Chapter 7 Humiliation
Sophia’s fingers curled into the fabric of her dress.
Her heartbeat turned irregular, thudding painfully against her chest. Each breath she took felt shallow, heavy, as if the air in the room had thickened. A strange tension crept into her eyes, tightening her expression.
She looked at Emma, her eyes clouded with unease. “Is it really what I’m thinking… or is it something else?”
Emma’s lips pressed into a thin line. Her jaw tightened, and the anger in her eyes was unmistakable.
“They were in a hotel room together, Sophia. What do you think was going on?” she muttered bitterly. “It’s not like people book private hotel rooms to hold goddamn prayer meets.”
Sophia’s face paled.
She bit her lower lip so hard it almost hurt. Magnus wouldn’t… would he?
They had made it clear. No one would breach the marriage contract. Even if he wasn’t obligated to love her, even if their marriage was only on paper, sleeping with others during marriage was still unethical?
He wasn’t obligated to love her.
But if he really liked someone else…
Then why would he sleep with her?
The question stabbed straight through her chest.
***
Celia stepped into the Black Diamond Horizon later that day. The afternoon light had already faded into a dull evening glow, the sky outside tinted orange and grey. The glass doors slid shut behind her with a soft mechanical hum. The air inside felt colder than usual.
She walked past the reception desk, the familiar scent of coffee and printer ink lingered in the air.
But before she could even reach her desk, several members of her project team rushed toward her. Their faces were pale, tense.
One of them grabbed her hand.
“Celia!”
The sudden grip made her flinch. “What are you doing?” she asked in confusion as they pulled her back toward the desk area.
One of the men stared at her, his face pale, his eyes bloodshot. “Celia… the man you added to our team? Baron? The one who was accused of stealing a project?”
Celia blinked. “Yeah. What about him?”
A heavy silence fell. Her stomach suddenly felt uneasy.
“He stole our project,” the man said, his voice cracking. “He sold it to our rivals.”
Celia’s face drained of color. For a moment, she looked like she had lost all strength in her body. “No… what are you talking about? That’s not possible,” she said, shaking her head. “Are you kidding me?”
Another colleague stepped forward quickly, panic written all over his face. “No, I promise we’re telling the truth. He gave them everything. They already registered the copyright under their name. We can’t even fight it.”
Celia’s ears rang.
“And because of that…” he swallowed hard, glancing around helplessly, “we got fired.”
“What?” Her voice came out barely audible.
“We just received the notice from HR,” someone else added, holding up a printed letter with trembling hands. “All of us. We’ve been terminated.”
They all looked at Celia.
Fear. Anger. Blame.
Their eyes were filled with it.
“Oh… okay.” Celia blinked slowly and looked around at all of them. “That’s so sad for all of you. I guess it was just a bad day.”
The people around her stared at her in confusion. Some of them blinked as if they hadn’t heard her correctly.
“But after all,” Celia continued, brushing an invisible speck of dust from her sleeve, “it was your fault for having him on the team. If you knew he had a record of stealing from the company, you shouldn’t have added him to your project in the first place.”
“What?” one of the men snapped, his voice rising sharply. His face turned red with disbelief. “We told you he was accused of stealing from the company!”
His breathing turned heavier. “Did you forget? I specifically told you he had been accused of stealing projects before. There was no evidence, so he wasn’t fired—but we warned you!”
Celia’s brows furrowed slightly as if she genuinely didn’t understand why they were upset. She tilted her head.
“So what?” she said after a pause. “It’s still your responsibility. Not mine. I didn’t know it was that serious.”
Her tone was almost indifferent.
She gave them a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “If you had just been more careful… more attentive about him… then maybe this wouldn’t have happened to you.”
A heavy silence fell.
The team members exchanged stunned looks. Shock slowly turned into bitterness. Their hands tightened around their files. One woman’s eyes turned red, but she held back her tears. Others looked like they had just been slapped.
Yet none of them dared to shout at her.
She was the boss’s daughter.
One man who had been standing slightly behind stepped forward. His shoulders were tense, and desperation flickered in his eyes.
“Celia… look,” he said, lowering his voice. “We can’t afford to get fired. There’s a shortage of jobs these days. You’re the daughter of our boss. Can you talk to him? Convince him not to fire us?”
His voice trembled slightly. “It was you who told us to accept Baron into the project. You told us to trust him.”
Celia’s brows knitted together as if she had just heard something ridiculous.
“When did I tell you to accept him?” she asked coldly. “I never said anything about accepting anyone. I only tried to help you with your project. Why are you accusing me of something I never did?”
The man stared at her in disbelief.
“Did you forget? You said it would be better to trust him. You said you knew better.”
Celia’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“I never said I know him personally,” she replied. “If you didn’t feel confident about him, you should have refused. You made the final decision. Not me.”
Her tone grew colder.
“And I can’t do anything now. My dad won’t listen to me about this. It’s not my company yet.”
Her eyes swept across them briefly.
“It’s very sad… but I think it’s best if you start looking for other jobs.”
The words dropped like ice.
They were flabbergasted.
Some stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. Others looked betrayed, their eyes burning with anger. But no one dared to argue further.
Celia, however, showed no sign of concern. She looked at them as if they were the unreasonable ones.
Just then, someone from HR walked over, his expression stiff and official.
“What are you all still doing here?” he asked sharply. “Grab your bags and leave, or I’ll have to call security.”
The words crushed whatever hope was left.
One by one, they bent down to collect their belongings. The sound of zippers closing and drawers sliding shut echoed in the space. Their movements were heavy, shoulders slumped, faces filled with sadness and humiliation.
But as they walked past Celia, every single one of them glared at her — anger, disappointment, and betrayal burning in their eyes.
But Celia turned her face away, staring at the blank white wall as if she hadn’t noticed their glares.
Under her breath, she muttered quietly, “How is it my fault? Everyone keeps doing wrong things and then comes to me to fix them.”
She frowned sadly.
“What does it have to do with me? How many people am I supposed to save?” she whispered to herself. “I need to protect myself first so I can help more people in the future.”
***
Sophia stood up abruptly from the couch. The cushion sank back into place as she began pacing the living room again.
Her arms folded tightly across her chest, then unfolded. Her fingers brushed through her hair in frustration.
Her eyes were tense, worried.
She glanced at the wall clock.
Evening already.
Her gaze dropped to her phone resting on the table. The message from Elias was still open — the proposal details neatly typed.
She picked it up again.
Her eyes moved slowly over every line, rereading each condition. After a long moment, she exhaled and slid the phone back into the pocket of her jeans.
“Should I tell Magnus about this or not?” she whispered to herself.
Her lips pressed into a thin, troubled line.
“We just have a contract marriage,” she muttered under her breath. “He already made it clear there’s not going to be anything more between us except the contract.”
Her fingers curled slightly at her sides.
“Does it even matter to him if I leave?” she whispered. “Or would I be overstepping our relationship if I tell him about this?”
Her steps slowed.
“I guess I’ll just stay until the contract is over,” she murmured. “It’s not that long anyway before it ends…”
But then her thoughts tangled again.
“Am I still obligated to tell him? That I got this opportunity?”
Her heartbeat picked up.
She walked back to the couch and sat down heavily, staring at the floor.
“I don’t even know if he wants to know,” she whispered. “Maybe he doesn’t care at all. Maybe I’m just overthinking.”
Her voice faltered. “Maybe he already found his—”
Suddenly, the image of the hotel corridor flashed sharply in her mind.
The warm lighting. Magnus walking ahead without looking back. Celia following him down the hallway.
Sophia’s breathing hitched.
“Are he and Celia back together?” she muttered faintly.
Her chest tightened painfully. Her fingers curled into the couch fabric.
“What else would they be doing at a hotel?”
She swallowed hard.
“Should I ask him?” she whispered. “Should I ask him what he was doing there with Celia?”
Her brows pulled together.
“Or am I overreacting…? Overstepping my boundaries?”
She gave a bitter, humorless laugh.
“What boundaries? It’s just a contract marriage.”
Just then—
The faint sound of the main door unlocking echoed through the house.
Her head snapped up.
The soft shuffle of keys. The click of the lock.
She glanced at the door instinctively.
“Magnus?”
Her entire body tensed instantly. Her heart leaped into her throat.
She stood up too fast, nearly stumbling, her mind racing. Her face felt flushed — heated, emotional — and instinctively she looked around as if searching for somewhere to hide.
She wasn’t ready.
She wasn’t ready to confront him like this.
But then her steps halted.