Chapter 7 Seven

It was already late when Anya was able to go home. She was so tired that she was immediately knocked down on the bed without even changing her clothes. She slept for what it seemed like a moment when she heard her alarm already rang. She groggily went up and prepared for another day.

Sigh.

When she was done tidying herself, she hurried to grab breakfast and went to the hospital. She wasn’t able to go last night as she promised and only called her Grandma in apology. Her Grandma understands and even hurried her to take a rest. So now she needs to bring her a sumptuous breakfast. Anya also added some fresh fruits to their meal and then went on her way to the hospital.

When she arrived, it was still early, and her Nana just woke up. Anya helped her up and prepared their breakfast. Grandma was delighted with the meal and ate happily with her beloved granddaughter. After eating the two chatted for a little bit.

“How’s work, dear?” Nana asked as she held her granddaughter’s hand. Remembering her work, Anya tried her best to maintain her smile.

“Work’s great, Nana. Don’t worry about me and focus in recuperating, alright?” she assured her Grandma.

“Don’t overwork yourself. You’re still young, you should be enjoying life! When I was your age..” Nana continued with the story of her life when she was a foolish girl. Anya had heard this a couple of times already, but she didn’t get tired of it. Because this was the life she never had.

When she was young, she lost her parents early and only had her Nana. Her Nana was not young anymore, so she tried to help her in the best way she could. Growing up faster in the process. But she didn’t despise or regret anything in her life. Everything she had and experienced molded her into the person she is today.

After a moment of chitchatting, Anya glanced at the time and saw that time was no longer early. So, she bid her goodbyes to her Nana and went off to work. Because of yesterday’s fiasco, she made sure she wouldn’t be late today.

When she got to the office, she went straight to her table. She started arranging her things when she heard a voice calling out to her.

“Hey, dear cousin,” Anna’s voice rang from behind. Anya turned back to see her cousin dressed daringly and approaching her.

“Anna? Why are you dressed like that?” She rebuked her cousin as she saw her inappropriate attire for work.

“Hm? Is there a dress code here? I did not know you were the boss here, cousin?” Anna raised an eyebrow, clearly mocking her. Anya clenched her hand and instantly knew that her cousin had already heard of the rumor about her relationship with her husband.

“It’s not that, I just think it’s not appropriate for your first day at work,” Anya said calmly.

Anna smiled haughtily. “Oh, don’t worry, Anya. The people here are so kind. Especially the boss..” There was a meaning behind her words. Anya knitted her eyebrows as she stared at her cousin’s countenance, which had a hint of schadenfreude.

“What do you mean?” Anya also found it weird how easily her cousin was accepted. Usually, it takes a few days for the company to respond to an application, and with her cousin’s resume, it shouldn’t be any less. But here she is now, parading in front of her.

“Oh nothing, I’ll get to work now, cousin, toodles~” Anna teased deliberately and waved her goodbye. Anya doesn’t have a good feeling about any of these.

Anya stared at the never-ending documents assigned to her. She had a brooding feeling that this was not normal anymore. It was also at that moment when there was a notification on her account. It was payday today. She sighed. As long as there is pay, then she would bare this heavy workload.

She casually checked her pay, and when she saw the amount, she frowned. Why was there no overtime pay? Aside from yesterday, she had been working overtime for a couple of days. This was not right. Maybe there was a mistake. She got up and headed to the HR department.

“Excuse me, Ma’am. I have a concern regarding my pay.” She greeted the head. The woman sitting behind the desk only gave her a single glance.

“Continue,” she answered while she continued typing on her computer. Anya pursed her lips but still continued.

“I saw that I was not provided with overtime pay when I worked overtime for a couple of days. It could be seen in the company’s logbook. You could check it and see,” Anya explained as she placed her paycheck that she had printed out before going here.

The woman only glanced at that piece of paper and said,

“That is what the higher-ups provided and issued,” she answered while her eyes still focused on her screen.

“But-“ Before Anya could continue, the woman cut her off.

“I said that was the higher-up's decision. If you want, you could write a complaint about it in the employee’s section and wait a few days for a response.” The head said, completely dismissing her.

There was another employee behind who stepped forward, so Anya could only swallow the rest of her words and went to the employee section with a sour face. While she was leaving, something caught her eye.

It was an announcement of the next plan for next month’s operation. When she stopped and read it out, she knew it very much that she could even say what’s the next line of every section.

Because it was her proposal plan. The manager was there facilitating the work, and Anya paid no heed as she made her way toward the manager.

“Excuse me, Ma’am. I did not know that the next month’s plan was already decided. And I was not notified that my proposal was chosen,” Anya said with a heavy voice. This day was already so full of lemon that she did not pay any mind to her tone anymore.

The manager was talking to someone, and when she heard Anya, she frowned and motioned the other to be on hold.

“Pardon, Ms. Anya?” She asked as if she didn’t have any idea what Anya was talking about. Anya clenched her fist tightly and tried her best to calm down.

“I said, it is my proposal you are hanging there,” She said, with a voice like the calm before the storm.

The manager glanced at the bulletin board, and her eyes went back to Anya.

“Oh, that proposal is from the higher-up. Your proposal had a lot of errors and it was modified meticulously to productivity,” She answered.

“What do you mean modified? I could enumerate every word from that proposal even with my eyes closed because it was made by me!” Anya had already slightly raised her voice. She is almost losing it.

“Did you not hear me, Anya? I said it came from the higher-up.” The manager retorted back with a heavy voice.

“Who is this higher-up? Is this Andrei?” Anya spitted out the name with a scoff.

“Such disrespect. Is that how you talk about our company’s CEO?”

With just that, Anya already had the answer. So, it was her oh-so-capable husband. From her pay and now to this. She felt her blood surging to her head. Anger and rage filled her heart.

Anya did not answer the manager and turned her back on her as she marched to Andrei’s office. Her every step carried force as she stomped towards his office. When she arrived, before she could open the door, she heard moans and gasps ringing from the room.

Ha. Great.

The rage in her heart became cold. So cold that all the feelings and respect for this man were gone. This bastard and his shitty company, they could all fuck off!

She swung the door open and saw an expected scene. But despite Anya believing that she could never be shocked anymore, she still froze when she saw the woman who was on top of her husband.

It was no other than her very own cousin.

That unscrupulous and wanton cousin. But she did not expect she would betray her own blood.

Anya once again needed to remind and knock on herself. What does she still expect? This world was full of cruelty, betrayal, and people who could hurt her no matter who they were.

When will she learn that people will always have a dark side to them? That this was not a fairytale, and her man was not a prince? And this world was full of deceit, injustice, and lies.

When the two noticed her presence, they still had the decency to stop and face her.

“Oh, seems like my wife lost her way in here?” Andrei's cold words rang in the room as he straightened in his seat and put the woman aside in his arms.

“What do you want?” He added as he stared at Anya with dark eyes.

All the things Anya wanted to say suddenly changed into one:

“I want to resign. I’ll hand in my resignation this instant.” She said coldly. Andrei's façade suddenly flinched as he heard her words. When he saw she was about to turn her back, his words rang.

“And where do you think you’re going? Do you think you could survive outside the Davis?” He said with a hint of mock in his voice.

When Anya heard this, she faced them once again and said with her voice as cold as ice.

“Oh? Well, there wouldn’t be any worse than this company, actually.” She turned her gaze to her wanton cousin.

“And you, I knew from the start you were a loose woman. But I didn’t know you would even forsake your own blood. Consider our relationship ends here.” She said, dropping those words with disdain.

“Hmp! You’re one to talk. All these times, you made Grandma think you have such a sweet relationship with your dear husband. Turns out you were just a clown. I wonder how Grandma would react.” Anna said with her flirty and coquettish voice, her hands running down Andrei’s chest.

Anya, who was walking with her back to them, stopped in her tracks. She absolutely knew this fiend would use this against her.

“So be it,” Anya’s final words as she completely walked out of the office.

Being a forsaken woman or even her Nana knowing,

She’s no longer afraid.

Damon slammed the report on his desk as he leaned back on his swivel chair. There was anger and danger in his eyes as he read the report of Anya Davis’ life for the past two years. He didn’t know why he was so angry for a woman he hardly knew, but whenever he remembered her bright blue eyes, he had the urge to protect her.

No one bullies my child’s mother.

“I didn’t know that the head of the Davis Group of companies was a foolish man.” He said darkly as he loosened his tie.

“Boss, there is new intel. Mrs. Anya resigned from the company.” Damon halted when he heard the news. He immediately sent out his orders.

“Arrange for a job for her in the company. Make it done as soon as possible. And also make arrangements to reach Ms. Anya,” Damon immediately decided and made it happen immediately.

A notification popped out of his computer. It was a video call request. When he saw the caller, he immediately accepted the call.

“Dada!” A toddler greeted cutely on the screen. Damon's expression softened as he stared at his two-year-old son.

“Son,” He greeted with a gentle voice. His son answered with broken words as he waved behavedly at his father, acting like a big boy.

As Damon stared at his son’s blue eyes, he suddenly thought about what it would be like when he meet his mother.

A vision of two faces, one big and one small, staring at him with their bright blue eyes popped out of his mind. Without him knowing, his heart swelled.