Page 54 of Wrong Marriage. Right Groom
I recognized the voice instantly. One of my colleagues from my department.
“To think a blind nobody like you—” she continued, her grip tightening painfully in my hair, “—gets promoted to his personal assistant?”
The others let out bitter laughs.
“You’ll be with him every day?” another added, bitterness thick in her tone. “Touching him? Speaking to him? Breathing the same air?”
The jealousy in the women’s voices was palpable, as though I had taken something they believed belonged to them.
Many female employees in the company longed for Rafael’s attention, so the idea that a blind intern like me had been chosen for a position granting such close proximity to him was something they could neither comprehend nor accept.
And for that, they were punishing me.
“Hey, hey... girls.”
Another voice cut in, this one male. It was undoubtedly my supervisor’s—the same man I had asked for permission only moments earlier.
What was he doing with these women ?
“There are security cameras everywhere,” he said, lowering his voice as if offering helpful advice. “If you’re going to drag her somewhere to teach her a lesson...”
A pause.
“...at least take her somewhere private first.”
My stomach turned.
The grip in my hair tightened again, pulling my head back just enough to strain my neck.
“Do you have any idea how many of us would kill for that position? And they gave it to you?”
One of the women surrounding me spoke, her voice dripping with venom so thick it almost felt physical.
I remained still.
Breathing slow.
Without warning, one of the women struck me across the face.
The hit landed on my already injured eye, and pain exploded through my already damaged eye, sharp and blinding despite the darkness I already lived in.
A cry tore from my throat as the impact reopened the tender wound, sending a burning ache through the entire side of my face.
Tears stung instantly, and for a moment, all I could feel was pain.
But I didn’t flinch.
Didn’t give them what they wanted.
The woman who had been gripping my hair suddenly released me—only to strike me across the cheek.
The impact cracked through my face, heat blooming instantly beneath my skin.
Still, I didn’t react.
My silence unsettled them.
I could hear it—the shift in their breathing, the slight hesitation between movements.
