"Sit your arse down and tell us everything," Leo says as I come into the office. I laugh and take a seat at my desk. He rolls his chair over and sits down, staring at me.

I sigh. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," he replies.

I raise an eyebrow and start logging on to my computer.

"Well," I begin, "the other night when I stayed late, Mr Kaiser came in. He thought I was secretly working on the confidential documents he gave me and Zoe which, obviously, I wasn't."

"What were the documents?" he interrupts. I pause and look at him.

"I'm just testing you," he says, laughing as he holds up his hands.

"Anyway, he offered me a lift home once I was done."

Leo gasps and grabs my arm. "And you didn't think to tell me?" he hisses.

"It wasn't that big of a deal," I reply, giggling.

"Not that big of a deal? Are you serious Ivy?"

"Shhhh," I say and slap his hands away, "or I won't tell you anything in the future."

"I'm sorry," he laughs and leans back in his chair, shaking his head. "So, what was yesterday about? Why did he bring you a drink?"

I shrug. "Because he's nice and knows I worked hard," I say casually.

"Hmmmm," Leo says and narrows his eyes at me.

"What?" I ask.

"You're not giving me much to work with here, Ivy."

"Because I'm not allowed to tell you most of what happened," I explain and slap him lightly. "Now, go to your desk, we have work to do."

"Fine," he says and stands. Just as he does so, the office doors open. A man walks in. Leo pauses and gulps.

The man smiles cockily as he looks at everyone. His teeth are a little too white behind his tight lips. Something about his face freaks me out. He looks to be in his late forties, but his skin lacks any sort of fault or wrinkles. It almost looks too tight and artificial. His blue, three-piece suit, looks expensive, and it fits his tall, slim frame perfectly.

"Who is that?" I whisper as he walks past.

"Serena's father," Leo replies, clenching his jaw.

"Oh," I gulp, my heart rate spiking.

He looks around the room as though we are beneath him. It makes my blood boil and I ball my hands into tight fists.

"Fuck," I mutter to myself and look away as his eyes fall on me.

"Poor Zoe," Leo sighs.

"Mmm," I hum in agreement.

The man disappears into Zoe's office without even knocking.

"What an arse," I mutter.

"Now you can see where a certain someone gets it from," Leo laughs.

Talking about a certain someone, the sound of her clicking heels tells us she's arrived without anyone needing to look at the door. I close my eyes and groan, leaning my head on my arms.

"I'd best get back to my desk. Good luck with your day," Leo sighs and pats me on the back.

"Thanks," I muffle.

I force myself to sit up and pay attention to my work. As I look through the documents for my latest assignment, I struggle to comprehend what is before me. All I can think about is what is being discussed by Zoe and Serena's father.

Nerves gnaw in the pits of my stomach, making it flutter and churn. I pick at my nails and bite at my lip.

What if he's trying to get me fired?

No, he doesn't have that sort of power, right?

"Morning, Ivy." Serena's voice is sickly sweet. I force on a smile and look at her.

"Good morning, Serena," I reply.

"I don't think things got off to the right start between us," she begins and leans against my desk. I frown, confused.

"Well, that was through no fault of my own," I say.

"I think we can both agree that we are both in the wrong here," she snaps back.

I shake my head. "What have I done to offend you then?" I ask.

She puts on a fake smile and pats my hand patronisingly. "It's in the past. My father is here to sort everything out. You'll see."

"Okay," I reply. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Ah, here he is now."

The door opens and we all turn, watching as he walks out, grinning widely. My heart sinks as he walks toward me.

"You must be Ivy Astor," he says and holds out his hand. I stand up and reluctantly take it, forcing a polite smile onto my face.

"Yes, sir," I say and look at Zoe who is standing at the entrance to her office, her eyes boring into the back of this man's head.

Her expression tells me this isn't about to be good and I mentally prepare myself for whatever he's about to say.

"I've heard you've been working closely with Mr Kaiser, is that correct?"

"He asked for my help once, but it isn't a regular occurrence," I reply, keeping my voice calm.

His smile tightens as he hides his frustration at my response.

"Well, from now on, you aren't to work on private projects with Mr Kaiser," he tells me.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" I ask.

"Oh, my apologies. I am Samuel Dalmore, Secretary of Realm Intelligence."

"Okay," I reply, "and what is your position in the Ministry of Defence?"

He lets out a small breath and tries to maintain his fake smile.

"Miss Astor," he begins, "I work very closely with the ministry."

"But you don't work for this organisation."

"No," he says through gritted teeth.

"Then what authority do you have to demand how this department is run?" I ask.

"He has none," Zoe says from the door. "Please leave, Mr Dalmore."

He ignores her and looks into my eyes. "Miss Astor, I am not asking, I am telling. Your relationship with Mr Kaiser is unprofessional and goes against the policies of this department. I am here to give you a friendly warning before any of the higher-ups find out about this. In fact, I may have to have a talk with them myself. I am not sure this attitude of yours makes you a good fit for this type of work."

I grit my teeth and take in a small breath. Rage pulses through me, making me feel hot and flustered.

It takes all my strength to bite my tongue and not answer back further. I've already pushed him enough. Unfortunately for me, this arsehole has power and connections. If I push back further, he really could see to it that I, just another measly entry-level analyst, could lose my job. That can't happen.

I feel physically sick as I open my mouth to reply. The words I need to say are heavy on my tongue.

"Thank you for the warning. I'll refrain from working with Mr Kaiser in the future," I reply. He claps his hands together and grins.

"Excellent, I'm glad we could get that sorted. What was it he had you doing, anyway?" he asks.

"That's confidential," I reply. His face falls slightly.

"And I have clearance."

"I'm sorry, I signed a confidentiality agreement that states I'm only allowed to discuss what I'm working on with Mr Kaiser himself."

The way his face sours slightly brings me a small slither of satisfaction in this otherwise shitty situation. Plus, I know why he was asking. I'm sure if I told him it was to translate, Serena would be signed straight up into intensive lessons in Athainian.

"Well, it was great to meet you, Miss Astor. Though another word of advice, I suggest next time you use your intellect to work your way up in this company. No one respects a girl who works her way up through... well, we both know what you're doing."

The blood drains from my face and my eyes widen. He smiles widely, turns, and saunters out of the room. Meanwhile, everyone is staring at me.

My lips tremble and I bite at them to stop myself from bursting into tears.

"I'm glad that could be sorted," Serena says, smirking. "Isn't it good to have the air cleared and all of that out in the open?" she asks and laughs. Before I can say anything, she turns on her heels and walks over to her friends, who are holding in their giggles.

My eyes sting with tears as I see everyone looking at me, some with disgust, and others with pity.

I sit down in my chair slowly, feeling my cheeks burning with embarrassment. I struggle to wrap my head around what happened. How was that even allowed to happen? How can a politician from another department just waltz in here, give me orders, and then harass me in front of my colleagues? Yet, no one stepped in to stop it. Not even Zoe. No one will come to my rescue either.

The tears spill before I can do anything to stop them. I stare blankly at my desk, holding my head in my hands.

"Are you okay, Ivy?" Mia asks.

"Yes, I'm fine," I say, wiping my eyes quickly.

"I hate to say it, but I warned you," she sighs and takes a seat next to me.

I nod my head, gulping back a lump that had formed in my throat. "You did," I agree. "Who brings their daddy to fight their battles for them?" I say, trying to make a joke out of it. Mia forces out a laugh.

"It's pathetic," she says, "but that's how it works. Her dad is good friends with the Minister of Defence, who is our ultimate boss."

Mr Salt's face pops into my mind and I nearly throw up.

"Maybe you should head to the toilets and get yourself freshened up," Mia suggests.

"Yeah, good idea," I say and stand, picking up my bag.

Unfortunately, the way to the toilets requires me to walk past Serena and her pathetic little friends. They giggle at me as I walk past.

"Isn't karma a wonderful thing?" Serena asks loud enough for me to hear as I walk past.

My hands ball into tight fists and hot anger surges through me. It takes all my strength not to storm over there and slam my fist into her face. No, not her face, I'd strike her liver and kidneys first for maximum pain. Then, I'd break her pretty little face into pieces. With her family's money, they'd probably be able to fix it, but not without lots of painful surgeries.

I throw the bathroom door open and slam the stall door shut. I sit down on the toilet seat with a huff. My hands shake with anger and more hot tears spill down my cheeks.

Shit like this happened all the time back at the academy. But this is different. It was expected among students, especially in such a competitive and high-stress environment. But this is different. This is work, my job. These people aren't other students, but my colleagues.

The humiliation I would usually be able to brush off now has me trembling with anger that I don't think I've ever felt before.

Closing my eyes, I take in long, slow, deep breaths. I need to calm down before I do something I regret or that would get me fired.

Still, I'm not sure I can go out there and face them again.

No, Rowan. You clean yourself up, and then you act like nothing happened. You remain professional and do not let them know that you were so affected by what happened.

I stand up and stretch my body. Then, I wipe my eyes. Luckily, my make-up isn't too ruined. It is an easy fix.

Once I'm done, I square my shoulders, let out a shaky breath, and then leave the bathroom.

I look ahead as I walk back into the office and ignore all the eyes on me. By the time I get to my desk, I feel strangely numb.

I know that everything I've achieved is through my own hard work. If they want to believe the rumours made up by Serena and pushed by her snotty politician father, then fine. I don't care what they think.

I smirk to myself. They can giggle and laugh as much as they want but that isn't going to stop me from destroying this realm.

If anything, it only motivates me further.

The more I rid this place of its arsehole, corrupt politicians, the better off they'll be.

I look around the room, still smirking to myself as they continue to whisper about me and giggle behind my back.

Keep laughing and enjoy it whilst you can. Because once I'm done with this realm, none of you will be laughing then.