would also be the one who would fill in the holes that I’ve lacked since birth. He believes that money would suffice me to obey each and every order that he’d command, and he wasn’t mistaken.” Airi’s voice faltered and I could sense how she was suppressing herself from wailing like a child. “Greyson forced me to be his seductress in public — I was literally chained, from my neck to his wrist, as if I’m his pet.”