When Scarlett's high school sweetheart of four years kicks her to the curb, he turns her world upside down. He is also the heir of Anderson Corporations, her employer. Homeless, jobless and broken, Scarlett picks up the pieces of her shattered life...
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{Content Warning: Mild Violence}
How do you do it? How do you get rid of the sinking feeling in your gut? Even in the early morning, I felt the adrenaline coursing through my veins. My body still in fight or flight mode long after the suspense had died. My thoughts never ceased. They went up, down and around like the metal ball in a pinball machine. From one end of the spectrum to the other, only stopping when I glanced at my sister to make sure she was breathing.
Even with my eyes heavy, body weak and restless, my mind persisted, refusing my attempts to succumb to the darkness. Instead, it allowed Cain's words to slither into my mind like a snake, poisoning them with his venom. His cruel utterance hit home, haunting me through the dark of the night because they were true.
I was a damaged, apathetic girl.
I must not have sold the façade of the happy trophy girlfriend well if a man like Cain saw right through me. Shame, in capital bold letters, is what I felt. Embarrassed that I thought I had hidden that to the world. Who else saw through me, at Anderson Corporation? Cindy from HR? Blake my office friend who always brought me coffee?
I felt exposed. They probably thought of me as Thomas's frail charity case it was no wonder why they never looked me in the face. Would they think the same for Elias? I can only imagine what they'll say.
Poor damaged girl, Mother's dead, Fathers useless, she has no family other than her sister. Not to mention the possessive ex-boyfriend set on her destruction. What does a man of Elias's caliber see in a woman like her? He needs a refined woman, polished less messy.
The whispers never stopped, they were constant, following my every move at Anderson. I discarded them thinking it was petty hatred for being Thomas's girlfriend. But if the real cause was pity, it sickened me. There was nothing worse than that. Why did I even care? I would never see those people again. What people thought of me at Anderson or at Castellano Enterprises should be the least of my concerns. I had told off Cain. Stupidly forgetting in the heated moment who the man on the other side of the phone was. With an ego larger than Saturn's rings, he would make sure to teach me a lesson. He always did.
The false bravado I had exhibited last night faded into the air rendering me defenseless not equipped in any way to go battle. I wondered if the universe was testing me. Leering in a dark corner anticipating if I would crack under pressure. It was moments like these that could make or break me. I could either stand tall or cower in defeat. Staring at the white ceiling tiles, one thing was certain. I didn't want to be that girl I used to be.
Sure, maybe I would always be emotionally scarred damaged goods. I can't erase my troubled past or the havoc it caused on my soul but that didn't mean I couldn't be happy. When I saw Isabella, it put things into perspective setting fire within. I would no longer be complacent. I wouldn't let moments pass me by, I would bask in them. I wanted to experience life, the vibrancy and the grimness of it all because experiencing meant you were alive.
