Chapter 26 Chapter 26
Within the premises of Diamond Bank, Megan was walking toward the main entrance.
Her steps were steady, though her mind was not entirely settled. She had come for a reason, an important one, and that was all she was trying to focus on activating the card Oliver had given her. She was already approaching the entrance properly, though she was still outside the main building when it happened.
She heard laughter, not just any laughter.
The sound was sharp, mocking, familiar enough to make her body tense before she even turned.
And without needing a second guess, she knew exactly who it belonged to.
Her expression tightened, Deborah.
Jessica, Of course.
Then Deborah’s voice came, dripping with cruel amusement.
“Well, just look who we found here,” she said. “Oh, so you’re still alive?”
Megan did not respond immediately.
But Deborah was not done.
“Where did you sleep last night?” she asked with a sneer. “Where did you even sleep yesterday?”
Before Megan could say a word, Jessica let out a mocking laugh and folded her arms.
“Well, isn’t it obvious?” Jessica said. “She must have slept under a bridge. She’s homeless, isn’t she? Where else is she supposed to stay? She has nowhere to go.”
The two of them stood there, feeding off each other’s cruelty, openly making Megan the subject of their amusement.
Then Deborah tilted her head and asked with deliberate contempt, “But seriously, what are you even doing here?”
Jessica joined in immediately.
“Yes, what exactly are you doing here?”
Megan finally looked at both of them, her patience already wearing dangerously thin.
“Well, I do not have time for either of you,” she said firmly. “Not one bit. I am here for something important, so both of you should get out of my way.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Jessica reacted as though Megan had committed some outrageous offense.
She clapped her hands together in open mockery, her face twisting with scorn.
“Oh, listen to her,” Jessica said. “An ex-convict still has the audacity to speak like this?”
Her voice rose, meant not only for Megan but for anyone close enough to hear.
“Don’t you know people like you should be stoned for being ex-convicts?” she spat. “You literally killed someone. You hit somebody with your car. What evil have you not done, you bloody ex-convict bastard? And here you are, still standing in public, uttering such nonsense.”
Immediately, Deborah stepped forward with the smug confidence of someone who believed she owned the ground she stood on.
“You shouldn’t waste your time on her, my dear daughter,” she said, glancing at Jessica with a dismissive wave of her hand. “She is hardly worth the attention.”
Then she looked Megan up and down with open contempt.
“She is a good-for-nothing woman,” Deborah continued coldly. “An ex-convict. And I am sure she knows her place. I am sure she knows what belongs to her and what does not. I am sure she knows there are lines she has no right to cross.”
Her voice grew sharper as she folded her arms across her chest.
“Now tell me,” she demanded, “what are you even doing here in the first place? What exactly are you doing at Diamond Bank?”
She let out a dry, mocking laugh.
“Everyone knows this bank is for highly influential people. People of status. People of class. People of dignity.”
Her eyes narrowed with deliberate cruelty.
“And perhaps you are not familiar with that anymore, since you have been away for five years. Five whole years outside the flow of society, outside the world of decent people, so of course you may not know what is current or what is happening in this country anymore.”
She leaned in just slightly, making every word more insulting.
“So let me enlighten you.”
Her gaze swept over Megan as though she were looking at dirt on the pavement.
“There is no job for people like you here. You are an ex-convict. You are not even qualified to be employed as a cleaner in this bank. And if that is what you came here hoping for, then erase that fantasy from your mind immediately, because it will never happen.”
Immediately Jessica laughed softly beside her, enjoying every second of it.
Deborah continued without mercy.
“So you had better take your stinking, filthy, ragged, useless self out of this place right now.”
Then she lifted her chin with pride and added, “I am a silver card holder in this bank. Do you understand that? And that status gives me every right to deal with miscreants like you.”
Her expression turned openly threatening.
“You are not a good image for this bank. You do not belong anywhere near this place. So turn around and leave now before I decide to deal with you mercilessly.”
Immediately, Jessica tossed her head back and let out a short, mocking laugh.
“Thank goodness Vincent finally decided to let go of this trash,” she said with cruel satisfaction. “Because honestly, this wretched creature has absolutely nothing to offer.”
She folded her arms and looked Megan over as though she were something offensive.
“And we are still amazed truly amazed by everything that happened when Vincent made it clear that he no longer wanted to marry you. Tell me, what exactly were you planning to offer him?”
Her voice dripped with ridicule.
“Just think about it. You disappeared for five years, and during that same time, Vincent’s life rose to another level completely.”
She began counting proudly, one point after another.
“Vincent became successful.”
“He became the youngest entrepreneur people could point to with admiration.”
“He became someone to be reckoned with.”
“People now see him as a role model.”
“The younger generation looks at him and wants to be like him.”
“That is who he is now someone to be admired, someone to be celebrated.”
Jessica stepped a little closer, making sure Megan felt every word.
“In just five years, he grew his business into a multi-billion-dollar empire, and even his family business has continued to flourish. So tell me, what exactly made you think you had anything to offer a man like Vincent?”
She gave a scornful laugh.
“And yet, somehow, you were still so full of bitterness, so full of pride, so full of resentment, that you could not even accept the one hundred thousand dollars that was given to you as compensation.”
She lifted a finger as if correcting the record.
“Not that you worked for it. Not that you deserved it. Let us be very clear about that.”
Her smile turned thin and poisonous.
“It was given to you out of goodwill. Out of kindness. That was the only reason Vincent offered it to you.”
Then her expression hardened again.
“But what did you do?”
“You rejected it.”
“And now look at you.”
She gestured around the bank premises with exaggerated disbelief.
“You came here, of all places. For what? To seek a cleaner’s job?”
Her tone became colder, final, and full of contempt.
“If that is what you came here for, then let me save you the trouble right now something like that will never happen, not under our watch.”