Cassandra dropped me off at one of the company cafeterias to buy coffee and snacks. She had to deal with something urgent and promised to fetch me as soon as possible.
My ID still didn't have access to the higher levels or the CEO's elevator, so all I could do was wait.
I found a small table off the side of the cafeteria to settle in, whipping out my phone, I realized that too many things had happened overnight that I didn't even get the time to check it since I left Jason's house.
There were several missed calls and messages coming from Jason. There were so many messages that the notification read 99+.
I tapped open his messages and was shocked by what I saw, it opened to the first message and it wasn't what I was expecting.
'Please baby, come back, I'm sorry I said those things.'
'Lilitbeth come home, I didn't mean what I said, you're a blessing to me and my family.'
'Lilibeth I love you, you can't leave me.'
I was almost moved by his incessant messaging, but as scrolled further the tone of his messages changed.
'How could you leave me? Haven't we lived a good life together?'
'Lilibeth, am I not enough?'
'Why won't you answer my calls? What's more important than fixing our relationship?'
'Who was the asshole that picked you up Lilibeth?'
'Am I lacking so much Lilibeth?'
When I thought it couldn't get worse his messages got even more and more aggressive as it reached the end.
'I've always known you were a social climbing whore! I bet you've been fucking that rich-ass mother fucker for months now!'
I felt my heart break at the accusation, not because he called me a social climbing whore, but because I truly loved him.
I loved Jason Young so much that I gave up my comfortable life as the heir to Durfort Inc. just to marry him.
'You are so heartless! You used me and my family you cunt!'
'I hope you die in a fucking ditch bitch because that's all you deserve!'
I didn't want to read more, I couldn't.
My heart was breaking with every message I read, I couldn't reconcile the man I once loved and the man who was sending me these messages.
Where had we gone wrong? Where had I gone wrong?
I know it's bad, but I'm glad that I left when I did. I am Lilith Durfort and I deserve better than Jason Young.
I brushed a tear that managed to slip from the corner of my eye when I felt someone hovering near me.
Turning to my side, I was surprised to find a man standing by my table.
"You okay miss?" he asked.
I tried my best to smile, which probably came off as a grimace because he looked even more worried after that.
"I'm fine," I said, trying to dispel his worry and to send him his way. I wanted to be alone right now and I didn't have the energy to deal with a flirtatious stranger.
"You don't look fine, miss, you new here?" he asked as he sat down on the seat next to me.
I took a deep breath and nodded.
I should take this as a blessing rather than as an inconvenience. It was the perfect distraction as well as the best way to get to know our employees.
"I started today," I admitted to him.
"Welcome to Durfort Inc., where the pay is good, the benefits are better, but the management is shi—"
"Dave!" his friend cut him off before he could say something about the management, aka my family.
"What?" he asked, throwing the middle finger up.
"Are you really brainwashing a new hire?" his friend asked, shaking his head. Clearly it wasn't the first time that Dave had said something against the management.
"Look, she's a new employee, she should know what she's getting into," he shrugged.
"Okay, you have my attention, what am I getting into?" I prodded. I wasn't dumb enough to let an opportunity like this slip by.
"Dave," his friend said in a low voice, warning him to be quiet.
Dave gave his friend a wink before turning his attention back to me.
"All I'll say is that the top layers are corrupt, especially those at the highest level," he pointed out.
"This isn't the government," I chuckled. "Businesses are built to line personal pockets, only a fool would think otherwise."
"Oh I know that sweetheart," I cringed at the use of the nickname.
"We don't know each other well enough for you to call me that," I said, glaring at him.
"We could be," he tried to be seductive, but it only made me feel like vomiting.
How could I find him attractive in any way when I was engaged to one of the most handsome men in the country? He was playing a losing game before he even approached me.
"Not interested," I told him as I stood up and moved away.
I'd spotted Cassandra arrive and I didn't want to spend another second around Dave. I don't know if it was because of what he had said about my family or if it was because he tried to hit on me.
"Just be careful about the management, they are leeches," he said with a wink before standing up and walking away leaving his friend behind.
His friend rolled his eyes and studied me for a second.
"Don't mind him," Dave's friend said. "He thinks that the Durforts are dirty and the people that work for them are dirtier."
I raised an eyebrow and he simply shrugged, turning around and walking away.
As I walked to meet with Cassandra, I couldn't help but wonder what Dave's friend meant.
"New friends?" Cassandra asked as she eyed the two men I had been talking to.
"They just walked up to me," I answered.
"I hope they didn't scare you into quitting," Cassandra teased me.
"No," I chuckled.
"Good, cause Mr. Durfort is done with his meetings and wants to meet you," she said with a smile as we walked to the CEO's elevator.
I don't know why, but I glanced back just to see if Dave and his friend were watching.
Luckily, they weren't.