1 Chapter One: Mrs. Sean De Marco
October 08, 2019
The Palace Mall and Hotel
The door of the ladies’ room swung open. Three uniformed employees of The Palace Mall and Hotel went after one another. The first one proceeded to the empty cubicle while the remaining two stood in front of the wide mirror.
“Is it true that the Vice President is scary, Ma’am Lira?” asked the youngest of the three. She was twenty-one and newly-hired.
“Do you think she’d have the moniker ‘Vice Devil’ from the ninety-nine percent of the employees of Palace and Mall for nothing, Joy?” the woman called ‘Ma’am Lira’ replied. She sighed in exasperation. “I don’t understand why the Vice President had to come here often. She should have stayed in London or in Mars and disappeared from our sight forever.”
“You know the reason, Lira. And that is to annoy, look down, and insult the employees of the Palace she was claiming as her own,” the woman in the cubicle said. “I bet she would once again display all the stuff she bought from London. She does not at all feel sorry for spending money while we employees were breaking our backs from hard work.” “You really don’t like her, do you? Why don’t you just admit it? Vice Devil was the only devil who looked good with Prada.”
Another loud smirk was heard inside the cubicle.
“I hate her guts. She’s annoying and bigheaded. Do you think, if I were as rich as her, Prada, LV, and other designer items won’t look good on me? She should be thankful I already have a family when Sir Sean was looking for a woman to marry.”
“Hey, even if you were single at that time, if you don’t know how to use black magic, the president would never find you attractive,” Lira teased. “So, the rumors about Sir Sean proposing for marriage were true?” Joy chimed in.
“Does it matter? After the wedding, Sir Sean flew out of the country, right away,” said Rose. She flushed the bowl. “If I know, as young as twenty-years-old, Vice Devil’s horns and tail were already sticking out. Thankfully, Sir Sean was not stupid to not notice.”
Lira turned to Joy. She was more than ready to tell the latter every single information she knew.
“This is what happened, Joy. According to the rumours, it was a marriage of convenience. Sir Sean married Vice Devil in exchange for the business contract with Mr. Jacob Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez is our CEO, by the way. And according to the rumours, Vice Devil agreed in exchange for a huge sum of money.”
“If that was the case, why did not Sir Sean annul their marriage? They’ve been enduring it for ten years already.”
“Uh-uh. Sir Sean had been asking for an annulment four years ago. But Vice Devil had been refusing. You know, she’d lost everything once she agrees.”
Joy nodded. “Is that so? Didn’t they come to like each other before they got married? I mean, weren’t any feelings involved? Vice was randomly chosen, and they got married just like that?”
“As far as I know, Vice Devil was part of the contract so Sir Sean did not have a choice. And about the feelings thing, I’m sure it was not on Sir Sean’s case. But on Vice Devil? I doubt.”
“Maybe that was the reason why she could not give in with the annulment. Because she was still in love with him,” Joy uttered. She put her lip gloss back inside her pouch.
A sarcastic smile was plastered on Rose's lips, who was finally out of the cubicle. She went straight to the lavatory and washed her hands.
"Love is not included in her vocabulary, Joy. All she ever knew is to boast and curse with her mouth. If you ask me, I believe that using someone at its finest is why, up until now, Vice Devil isn't signing the annulment papers. She’s smart and clever. So, I’m telling you, Joy, learn from the Vice Devil herself. If you want to be lucky in life, marry a board member or a company shareholder as big as The Palace. Hold him by the neck, and never agree on annulment no matter what happens.”
“I was there on their wedding day. I saw how Vice Devil’s eyes sparkled while gazing at Sir Sean. I am betting my experience as a supervisor for fifteen years if I’m wrong. Remember that, Rose, Joy. Vice was in love with Sir Sean, and she sure is until now.”
Rose and Joy glanced at each other.
Lira shook her head. “If love isn’t the reason, what else? Because of money? She already had that. Even if she stopped working, her money and assets were more than enough for her to live. She had no family. Maybe she was still hoping that Sir Sean would change his mind.”
“After all those years? It’s like wishing for pink petals to replace the embers in hell. She’s not just crazy, she’s delusional.”
The two senior employees laughed together.
The door from one of the cubicles opened and a woman who was holding a bunch of torn tissue paper came out. That woman left the pieces scattered on the floor and darted the three with her death glare.
“Are you done yet?”
The two suddenly stopped laughing. They all gazed at the reflection of the beautiful woman in the mirror. They all went still when they realized who the woman was. As if losing their strengths, everyone huddled to the counter of the lavatory.
“V-Vice Devil!”
The red-lipped woman smirked.
MORE THAN twenty staff from the Palace Mall and Hotel were whispering to one another while waiting for the emergency meeting inside Palace Hall A to start. They were all nervous and anxious. Everyone was preparing themselves for the arrival of someone any employee did not want to cross paths or even make eye contact with.
“She’s here; fix yourselves,” Miss Yumi warned sternly.
They all fell silent. Everyone glanced at the soundproof glass door where the ‘She” Miss Yumi referred to would appear.
A nervous draw of breaths was heard as the woman with overflowing beauty, self-confidence, and indestructible arrogance finally appeared. She was the unapologetic, sharp-tongued The Palace Mall and Hotel Vice President, Thera De Marco.
She actually stood five feet and four inches tall if she was not wearing her four-inched black Prada stilettos. She was wearing a Prada radzmire wool and silk dress. She paired it with her black Prada Saffiano leather shoulder bag, which she carelessly tossed to Laida, her personal assistant, who was following her long strides diligently. Thera's expensive accessories were sparkling, from her ears to her ring fingers. It was as if those costly items were made for her to wear, not just for anyone else.
“Good morning, Ma’am,” the staff greeted as Thera walked her way to the center of the room.
Thera faced the employees as she finally stood in the middle. She surveyed them with her eyes. She knew most of the faces, especially the three women from the marketing department who were up to the point of breaking their spines as they bowed.
“I supposed you already know that The Palace will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary in two months,” she began. She locked her fingers behind her.
No one answered. Their heads were all down.
Thera folded her hands across her chest. Her lips turned into a lopsided smile. “No one knew? How could you, guys? You all remembered the date when your ‘Boss’ left me, but none of you knows the anniversary of the company that feeds your family? Shame on you.”
Their gazes reverted to the three women who were biting their lips. Thera rolled her eyes. The news sure spread like fire. Everyone already knew who she was referring to. Thera sighed, still annoyed.
“The king is not in the palace yet, so the queen should take over, correct?” she continued. “I want you to proceed with the preparations for the upcoming anniversary party. Send me the proposals and prepare three or four so I could have something to choose from. Don’t send me the same shit you sent me like the previous years, oh, please. If we’re going to do all the thinking, what are we paying you for? Why should we waste our money on employees who have no use at all? If your brains are working, make it of use. If your dead from the neck up, don’t go wishing you could afford Prada and Louis Vitton.”
There was no response once again. The employees all remained silent. Thera walked between them. She stopped in front of the three bitches who got the nerve to ruin her day.
"I can see we have few newly hired employees," she said.
Joy lifted her gaze, only to look away in guilt when she met her sharp glare.
“I’m expecting you’ll teach newbies about the nature of this business and not how to catch heirs and rich businessmen out there. They will just fail I’m telling you. Because who among you actually know what spells, love potions, and black magic this devil did before to catch your big boss?”
YUMI closed the massive door of the Vice President's office as soon as Thera entered. She took her stilettos off with a frown and left them carelessly on the carpeted floor. Annoyed, she walked towards the long desk in the middle of the spacious room. She sat at her Vitra grand executive swivel chair and removed her big and heavy diamond earrings that almost tore her ears. She hastily opened the drawer with a pout and tossed the earrings inside.
“Slippers, Laida,” she ordered indignantly.
Laida retrieved her lion-designed indoor slippers inside the paper bag and handed them to her.
“Those poverty-stricken monsters haven't learned anything at all. They are still not contented with mocking me. Up until now, I'm still their favorite topic," Thera said, gritting her teeth as she put on her slippers.
“Big Boss! Ha! When it comes to Sean, he’s the big boss. There are courtesy and respect. While I who worked hard for this company is the devil? Fuck those ungrateful bitches’ mouths! They’re all stupid!” she added feverishly. She was talking to herself rather than the two women inside her office. “Well, anyway, why am I even surprised? They could not even trace their eyebrows right. How much more their mouths?”
After her litany, she turned to Yumi with a sharp look as if she was her enemy.
“Yumi, could you review those two crones’ background? Check if they really majored in Business Ad or in character assassinating. If you could find even the tiniest problem, make them suffer. Those disrespectful pieces of shit! They’re getting on my nerves! ”
Yumi nodded with a suppressed smile. “I’ll do that.”
Thera plopped herself on the swivel chair. She was still mad. And mumbling.
“I was expecting you to fire them this time, Thera. Especially that Rose. She had been saying too much behind your back. It was more than enough to deny her a recommendation. From what I’ve heard, she was your schoolmate from high school. Do you remember her?”
Thera straightened her back. She locked her fingers on top of her desk, her forehead furrowed. That was right. That Rose was her schoolmate before. Why did she even think of helping that garbage get into the company? She was obviously annoyed at her from the beginning. She saw her as a rival. Rose was dreaming of defeating her grades when she was actually cockroach-minded.
“Firing that bitch won’t stop her from hating me. It did not stop even after I hired her six years ago.” “So you decided to keep her, forgive her, just like how you let go of the employees who talked and attacked you behind your back?”
She lifted her gaze at Yumi. “Forgive her? I don’t even forgive someone who regrets and asks for sincere forgiveness, Yumi, you know that.”
Thera lost count of the employees who lost their jobs because of her for the past four years. She did not fire them, though. The weaklings willingly handed their resignation letters.
“What do you want me to do with them, then?” "Do what we usually do to employees who do not know how to scratch their itchy tongues. Rose and Lira, both of them. Until they decided to leave by their own will."
“And how about Joy Ericson?”
“Spare her,” she said quietly. “You saw her credentials a while ago. She isn’t that bad. Transfer her to your team if you want. Make her your assistant. Do what you want to do with her, it’s up to you. A fresh tomato should not be mixed with rotten ones. Right?"
“Right,” Yumi answered. “Laida?” she asked Laida.
“I agree too, Ma’am,” she replied.
Thera drew a breath. Somehow, she had calmed down a bit.
“But is it really necessary, Ma’am, to change and wear such grand outfits every time we come to the office?”
“You were in the restroom, too. You heard those foul-moutheds’ exact words. These are what they are all expecting to see—their she-devil boss boastfully wearing her Prada. Who am I to disappoint them?” Her expression turned grim. “They could not afford what I can buy, so I want to make them jealous.”
“Then, the more they will think that you really are spending Sir Sean’s money.”
“I don’t give a fucking damn. And I don’t want to hear that bastard’s name again, Laida,” she said in a warning tone.
Laida caught her mouth. “Sorry.”
She grimaced sharply. “Who cares about that jerk’s money? I have my own money that won't run out even if I spend it every day.” She calmed herself for the next moment. “We’ll stay for a few more hours. I’ll just rest my feet. Then we’ll proceed to my condo.”
