The Price of His Bitter Regret

e and cast me out. Now, I was a cocktail waitress with terminal

my knees on the cold club floor to b

He fired me on the spot, withheld my final paycheck, and swore I'd never wor

with a cold fire I once thought wa

re if you d

licker of hope died. He had taken my name, my heal

to see for five years-about the stolen watch, the

dn't live with dignity, I would let my

pte

LINE

e y

t out into a world I wasn't built for. Tonight, the cold, smooth marble of the club floor

my eyes remained fixed on the entrance.

powerful and consuming. He was everything I once had, everything I lost. The CEO of

o his arm. Her smile was practiced, her eyes cold. She lo

s to people who wouldn' t spare me a second glance. My uniform felt thin,

to. We hadn't truly spoken since that day, ju

tight. A man, red-faced and re

," he slurred. "D

game. It was nightly entertainment

Do it, and I'll give you this." He fanned out a wad of hundr

The final payment for my u

f my dress, thin and worn, offered no comfort. A shiver ran through me, not from the cold,

med me, their entertainment. I saw myself, a spectacl

and respected, not gawked at like a circus act. Now, thi

ad to survive this, even if survival meant selling pieces of my soul

y throat was raw. I forced a sound, a broken, hollow yelp. It wa

robbed. My

ise. "What the hell are you doing?" Declan. His v

a mask. He couldn't und

" I said, my voice

contorted his features. He

ave to finish the trick?" I

n us. The silence was heavier than an

darling, look at her. How pathetic. Playing the victim again." Her w

incentive? Something truly humiliating. For old times' sake." She nod

he stack. That was eno

comply. My knees scr

his face etched with worry. Mr. Henderson, the

f. A silent threat, understood. Henderson

his chin, a curt comm

es once more. I glanced at Declan. His face was tight, a st

attling the glasses. "Enough!" His voice cr

digging into my arm. The pa

this?" he demande

ey," I repeated

m the table. He shoved me back, the force se

with a cold fire I once thought reserved for