"So...what are you planning on doing with it?" Riley asked after a few minutes, sitting on the chair across her.
"Give it to back to Vincent." Lillian said, still touching the small diamonds with the tip of her finger. It was safely kept, that much she could say.
"What? Keep it." Issac said, as if the thought of giving it back was ridiculous.
This surprised Riley, she thought he'd be the first to think it was a good idea but nevertheless Riley agreed. Vincent gave it to her- though she never received it, it was her's.
"It's his."
"That necklace is worth more the some people's life savings. If you ever run short of cash, you can just sell it." Issac shrugged his shoulders and sat beside Lillian as he explained making Riley look at him comically.
He had a point though.
She could give it back to Vincent but Issac didn't think it would affect him even a little bit, so she might as well keep it and make use of it.
"Lillian, it's yours. Nancy just never gave it to you." Riley explained succinctly as she passed a sympathetic look.
"It's my 16th birthday gift." Lillian said, resting her chin on her hand.
Riley's mouth formed into an 'oh' after hearing that.
Nancy probably stole everything after she left.
"Wait, if you had it then why didn't you take it with you when Vincent kicked you out?" Issac asked, confused.
Riley internally winced when she heard the reason Lillian came to live with them.
He kicked Lillian out, I can't have any feelings towards him. Riley chastised herself.
"I had no use for it." Speaking of, she still had to return the money she took from the debit card Vincent gave her.
She didn't even know why she bothered taking it knowing she won't use it, and she was right. She didn't touch a dime from that amount, leaving it to rot away in the bank.
"Well then make some use for it, cuz you- my sister- are gonna become a millionaire." Riley sang getting off the chair, feeling proud of her actions earlier that day.
Lillian looked blankly at her while Issac raised his eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate.
"You didn't think I'd let just let her theft slide just like that now, did you?" Riley asked amused, with a grin, leaning forward- using her forearm for support- so she was directly infront of her sister's face.
"Give that to Vincent too." Lillian said, earning the siblings' incredulous look.
"You're crazy. Independent, but crazy." Issac said shaking his head, emphasizing on crazy.
"I know right." Riley agreed giving her sister a funny look, not believing what she just heard.
"By the way, did you know that Stephenie was Nancy's daughter?" Riley asked as if she still couldn't believe it.
Riley could now understand why Stephenie hated the rich. She totally learnt it from her mother. They both held a deep grudge against the rich.
"Stephenie? That obnoxious girl that tried to pick a fight with you?" Issac asked to which Lillian nodded.
She didn't expect them to be related, so it came as a surprise for her too.
"Again? She has nothing better to do." Riley said disgusted, her upper lip twitching in irritation, to which Issac vehemently nodded his head.
~~~
The door to Lillian's office slammed open as an angry Stephenie marched inside her office, seething in anger.
Lillian barely acknowledged her presence as she went through a file she was holding in her hand, flipping through the pages as her eyes skimmed through the paper.
"YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO DO THAT." Stephenie yelled at her, pointing her index finger at her.
Lillian closed the file and placed it on top of the table. Getting a vague idea of what happened.
Riley explained to Lillian briefly that Stephenie was Nancy's daughter the previous day and how she ordered Nancy to sell her house and pay Lillian back.
She watched Stephenie go on a rant on how unfair it was. That what happened was in the past and that Lillian shouldn't be holding grudges, to let bygones be bygones.
That Nancy had taken good care of her for so many years and she shouldn't be making an old woman's life miserable especially when she knew that no one would hire her because of her age.
Seeing that her words didn't provoke a reaction Stephenie was hoping for, she took the ink bottle that was on the desk and poured it all over Lillian.
Lillian let her rant, turning a deaf ear to everything she said and wasn't expecting her to pour ink at her.
Lillian immediately straightened her back as she felt the cold ink against her skin and closed her eyes shut.
An emotion so strong she'd bang Stephenie head against the table so hard she'd fracture her skull coursed through her but the strength of the emotion weakened just as quickly as it came.
"Speechless?" Stephenie asked with a smirk.
Lillian felt the liquid dripping and stick to her skin. She breathed to her nostrils, keeping her mouth shut so it won't enter her mouth.
She slightly opened her eyes, after the ink dried, and looked at her palm.
Blue.
Everything was blue.
Her palm and her lap were covered in ink. Her jeans dripped, coloring the floor blue.
Disgust. She managed to identify one of the emotions she felt.
She breathed harshly, closing her eyes to calm herself and grinding her teeth.
'Calm down.' One of the characters she created in her head told her in a soft squeaky voice.
'She poured ink all over me.' She thought to herself through gritted teeth.
'If you hit her, you will get suspended if not fired. Do you really want to risk your career over this?' The character rationalized with her.
She took a breathe more calmly this time.
True. It isn't worth it.
She isn't worth it.
She thought to herself slumping against the chair.
"What the hell is going on here?" A familiar voice yelled out, looking at the scene in front of him before throwing daggers through his eyes at the girl that jolted at his voice.
"She ruined my life." Stephenie accused, pointing at Lillian before giving her a hateful glare.
Lillian opened her eyes and looked at Stephenie and Issac standing at the door with his fist clenched, a vein popping out of his forehead.
"Get out of here." He snarled at her.
Stephenie looked dumbfounded at Issac, surprised. Wondering is he actually said it.
"GET THE FUCK OUT." He yelled at her, making the other girl scramble out of the room in a hurry without looking back.
"Are you alright?" Issac asked worriedly, moving towards Lillian- who hasn't spoken a word.
"Let's get you cleaned up." He then said after not getting any response from her.
She looked zoomed out and her body was relaxed.
He thought she just had a hard time processing what just happened and was trying to deal with her internal emotions.
He held her shoulder and guided her to the bathroom attached to her office.
"Would you be OK? Do you need some help?"
Worry was evident in his eyes and voice as he guided her in front of the basin.
He let out a sigh of relief as he saw her bend down to wash her face.
Issac then went to find the manager to give him a piece of his mind and get Stephenie fired.
Lillian looked at the mirror in front of her, looking at the side of her face fully covered with ink.
She wanted to punch the mirror til only fragments of the glass remained
She bent down and took some water in her hand. Looking intently at the water that has now turned blue, she squeezed some liquid soap onto her hand and rubbed her hands.
She repeated the process several times and only stopped when her palm returned to it's normal color.
~~~
MEANWHILE
"We only hire mature and reasonable employees, who would not take part in such childish actions." The manager m said in a thick British accent.
"So, are you saying I am lying? Issac raised his eyebrow, finding the situation amusingly exasperating.
"I'm sure that's not the case. A misinterpretation of the situation perhaps?" He offered in a dignified tone, giving no room for arguments. Making it clear that he didn't belive Issac's story.
Issac looked at him for a few seconds and moved towards the door.
"Fine then, I will sue her, you and this firm." Issac concluded, shrugging his shoulders.
That caught the manager's attention.
"Wait. How about I call Ms. Woodman to come explain herself to you. And if, if she is in the wrong I will suspend her." He stopped Issac from opening the door with his offer.
Issac rolled his eyes, pushing down the door handle and opening the door.
"I will fire her and give her severance pay to your girlfriend as monetary compensation for the trauma she had to endure." This time the manager had an hint of desperation in his voice.
"You got yourself a deal." Issac said, turning to look at his manager with a wide smile.
"Ms. Stephenie Woodman, would you mind explaining to this young man what happened back in Ms. Black's office." The manager said, standing beside her cubicle.
Stephenie who was angry at everything wasn't expecting her manager to call her, she lifted her head to see the young man- who yelled at her, less than 10 minutes- stand beside her superior.
She felt scared looking at his cold, smug face that screamed at her 'you messed with the wrong person'.
She stood up, placing her hand on the table for support as her knees shook.
"She ruined my life." She accused but her words came out as a whisper, as if she knew she was in trouble. It didn't matter what the reason was, she was in trouble because she messed with a rich man's daughter.
"Did you pour ink all over Ms. Black?" The manager asked, coming straight to the point and considering the Lillian he knew, he highly doubted it was possible.
He had rarely seen her come out of her office or even interact with anyone much less ruin a person's life. And considering Stephanie's attitude towards Lillian since the beginning, he had no doubt Stephenie was lying.
"Yes." She muttered under her breath, too ashamed to look up. At the smug smile she didn't doubt the other man was wearing after seeing her humiliated in front of everyone.
She could see people whispering from the corner of her eyes and squeezed her eyes shut.
"I'm sorry to say this but, you're fired. You will NOT be entitled to a severance pay and your final pay check will be delivered to you via mail. Kindly empty your space by the end of the day, if not it will be thrown out tomorrow."
She heard her manager speak and trembled in anger.
How was this fair? Lillian ruined her life, and she was being punished because she refused to be a victim. How was this fair in any way?
She thought to herself, grinding her teeth in anger.
Issac who witnessed this was not satisfied. A simple termination just won't do.
_________
Author's note
Extremely sorry I'm not sure whether I'd be able to update tomorrow as I'm busy studying for my exams. 😓😓