Chapter 4
The annual party venue was lavish and sparkling, every corner radiating opulence.
But I was the biggest joke of the night.
Vanessa totally set me up, telling me the annual party needed some creative performance and that I absolutely had to wear a giant mascot suit.
So there I was, lumbering around in a clunky brown bear costume, handing out candy to my coworkers in the stifling, overheated hall.
Sweat was dripping down my face and pooling around my neck, itching like hell.
"Hey, why isn't the bear moving? Slacking off, huh?" one of my coworkers said.
Vanessa just stood there with her champagne, watching. Suddenly, she kicked me hard in the calf with her stiletto heel.
I grunted, almost dropping to my knees.
"Take off the headpiece," Kevin said from the stage, his voice booming through the microphone.
I pulled off the heavy headpiece, my hair soaked and sticking to my cheeks, looking like a total wreck.
Underneath the costume, I was just wearing a plain T-shirt and jeans, totally out of place among all the people dressed to the nines.
The crowd burst out laughing.
"Ha. Now we see your true colors," someone said.
"Dressed like a total bum, and you think you deserve to be at the annual party?" another person said.
Kevin, looking all flushed and proud, said, "And now, we've got some great news. Thanks to Vanessa's outstanding contributions, the company has decided to promote her to Vice President."
The applause was thunderous.
Vanessa strutted up to the stage, looking as smug as a rooster that just won a fight.
Suddenly, Kevin switched gears and pointed right at me in the crowd.
Kevin called out, "Charlotte, since you're the newbie, get up here and give Ms. Warren your congratulations.
"Ms. Warren's fancy heels got a little scuffed just now, so come up and clean them for her. Consider that your way of making it up to her."
Everyone started egging me on, chanting, "Clean her shoes. Clean her shoes."
I just stood there, frozen.
Kevin's face turned cold. He said, "Security. Get her up here. Are you refusing? Think you can just stand there? I'll make sure you never get another job in this business."
Two burly security guards rushed over, grabbed my shoulders from both sides, and dragged me up to the stage.
They shoved my knees down hard against the floor.
Vanessa lounged in her chair, smug as ever, and stretched out her leg, flaunting her red-soled stiletto right in front of my face.
Vanessa said, "Consider yourself lucky, Charlotte. There are plenty of people who wish they could be grounded before me, but they don't even get the chance."
The humiliation burned through me like fire.
But I didn't fight back.
The security guards had me pinned down, my knees barely hovering above the floor.
Vanessa's stiletto was so close, I could almost feel it brushing my nose.
"What, still got some backbone?" Kevin said from the side.
Just then, a thunderous crash echoed through the hall.
The heavy wooden doors of the ballroom were violently slammed open from the outside.
Two rows of bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses flooded in like a tidal wave, instantly taking control of the entire room.
A commanding voice, brimming with thunderous rage, exploded at the entrance.
Someone said, "Let's see who dares to lay a finger on my daughter."
Backlit by the glow, an old man made his way toward us, leaning on a dragon-headed cane.
A crowd of business heavyweights trailed behind him.
That was my father, Richard Linley, chairman of Linley Holdings and the wealthiest man in the city.
The hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Kevin's cocky grin froze on his face.
Of course, Kevin recognized Richard right away.
Richard was the kind of mogul whose face was always splashed across the front page of the financial news, the business shark who ruled this city.