Leah's POV
The meeting room was filled with the hum of voices as people filtered out, chattering amongst themselves about their summer houses in Switzerland and the coming auctions, complimenting each other on their new trophy wives, yachts, and cigars.
As I walked out of the meeting room, accompanied by Gean, I felt a sense of exhilaration wash over her. I had just given a presentation that had gone flawlessly, and all the audience, except Ava, had responded with a thunderous round of applause. Probably I was still under the influence of Leo's magic potion, I didn't know. Anyway, it was a feeling that I had never experienced before, and it was one that I would treasure for a long time to come.
My mind was buzzing with the possibilities of what lay ahead, and I could feel my heart beating with excitement. I had worked on the Mediland Project so hard to prepare for this day, and all my efforts had paid off in the best possible way.
As I made my way toward the elevator, I caught sight of her reflection in a nearby mirror. My eyes widened in surprise as I saw the joy and happiness that radiated from my face.
It had been years since I saw such a dazzling smile on my face. I couldn't help but smile even wider, feeling a sense of satisfaction that was hard to put into words.
My cheeks were flushed with excitement, and my lips curved into a wide smile that illuminated her face.
I looked beautiful, with cascading waves of chestnut hair that framed my oval-shaped face, and piercing green eyes that shone like emeralds in the light. They were sparkling with an inner radiance that seemed to outshine the fluorescent lights above. My complexion was creamy and smooth, like porcelain, and I carried myself with an air of confidence that came naturally to me.
For a moment, I stood there, taking it all in, basking in the glow of my success. And as I walked into the elevator, I knew my new life as an independent businesswoman was lying ahead of me. I was ready to face it head-on, with the same confidence and grace that had brought me this far.
Just before the elevator doors fully shut, a hand grabbed the frame and stopped them from closing.
As the doors opened again with alerting chimes, Ava walked in.
"Excuse me, Miss Dinara," Gean tried to block her out. "This is a private elevator reserved for the Vice President of this company."
"Which is a position that still hasn't yet been filled. Being a high-rank employee and a board member who's been working for this company for 8 years, I have a better reason for using this elevator than Miss Lewyn," Ava leered at Gean and said.
"Gean, it's OK. Let Miss Dinara ride with us," I said in a determined voice.
I knew I couldn't just run away from all kinds of confrontations. I gotta do what I have gotta do to overcome challenges in my quest of pursuing independence and success, which included occasionally handling an oracle-citing bitch.
Gean sighed silently and let Ava walk into the elevator.
The door closed and the elevator started to climb up.
Ava broke the awkward silence by releasing all of her anger on me -
"Maybe you think that I came here to apologize for what happened during the board meeting, but no. That's not why I came here to talk to you. I would like you to know that you have no qualifications or rights to be the VP of this company. This isn't like playing house when you are four, or decorating your living room with wallpaper. This is a gazillion-dollar business, which requires expertise in finance and..."
"Miss Dinara, I understand that you have lots of questions regarding my qualifications and expertise," I said in a calm voice.
"Everybody has the same questions!" Ava raised her voice with her eyes wide open. She seemed to be offended by my reserved reaction.
"But they didn't ask. Care to venture a guess why?" I asked.
"Because they are a bunch of useless old losers who don't have the balls to confront you in front of Lucian!" Ava flapped her hand agitatedly on the elevator wall.
Gean instinctively pulled me behind him.
"I know that Lucian took you to the Derby Party as his plus-one the other day. It must have taken you, an omega, a heck of an effort to persuade a Lycan Prince to take you to a high-end party. It seems that you keep showing up at places that you aren't supposed to be and taking stuff that you aren't supposed to take. But I'm telling you, your dark magic spell doesn't work for me, because I am a woman and I know all your dirty tricks. You're nothing but a social climber to me. Don't you dare to think that you can fool everyone and jeopardize other people's careers by being a whore in this company? It doesn't work like that. I've met a lot of girls who are just like you in this business world. As soon as those men are done with you, you'll lose everything."
The elevator door opened and I walked out with Gean following me.
"Thanks for your warning, Miss Dinara," I said without looking back.
From the reflection on the glass wall, I could see that Ava wanted to walk out of the elevator as well, but she was stopped by the Royal Guards standing at the sides of the door.
She looked shocked. She must have never thought that Lucian would assign the Royal Guards to my office.
"Stay out of the way, let me in! I haven't finished yet!" she shouted, trying to push the Royal Guards away.
"Miss Dinara, may I remind you that defying the Royal Guards is considered to be defying the Lycan King," Gean said in a low, polite voice.
"You fucking male whore! Low-bred rogue! Shut the fuck up and disappear from my face!" Ava barked in Gean's direction.
I couldn't hold it anymore. I turned back and said, "Miss Dinara, I think there's some serious misunderstanding here."
"What?!" She stared at me with a triumphal smile on her face, as if she thought that I would apologize to her.
I said in a steady voice, "I allowed you to ride with me in the elevator, but I didn't give you any authorization to get into my office. Also, if you treat any employee in this company with that insulting, diminishing attitude of yours ever again, I will have you fired immediately. And one more thing. Put your paws off the Royal Guards right now or they'll arrest you for defying the Lycan King."
Ava retracted her hands immediately from the Royal Guards, but she still looked resentful.
She hissed, "Have me fired?! You've got no right to fire me!"
"Gean, could you please do me a favor to turn on the news channel? Just to let her see who has just been assigned as the Vice President of this company," I said.
"With pleasure, Miss Lewyn," Gean said and switched on the giant TV screen on the wall.
My picture appeared on the screen, along with a breaking news bar writing "Leah Lewyn nominated as the new vice president of UniHeal".
The look on Ava's face. Let's just say it was priceless.
She opened her mouth and closed it as if she was chewing the bitterness of her own disappointment.
Then, she stared at me with resentment and said, "Miss Lewyn, congratulations on your new nomination. But as far as I'm concerned, you got rejected by your ex-mate but you haven't divorced your husband from your previous marriage. How do you think Lucian would react if he knew about it?"
Blackmailing me by using my divorce? Is this the best you can do, Ava Dinara?
"I don't know what he would do." I sat comfortably in my chair, flickering the petals of peonies on my table. "Why don't you tell him yourself and let's just see what happens."