Her smile remained on her face.

The same couldn’t be said for the female lead.

“Excuse me, I don’t think I heard you correctly?” Alissa forced a chuckle; shifting in her seat. Laia could see that the girl’s hands were wrung together tightly; her knuckles turning white from the pressure she was exerting.

They’d need to work on that.

“You heard me,” Laia leaned backward; putting her feet on the table. The red soles of her heels reflected the glare of the ceiling light, “But let me repeat it, then. I’m not giving you the job.”

She could understand why the male lead would take interest in Alissa–beyond her authorly ministrations, of course. It was hard not to feel amused by how her face took to a somehow flattering shade of red. Even her cheeks puffed up a little in her temper, making Laia want to reach out and poke them.

The girl was very, very cute.

Saffron peeked out from his cozy resting place; shooting a glance of pity towards the girl being subject to scrutiny. Although he had only been with this host for a short while, he had a fair grasp of her personality–especially as he had been her only confidant and resource as she laid her chess pieces out on the board.

He knew well in his heart that Laia only saw the female lead as some sort of pet to play with.

“How dare you!” Alissa exploded, stumbling out of her seat. She glared daggers into the other female leisurely watching her with a mocking expression. Her hands balled into fists. “How dare you? I don’t know who you are, but you have no right to treat me like this–no right to treat anybody like this! You have no right to waste my time, or talk to me like I’m below you.” Her voice got louder with every statement.

Laia tilted her head, contemplating.

“Hmm,” she muttered, “Needs work. The delivery is decent, I’ll give you that. You do have that innate heroine aura.”

“What?”

Alissa looked at her as if she were crazy.

There had always been a few screws loose, anyway. It wasn’t a new revelation.

“Oh,” Laia said, “You mentioned that you have no idea who I am. Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Raine Hastings. Alexander Norton’s wife.” She stretched out her hand for Alissa to shake; not at all making an effort to stand up.

She dropped it with a shrug when Alissa just stared at it. “Be like that then,” Laia muttered.

“Look,” she settled her gaze on the tomato red female lead, “Do you really want to get a secretarial position? Do you?”

Her mocking words struck a chord in Alissa, but the girl refused to let it show. Her face dropped to the ground, causing Laia to frown.

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“Look up,” she commanded.

And for some reason even unbeknownst to the girl herself, Alissa complied; their eyes meeting.

Good. Manageable still.

“Do you want to hear something I found interesting?” Laia asked.

She continued without bothering to wait for her counterpart to answer. “Alissa Jane Walker. Working-class, only child, unqualified to apply for anything more than a barista,” she smiled, “Born to an alcoholic father, raised by a dying single mother.”

Alissa’s fingers trembled, “Stop,”

“Second stage liver cancer. You had to stop treatment six months in because the bank wouldn’t give you a loan anymore. She still wasn’t improving,” Laia looked at her fingernails, “Then, daddy came back into the picture.”

“I told you to stop,” Alissa hissed. That didn’t matter.

“Eighty thousand dollars in debt, plus a raging alcoholic into an already pretty shitty life. You turned down a prestigious scholarship to stay with your mom, and three years later you still have no stable job. You’ve got no credentials to your name nor any way to pay back the bank. Your mom’s getting worse, too.”

Out of all things, she remembered what kind of tragic back story the heroine had. Afterall, she had used her own experiences as a template.

The corner of her lips twitched, “I’m not exactly sure what kind of relationship you have with glasses guy is, but he’s the one that got your application into the pile of candidates.”

Alissa flinched ever so slightly.

Of course, Laia knew what kind of relationship she had with glasses guy. He was class c cannon fodder; someone stuck so deep in the territory of friend zone.

“Ah, well. He’s dispensable. He violated company policy, lied to his superiors, and will have to lose his job because of this.” She watched as Alissa’s hands do all the talking, again; balling themselves into fists. They were great tells to her emotion, though that would have to be fixed. “Unless…” she trailed off. The implication was there.

Laia wasn’t one to take on charity cases for the hell of it.

“What do you want?” Alissa’s voice broke the silence. She didn’t bother to mask the anger in her voice but knew how to play smart enough. It wasn't a question on how this perfect stranger had details to her life that probably surpassed a legal degree. Rich people had their ways.

The only thing Alissa wanted to know, is what this person’s intentions were.

Laia stood, walking over to were the female lead was. Thankfully, Raine’s height towered over the general population. It added a few points to her intimidation factor if her looks and status weren’t already enough. Even then, pinned side by side, Alissa didn’t falter. She definitely carried herself like the protagonist she was.

“I want to make a deal,” Laia beamed, “You’ve got the balls. You just need to grow into them more. You can’t flare up one moment and lose that spark in the next.” Her hand extended towards the female lead once more. “My behavior earlier was me trying to feel you out. I want to offer you another job opportunity. You’d be a great fit.”

That wasn’t a lie. In fact, it was an understatement. Protagonists automatically came armed with god-level skill sets, and Alissa was no exception. The girl had the midas touch–every project that fell into her hands would be made into a complete success.

Alexander had been the one to discover her potential. But this time, Laia’d be taking full credit for it. In her eyes, Alissa was the insurance for one of her quests and the solution to the other.

“If you take it, I can guarantee that you’ll be able to treat your mother, make a better life for yourself, and take out whatever trash you need to take out,” Laia shrugged. “Everyone will turn a blind eye. You just need to help me out.”

Alissa eyed the hand being offered to her. The setting and atmosphere of the place made her feel as if she were about to sell her soul to the devil.

The woman in front of her wasn’t someone who seemed very stable.

“I’m not some charity project,” she said.

“I’m not treating you as a charity project. I’m treating you as an investment.”

Alissa fumbled. Laia got her there.

“What… what’s the job?” she asked with caution in mind.

Laia chuckled, “Don’t worry. It’s… Let’s call it a management position.”