Chapter 5 You'd Better Not Infuriate Him

The weather was particularly cold this evening.

Despite the cold, Valerie walked all the way home.

By the time she got home, her feet were blistered.

She took off her clothes and went into the bathroom.

She stood under the shower for a while and just let the warm water rain down on her. It was a long time before she turned it off and started scrubbing her skin with the loofah.

She wanted to remove every single feel of that disgusting man on her body.

Her face was stoic the whole time, as though her feelings had been numbed. She looked in the mirror with her bloodshot eyes and saw the red mark on her neck. Then all of a sudden, she burst into tears.

Why the hell was she crying now?

"Loser!" she shouted into the mirror.

Angry at herself for being so weak, she raised her hand and slapped herself hard one time...

Then for the second time.

Her face was so red, but at least now, the tears had stopped.

After wiping her tears, Valerie finished with her bath and went back into her room. By the time she was done drying her hair, she was much calmer.

That bastard called Brent! She knew that he wasn't one to play with. If she met him again, she wouldn't be as lucky as she was today.

Also, she couldn't set a trap for Ivanna. Granted, Ivanna was annoying as fuck, but Valerie wouldn't stoop so low as to do something so nasty.

After considering all these, the best thing to do, was to resign. She would leave Roseiron and take her mother to a small city where they would be happy.

Thankfully, Edwin had been quite generous throughout the years. In just the time she had worked for him, she had gotten two houses under her name and one or two million.

Just the thought of this made her feel better. At least, she wouldn't be in the streets.

Having made up her mind, she discarded her towel and sent in her resignation to the Human Resource department.

Once the computer screen showed 'sent', her shoulders sagged in relief as if she just got rid of a huge weight. However, that pleased feeling didn't last for long. She soon started feeling very empty.

With a groan, Valerie leaned against the back of the chair and covered her eyes. She only hoped she wasn't making a mistake.

Exhausted from everything that happened today, she curled up like a ball on the sofa and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, when Valerie's alarm clock rang like it usually did, she turned it off without thinking. It wasn't as though she still had a job to get to.

Valerie's phone kept ringing. She ignored it each time, but it started all over again. With a loud groan, she looked at the time and saw that it was noon.

She fumbled for her phone with her eyes half closed and answered without even looking at the caller ID.

"Yes."

"Miss Reese, this is Grayson."

The sleep seemed to wipe off from Valerie's eyes. "Yes?"

"Mr. Layfield is in the hospital. You need to get here now."

"Hospital?" Valerie furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not going."

Taken aback by her short firm words, Grayson Torres, Edwin's assistant, paused for a second and said encouragingly, "Miss Reese, you know how Mr. Layfield is. You don't have to take what happened yesterday seriously. I believe you know the consequences of his wrath."

When Valerie didn't say anything, Grayson added in a softer tone, "Don't forget that he can easily take back the two houses that are under your name."

Valerie gritted her teeth and clenched the phone in her fist.

After getting nothing from her end, Grayson continued, "And your mother? I'm sure the cost in the sanatorium isn't very low, right?"

That got her. Trying to control her anger, Valerie said, "Send me the details."

"Right away," Grayson answered and hung up as though he hadn't just threatened her.

Annoyed, Valerie stood up and got ready.

She took her precious time. After all, she wasn't very curious to know how Edwin was doing. In the taxi, she cursed Edwin with all the curse words that possibly existed.

In fact, she wished that he was really sick, and that it hurt a lot.

In the hospital, Grayson sent her a message, asking her to go to the third floor and meet Edwin in the second examination room on the left.

Valerie followed the directions to the letter, and found herself in the gynecology department.

Surely, there was a mix-up somewhere. However, she still knocked on the door just to be certain.

"Hello?"

The female doctor in the room raised her head and looked over at Valerie coldly. "Are you Miss Reese?"

"Uh... Yes?" This was getting more confusing.

"Please lie on the bed while I get things ready, I'll be with you shortly."

Valerie stood frozen in place, her mind totally blank. What the hell was going on?