77

77
Blinking in confusion, Kendall looked from Judith to Lucien and back again.

Stopping at the entrance, Lucien frowned at the sight before him. He held out a hand in Judith’s direction. “What’s this?”

Kendall shook her head, struggling to form words. “I-I don’t know! I… she’s just—"

“I took a few coffee beans,” Judith whimpered, trembling as she shrank away from Lucien. “I’m really sorry, Mr Sinclair, I don’t have much at home.”

Lucien tiredly dragged a hand over his face. “She stole food?”

Kendall sighed. “Yes, Sir.”

He looked at her, an uncertain look in his eyes. “So, you made her kneel?”

She blinked. “No. No! I didn’t!” She quickly turned to Judith. “Tell him!”

The girl violently flinched, looking at Lucien like she had a gun to her head. “Sh-she didn’t.”

“Why are you trembling like I hit you?!” Kendall demanded, confused at the girl’s behaviour. “Did I hit you?!”

“Kendall, enough,” Lucien said, frowning.

Her expression fell, and she straightened to look at him. “But, Sir… I really didn’t.”

He nodded. “It’s fine. Give her whatever food we have left and have the pantry restocked by tomorrow.”

Kendall felt like screaming. Why was he looking at Judith with such pity in his eyes? The girl was an actress!

Before she could say anything more, Lucien turned and walked back to his office.

When they were alone again, Kendall looked down at Judith. “What exactly is wrong with you?”

The girl sighed, calmly standing up and dusting her knees. She grabbed a paper towel from the roll Kendall was holding and carefully wiped her tears.

“Fuck, my makeup’s coming off,” she muttered.

Kendall stared at her like she was witnessing Armageddon.

When her tears were dry, Judith looked at her and tilted her head. “You didn’t hear him? He said to give me anything we have left and then go shopping for more.”

A huff of disbelief puffed out of her, and Kendall slowly shook her head. “There’s no way you’re going to keep working here. You’re a psychopath.”

“Oh, yeah?” The girl smirked. “And who’s gonna get rid of me? You? Sure, go ahead. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your boss hating you even more. He already thinks you’re a bully.”

“He does not think I’m a bully.”

“Really? You know when he walked in and stood over there? You know what he saw? He saw his rich, gorgeous secretary in her Givenchy suit and Jimmy Choo heels, standing over a scared, nerdy girl on her knees. Peak mean girl, peak bully energy. What do you think he’ll believe? Your words or his eyes?”

“Wow…” Kendall whispered, completely dazed. She couldn’t believe what she was experiencing.

“Yeah,” Judith said. “So, start packing my groceries, sweet cheeks.”



The rest of Kendall’s week was horrid. She still hadn’t found anywhere to live, so she was still at Sabrina’s house, and Sabrina was starting to notice how stressed out she was.

Kendall hadn’t told her about the weird new secretary. There had to be some way she could deal with it on her own.

Except, she was starting to feel out of her depth. Since the incident in the break room, Lucien seemed to treat Judith like a bird with a broken wing. Kendall couldn’t help but notice how patient his tone sounded when he was speaking to her and how calmly he dismissed her when she made unforgivable mistakes in her work.

Sending a confidential document that should’ve gone to Legal to the marketing department was completely unheard of. Kendall had been in complete disbelief when Lucien had gently said, “It happens.”

And, yes, it did happen. Kendall agreed. Except, with Judith, those mistakes happened several times, every single day. She spent most of her time at work in the break room, eating. Kendall couldn’t say anything because she was afraid it would make her look petty in front of Lucien. Already, Judith had randomly gone into his office to ask him if she could take a few apples out of the fridge and take them home.

Not only had Lucien given her the entire bag of apples, but he’d also called Kendall in and instructed her to never stop Judith from taking any food.

Well, that had been all the encouragement the girl had needed. Kendall was seething, thinking of how she’d have to buy more groceries before going home because the break room was nearly empty again.

She didn’t want to say anything to Lucien because she didn’t want him to think she was a heartless witch. Sometimes, she thought she could just tell Lucien the way Judith behaved when he wasn’t around, but then it sounded made up and ridiculous even to her own ears.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, glancing over at Judith, who was setting up new folders and sorting out files on her computer.

She raised her gaze behind those thick glasses, meeting Kendall’s.

“What is she looking at?” she murmured, loud enough for Kendall to hear. With an eye roll, she got back to her work, ignoring Kendall’s furious stare.

She was burning to drag her somewhere secluded and ask her what the hell she wanted from her. But then she was worried that Judith would scream again and make it look like Kendall had been hurting her.

She was already deeply hurt by the changes in Lucien’s attitude toward her; she didn’t want to witness him taking Judith’s side again. It wasn’t like Lucien was mean to Kendall; it was just that he didn’t seem to treat Judith as though she was lying. Which she was!

So, to Kendall, it seemed like Lucien believed Judith. Which meant that he believed that Kendall was capable of bullying someone.

Her throat was thick with tears, and she fought to hold back. Maybe she should just quit her job and leave him with this secretary from hell. Maybe then, he’d see Kendall’s worth!

“Hmm,” Judith suddenly hummed, smiling. Kendall blinked, frowning when the girl looked over at her. “I suddenly feel like quitting this job.”

“What?” Kendall demanded.

Without another word, Judith shoved her chair back and hurried to Lucien’s office.

Kendall gasped, rushing in after her.

At his table, Lucien looked at them with a confused blink.

Watching in horror, Kendall looked at Judith’s suddenly saddened expression and the watery smile on her face.

“Yes?” Lucien asked.

“Mr Sinclair,” Judith started, her voice trembling. A tear dropped from her eye. “I’ve… I’ve come to resign. You’ve b-been a terrible boss and… I don’t want to work here anymore.”

They sounded like rehearsed lines.

Kendall’s eyes widened. This girl… was from hell.

Lucien sighed, looking at Kendall. “What’s going on?”

“I d-don’t know,” Kendall said. “She suddenly decided to do this. I didn’t do anything!”

“Really?” Lucien said tiredly.

“Yes!” Kendall insisted.

Judith opened her mouth to say another miserable line, but the opening door interrupted her.

“Dad! Where’s Kendall?” Sabrina said, sashaying into the room. She gasped. “Ken!”

“Hi, Brina,” Kendall murmured, getting engulfed in Sabrina’s hug.

Frowning, Sabrina looked at the other girl. “Wait.” Her expression went dark, and she tilted her head. “Who the hell is this rat?”