She turned around and saw Mr. Ducklings closing the door. She swallowed nervously.
"Please take a seat, Miss Stone." He said, pointing at the couch and headed towards the bar in the corner.
He was dressed in casual clothes, where she wore a decent jumpsuit. She sat on the couch and pulled out the designs she had made.
"These are the designs on the theme you gave me, sir." She said, placing the designs on the table.
"Oh.. I will take a look." He poured two glasses of wine and approached the table, extending one to her. He didn't even ask her preference before bringing the drink.
"No, thank you... I don't drink, sir."
"Oh. Okay."
To her surprise, he sat beside her instead of across from her. He picked up the papers from the table. In the process, his hand brushed against her leg. She instinctively shifted away.
He studied the designs for a moment.
"Excellent. These are good. I knew you could do it."
She smiled nervously.
He placed the designs back on the table and looked at her face. "So, Miss Stone. You are a very beautiful woman and have a perfect body as well. Have you ever thought about becoming a model?"
"Model?" She frowned. "No sir. I don't want to be a model. I want to be a fashion designer."
"Ah. I see. But with this beauty, you can easily become a model." He placed a finger under her chin.
She felt uncomfortable but was too overwhelmed to react.
"I like you, Miss Stone." He said in a tone filled with lust.
Her face paled as she looked at him and her heart pounded against her ribcage.
"And you can say this job is yours if you please me. You are such a gorgeous woman." He didn't wait to get to the point.
His finger trailed down towards her chest. Pushing away his hand, she stood up and stepped back.
"What do you mean?" Her throat went dry with fear.
"Oh, don't pretend to be innocent. I want you to sleep with me. That's it."
"What?"
"Yes, darling. I want to taste you." He walked towards her with lustful eyes.
Coral didn't need any more signs to know his true intention.
"Don't come near me. I'll never do such things. Stay away from me." She yelled with panic.
But Mr. Ducklings hurled himself at her and tried to kiss her.
"Don't act though... you bitch." He said with irritation.
Coral used all her strength and pushed him away. He fell against the wall. His head struck it, and blood flowed from the wound. She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Without wasting time, she grabbed her belongings and ran towards the door.
"You bitch! I'll destroy your career! You will not get a job in any company."
She heard him shouting behind her, but she didn't look back once as she opened the door and fled the room. She only stopped when she was out of the hotel and was hit by the heavy rain. Her heart was pounding and she was trembling. The rain didn't bother her as she began running again.
She stopped when she was a good distance away from the building. By then, she was completely drenched. She was breathing heavily and found it difficult to run further in the heavy rain. She spotted a bench and sat down on it. It took her a few seconds to calm herself, and then the realization hit what had just happened. Mr. Ducklings tried to force himself on her. He wanted her to sleep with him in exchange of the job. She burst into tears, both in terror and disbelief. He even threatened her to end her career. She covered her face with her hands.
'What had she done?'
But what else could she have done? She couldn't possibly sleep with that middle-aged, lustful, disgusting man. Even if he had been a young, handsome man, she would never sleep with him just to get the job. It felt as if her world had shattered again. She had left her home and studied hard to become a fashion designer. But she had never imagined she would face something like this. Her aunt's words echoed in her mind as she remembered the day she fought for her freedom for the first time in her life.
*((FLASHBACK))*
"I want to continue my study, Uncle." She said, fiddling with her hands nervously. It was the first time she had dared to voice her wish.
"Huh... you want to go to the city?.. no way...you are going nowhere." Her aunt replied sharply.
"But why not? Elvira had studied at the university as well."
"I know you are jealous of my daughter, but you can never be like her." Her aunt scoffed.
She shook her head. "I don't want to be like anyone, Aunt. I just want to follow my passion."
She had broken off her engagement with Phillip after discovering his betrayal. But to her dismay, the family had put the blame on her again, spreading a story that she had been unfaithful to Phillip. She didn't protest. She had realized it was pointless since they were all against her. Nothing would change. She had stopped her studies after getting engaged to Phillip, but now that the engagement had been broken, she wanted to pursue her career.
She had had enough of their bullying and control over her. From now on, she would make every decision in life by herself. But it wasn't easy when she had such poisonous people as a family.
"Passion? You already have so many scandals in this small village. God knows what you will do if you go to the city." Her Aunt stated.
"Please. I can leave this house if you want, but I'll continue my studies. That's my final decision." She said boldly, though her heart was pounding in her chest.
A heavy silence followed. Her aunt and uncle exchanged glances, then they began to whisper among themselves. She straightened in her seat, expressing her determination.
After a while, her uncle cleared his throat.
"Fine. We can allow you to go, but you have to sign the properties your mother left for you in our name."
"What? But those are mine!" She was utterly shocked.
How could they even ask for something like this?
"Then forget it." Her aunt declared, making her freeze.
She felt frustrated and helpless. Her eyes moistened.
"Okay." She said after a while, letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm ready to give up everything."
She couldn't live in that house with those people anymore. They would ruin her future. If by sacrificing some property she could get her freedom, then she would do it. It was risky, but she had no other choice.
*((END OF FLASHBACK))*
And just like that, she was left with nothing. Her uncle's family literally kicked her out of their house after getting their hands on the properties. Her aunt even warned her never to return to them if she was ever in trouble. And she was confident that Coral would get in trouble, as the world was far too cruel for someone like her to survive alone.
"They were right. The world is so cruel." She muttered.
She looked up at the sky as more tears streamed down her cheeks. "Why me, God?... why it's always me?"
.....
She had been traumatized after that incident. It shook her confidence so badly that she couldn't bring herself to attend another interview for weeks. When she finally gathered the courage and applied again, she didn't receive any call for interviews.
After a few tries she realized that the bastard had done what he had threatened, and no company would hire her as a fashion designer. She didn't know how he did this, but all her hopes were shattered. She broke down completely and her problems increased day by day.
She had brought some money with her when she left home. She was a scholarship student at the university, and worked part-time at a cafe. With the dorm to stay in, her four years passed smoothly. But now she had no money with her. So she had to rejoin the cafe to earn for her food and rent. She gave up on her dreams as survival had become more important. She still drew designs when she got bored, especially on weekends. She wasn't happy, but at least she was alive.
A few months passed like this.
On a weekend, she sat on the couch with her breakfast and turned on the news channel to catch up on the latest news. She took a bite of her burger and chewed it before taking a sip of juice.
"Businessman Phillip Martin got engaged to Elvira Stone last night in a grand celebration."
She froze when she heard the news.