[Music Recommendation: "Interweave" by Chewie Melodies (Genshin Impact OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Everyone was shocked with what just happened… even I was.

'Oh no. What did I do? My string of patience broke and I ended up pushing someone to the ground. Well, I've been angry since earlier because of all the stupidity of this drama queen but then she went and tried to touch Kaiden! Of all people! What did she expect? Should I smile and happily let her embrace my—I mean, we're just pretending, but as his girlfriend, I shouldn't let her, right? Ugh… This sucks.'

Sighing to myself, I shook my head and pressed on my temples.

"Are you alright, Senara?" Kaiden asked, not minding the drama queen on the floor. That made me happy for some reason. Was I finally becoming evil like that sly fox Verrill?

"Ahm… actually, no." I confessed under my breath. I felt my face wretched on their own. Now that Kaiden was there, all my tough acts were gone, and I just felt so frustrated. Yeah, it felt so unfair!

My emotions came rushing within me. From the anger I felt when I was at the comfort room, listening to Ashley's trash talks about me hiring a ghostwriter for Armageddon, from the irritation of having to answer her demeaning questions, and up to just a moment ago—a feeling of disgust from seeing her trying to touch Kaiden! ARGH! I'm really very, very, angry! I'm furious!

I wanted to say it all out loud but words just stayed in my head—my lips didn't cooperate. I ended up just waving my hands, furrowing my face, and finally rolling my eyes, giving up trying to explain. In the end, tears formed in the corner of my eyes AGAIN. I always hated this weakness of mine. I easily cried whenever I felt an outburst of emotions, it's frustrating. How was I supposed to act tough like this?

Perhaps Kaiden noticed I couldn't explain myself so he pulled me close and embraced me. Feeling his warmth and smelling his familiar scent, my heart started to calm down. I buried my face in his chest and stopped thinking about anything.

"What happened here?" Kaiden asked the three of them. His gentle voice was gone, and all I was hearing was his cold tone.

Haaahh… I'm such a failure. I just said earlier that I wanted to resolve this myself and was planning to prove Ashley wrong about her speculations, but I ended up snapping. I really needed to work on my patience, jumping to conclusions, being a crybaby, and so many flaws that I had.

"Rae, can you tell us what happened?" Ms. Qian Yu turned to Rae, the only one left who hadn't said her piece.

"Honestly, it was Ashley's fault," Rae said bluntly.

Ashley's crocodile tears suddenly dried up and she quickly got up from her miserable position.

"You don't need to be afraid, Rae! Just because she's… you don't need to defend her. Tell them the truth!"

"I'm not trying to defend her. I'm simply stating facts."

"What did Ashley do?"

"She kept on asking irrelevant questions, trying to probe Senara's knowledge of the story because she didn't believe a sixteen year old could write such an amazing story. She thought that Senara must have bought the story somewhere or hired a ghostwriter."

As Rae told them what happened, Ms. Qian Yu gasped in shock and Ashley's breathing became intense.

"Then, Senara asked why she kept on asking useless questions. Ashley couldn't refute so she started crying until you two came and she ran for help."

"T-that's not… she's just siding with her because I…" Ashley's voice trembled.

'Oh my goodness. I already respected you since earlier, Rae, but now, I admire you more for your courage and blatant remarks, and honesty. Thank you so much!'

"Ah, I see. So you upset my girlfriend, and tried to touch me for the second time despite being warned not to," Kaiden concluded.

"I-I'm… I'm s-s-sorry."

"For a mere apprentice, you have guts to do that," Kaiden scoffed. "I hope you have the same guts to receive your due punishment as well."

Although I couldn't see Kaiden's face, I imagined it would be the same as that time when I first met him in an event—so evil and menacing. He had the tendency to look like a tyrant if he wanted to.

"Haaah… I'm really sorry about this, Kaiden, Senara," Ms. Qian Yu stepped in. "I'll take care of this. You may both go home now. I'll schedule another meeting with Rae and Senara in the future."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for. But I don't want to see her face ever again in the future. She's fired. And she's banned from all Red Dragon Holding companies and affiliates."

"No! P-Please, don't!" Ashley begged.

'I knew it. He was gonna fire her. Should I stop him and plead for her? Have mercy? It was a moment of stupidity but it didn't need to cost her whole career, right? What if her family needed her or something? Haaahhh… I'm angry at her and I don't like her but…'

Since my anger subsided, thanks to Kaiden's hug, I lifted up my head and looked at him.

"Kaiden, it's okay. You don't need to fire her," I pleaded, sighing. "Let's just say it was a mistake, and she learned from it. Besides, I'm okay now. There's no need to go that far."

"But she hurt you," Kaiden replied, back to his usual gentle tone towards me.

"It's alright. I'm no longer upset since you gave me a hug," I chuckled and grinned at him. Please, Kaiden, let this slide. "I prefer not working with her in the future so she can just go back to her usual task but there's no need to fire her, okay?"

Kaiden sighed. "Fine," he conceded. Turning to Ms. Qian Yu, he said, "I'll leave it up to you. We'll go now."

"Yes. Thank you."

"Oh, and thank you very much, Ms. Rae," I smiled towards the real screenwriter.

"Ah, it's nothing. Take care."

And with that, Kaiden and I bid our farewell to them. What a wonderful afternoon filled with drama.