The following morning.

After freshening up, Zaria changed into a business outfit: a gray dress and a pair of high heels. Her makeup was simple and she had worn a simple necklace with a small ornament. After having a quick, light breakfast, she made her way to ACPD Media Group.

If this was before, she would have berated herself for overestimating her abilities. ACPD Media Group was the second most prominent news agency in the country. Even as a former executive employee of F&P Media, she might not qualify as a regular journalist at one of the nation's giants. However, her reputation had soared since she had been an EA at Preston and Fort Group—Albeit for a few days. That man wasn't completely useless after all.

…

ACPD Media Group.

Zaria made her way to the fifteenth floor, where the interviews were supposedly being held and went to the reception.

"Are you here for the interview?" A woman who looked slightly older than her asked. When Zaria nodded, she stretched out a hand. "Let me have a look at your portfolio."

From her search of the agency, Zaria knew that the woman beside her was Ms. Troy, who would be her superior if she got the job.

She took out a neat file from her handbag and gave it to her, not thinking too much about it. However, soon after the woman opened the file, her expression turned serious as she adjusted her glasses. "Sorry, we're not hiring."

"I submitted an application online and received an email requiring me to come for an interview. How can you claim that you are not hiring?" Zaria was baffled.

"That's several hours ago. There was only one vacant position, but we have already found the most suitable candidate. Try to be early next time." Ms. Troy no longer bothered to be polite.

Zaria knew that candidates were often rejected for the most absurd reasons. It was common in many companies, but that did not make it fair. The woman had not even taken a good look at her qualifications. How had she conclude that Zaria was not a suitable candidate? Besides, if the position had already been taken, why did she ask for her portfolio?

Most importantly, "The interview starts at 10:30 am. It's 10:20."

Ms. Troy expected that Zaria would be insistent, cause a scene or even cry. She had seen too much of these dramatics already, so she was ready to call security.

However, Zaria grabbed her file back, took out a piece of wet tissue from her handbag, and wiped it clean before securing it in her bag and tossing the tissue into a small trash can at the corner. She then looked up to meet the gaze of the woman she had just humiliated. "People like you are the reason why the public thinks that people from the media industry are all liars."

She then turned to strut out of the company building.

Behind her, Ms. Troy scoffed. "What's she being so proud about? She's just a jobless b*tch."

…

Zaria spent the whole day trying to find a job and was baffled by the outcome. She was rejected for the weirdest reasons like not meeting the requirements-even if she did. A startup agency even rejected her for being too qualified.

Later, it was as though the companies had run out of excuses.

"You're here for an interview? What's your name?"

"Zaria Williams."

"Sorry, we don't hire women whose names start with the letter Z."

"Sorry, you are too young."

"Sorry, you are wearing a gray dress. It's inauspicious."

At first, Zaria thought that they were making fun of her. She assumed that they did not want to hire her since her name had been dragged in the mud along with F&P Media. She had almost forgotten about this. Thanks to Desmond's lawsuit, Theodore had made the headlines and as his daughter, so had she.

With this in mind, it would have made sense for all the news agencies to reject her. But why the hell would a restaurant be unwilling to employ her as a waitress? Even if she was a fool, there was no way she wouldn't be able to tell that they were all under some strange instruction.

Now that she recalled Ms. Troy's attitude, it seemed to have changed immediately after reading her personal information. For anyone to be able to instruct Ms. Troy…

"I knew it!" She cursed when a certain figure flashed in her mind.

Why would Desmond give her a leeway? He wouldn't be that kind. He merely wanted to force her to a dead end.

Initially, it was just a suspicion. Besides, she didn't want to believe that Desmond could control the whole world. He was not a god, after all.

She dragged her feet into Blacklight—Hers and her father's favorite restaurant—and sat in their usual spot.

Soon, the owner, Norman, came over with a bright smile. "Hey, bad day? Your dad isn't with you today?"

He had been seeing this father-daughter pair for so long that he thought of Theodore as his friend and Zaria as his daughter.

She nodded listlessly.

"I know just what you need." With that, he turned around and brought her a plate of spring mix pasta. "It's on the house. I hope it cheers you up."

Zaria looked at her favorite pasta and dug in. "Thank you."

After taking two bites, she thought of something and suddenly looked up hopefully. "Norman, do you need an assistant or a chef? A waitress can do too."

The man looked confused for an instant. "I was about to ask about that. Did you offend anyone recently?"

Norman retrieved his phone and showed her an email from Preston and Fort Group, warning him against employing a woman called Zaria Williams. It was unbelievable just how unreasonable someone could get.

She sighed in her heart. As expected.

The man looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, Zaria. I would have given you a chance, but… I cannot lose this place. I still need to take care of my son."

"I understand." She didn't blame him. Since it was a piece of cake for that demon to push F&P Media to its end, he wouldn't need to put in an effort to make Norman lose his precious restaurant.

Her lips curled as she made a call. She spoke as soon as the call connected. "I'm giving you two choices, Mr. Fort. One, revoke this nonsensical order."

"What's the second choice?" The other party laughed, making it obvious that he was not intending to make any of the choices she was giving him.

S till, she said it. "Two, see you in court."