Chapter 10

When Victoria walked in, the whole office got tense, like even the sunlight dimmed a bit.

William was rocking a sharp dark suit, his tall frame looking all kinds of perfect. His face was like it was carved from stone, with those intense eyebrows and eyes that screamed authority. He saw Victoria and frowned a little.

"Well, Victoria, you look like crap. What were you up to last night? Something shady, maybe?" Ella sneered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

She tilted her chin up and gave Victoria a once-over, like she was looking at something gross. The other folks in the office looked awkward, quickly burying their heads in their work, not wanting to get involved.

Some whispered among themselves, grumbling about Ella, but no one dared to stand up for Victoria. After all, Ella was William's fiancée, and no one wanted to risk their job. The air in the office felt like it was freezing, making everyone uncomfortable.

Victoria frowned but tried to ignore Ella's nonsense.

But Ella wasn't done. "What? You think you're special? You're just using your looks to get ahead."

Her words were like daggers, each one aimed at Victoria.

Ella strutted over, lifted Victoria's chin with a painted nail, and sneered, "Look at you. Do you really think you can climb the ladder?"

Victoria was used to Ella's jabs and stayed calm. She took a deep breath and said, "Ms. Garcia, I'm just doing my job."

"Yeah, right. Everyone knows you're trying to impress William," Ella scoffed, crossing her arms. "Now, go sort all the project files for this quarter. Reclassify them like I said, and I want them on my desk by the end of the day. Screw it up, and you're in big trouble."

She dumped a huge stack of files on the floor, way more than one person could handle in a day.

Victoria didn't flinch, just starting picking them up, ready to get to work. But she was feeling worse, dizzy and barely able to stand. Still, she straightened up, not showing any weakness.

The office was so quiet that only the sound of pages turning and Victoria's somewhat heavy breathing could be heard.

Ella yelled, "Hurry up. If you mess up William's work, you're done." Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard, making everyone wince.

Ella watched Victoria, feeling smug. She was here to see if Victoria knew she was behind that incident. If Victoria knew, she'd have to shut her up for good.

Ella thought, 'That idiot has no clue. William still cares about me.'

After a while, Victoria felt so bad she went to the restroom. In a stall, she heard some colleagues talking.

"Victoria, isn't she just a high school grad? Everyone here has a master's or Ph.D., even the receptionist went to a top school, but Victoria acts like she's somebody," a sharp voice said.

Another woman chimed in, "Totally. I heard she's just a nobody who sleeps her way up. Look at her, she must've done something shady to get her job."

"Yeah, she must be sleeping with Mr. Scott. Why else would he make her his secretary? She's probably easy, anyone could have her," a rough voice added nastily.

The first woman spoke again, "She deserves everything Ella throws at her. Trying to seduce someone's fiancé? She should be shamed."

Victoria listened to their cruel words with a blank face, her fists clenched so tight her nails dug into her palms, but she didn't feel the pain.

She couldn't wrap her head around how these women, her peers, could be so vicious. She fought to keep her emotions in check, reminding herself not to let their words get to her. They didn't know her, and their opinions didn't matter.

Once they left, Victoria stepped out of the stall and fixed herself up at the sink. But then, a wave of nausea hit her, and she covered her mouth, trying hard not to throw up.

The discomfort made her face even paler, sweat dotting her forehead. She leaned on the sink, taking a moment to stop the retching.

She slowly lifted her head, looking at her pale, hollow-eyed reflection in the mirror, feeling a wave of disgust.

She wiped the mirror clean with a tissue, then took out her makeup bag to touch up her face, trying to look a bit better. She reminded herself she couldn't give up. Alvin was still waiting for her to save him. Nora and Bobby might not like her, but she had to support Bobby through college and help cure Nora's illness.

As for herself? Victoria smiled bitterly, it didn't matter.

After fixing herself up, Victoria walked out of the restroom and got back to the tasks Ella had given her. But no matter what she did, Ella always found something to criticize and kept making things hard for her.

"What kind of organization is this? It's a mess. Do it again and check every file carefully. There can't be any mistakes," Ella said harshly.

Just then, William walked over and glanced at Victoria indifferently, ignoring Ella's harassment.

Seeing Victoria on the verge of collapse, Harry couldn't take it anymore. He went over to support her and asked, "Are you okay?"

Ella immediately mocked, "Wow, you're good at seducing, huh? Even got William's driver in such a short time."

William heard this and his expression darkened. He gave Victoria a cold look and then told Harry to go run an errand.

Victoria ignored Ella's taunts and focused on her work. Even though Victoria didn't finish college, she had always been a top student. She majored in art, but her grades were on par with the best students.

Even after dropping out, she kept taking college courses whenever she could, in accounting, management andanything that could help her at work. That's why she became William's secretary so quickly, not because she was his lover or got special treatment.

So in just one morning, she organized the materials perfectly, leaving Ella, who was trying to make things hard for her, with nothing to criticize.

But Ella wasn't about to give up. After lunch, she started nitpicking again.

Ella said, "Go make me a cup of hand-brewed coffee and get my afternoon tea ready."

Victoria did as she was told, trying her best to get every detail right, hoping to satisfy Ella. But Ella was never going to be satisfied.