Isabelle gulped down her glass of tequila and then wiped her mouth. But she wasn't being as loud as she would normally be when drinking in the bar.
She shoved her hand roughly through her hair, and a distorted and confused expression played on her face as she lost herself in her thoughts.
What in the world was going on with her boss?
She reminisced about what he said after he made such a bold offer.
"I'll give you full authority, Miss Han." He said.
Isabelle scoffed at his words.
First, she found it unbelievable that he would say something like this. But then, it did make sense because he was inexperienced.
Perhaps the work was too much for him and he was reaching his limits, so he wanted to pass it on to someone else while still keeping his title as manager.
That's right.
There's only so much a gold spoon newbie in the business industry could do. He was at his limit.
This was what she believed and thus, she felt she had the upper hand.
"I don't just want the job of a manager." She said. "You said you're going to be a puppet manager while I work my ass off? Isn't that the same thing as sending a dog out to hunt, only to give him the bone from the game it caught?"
She was quite furious with this idea. If he was only going to offer her this much then he could forget it.
"What I want is money." She said, speaking her mind. She never thought she would have to reveal her real reason for working so hard to a stranger whom she hardly knew, after keeping everything under locks for so long.
More so someone she hated from the depths of her heart.
"Yes, I'm working for the experience, but what I care about is filling my pocket. I need to get a higher position so I can earn more." She said, snarling at him. "And that's not going to happen if you're going to make me play the puppeteer, only for you to reap the benefits. I don't have the time, energy, and resources to waste on that."
"Fine!" Elias immediately responded, shocking her.
What was this?
He didn't even think about it?
Did he know what he was saying?
"It's the salary of a manager you want, am I right?" He gazed deeply into her eyes. "That's not difficult. If you want me to double it, I will do just that as long as you're satisfied. All I ask..." His grip on her arm increased even more and she winced. He was hurting her but it didn't even seem like he knew what he was doing. "...is that you keep what you know to yourself and delete the picture that could implicate you. I..." His gaze suspiciously softened on her as he confessed. "... I don't want you to die."
Isabelle couldn't fully understand what Elias was playing at. If he was trying to deceive her with a false agreement.
She asked for it to be documented, and they would both sign, feeling that if it was a lie, he wouldn't agree to it, and she could push forward with what she felt was safer. Taking his position.
But to her shock, he readily accepted, as if it meant nothing to him.
"Whatever you want, just tell me and I will put it down in the document."
He was strange.
More so when he looked at her the way he did.
It made her goosebumps rise but it also got her curious.
It was almost as if... He knew her and didn't want anything to happen to her.
It might just be her imagination, and he was simply acting to gain her sympathy, but what would he gain by doing all that?
She might've boldly proclaimed that he was at her mercy due to his secret, but they both knew that she was at a bigger disadvantage.
So why...?
Why did he have that sad expression on his face when he talked about her dying?
She couldn't understand it no matter how much she thought.
And then there was that personality change.
She knew him to be a cold-hearted human being. One who didn't care about giving her late-night work.
She knew him to be expressionless.
He was definitely indifferent.
A blank black and white boss whose only focus was behind his desk and nothing more.
He didn't even relate to the other employees, as if he was keeping his distance and didn't want to mingle.
So what was with all these colors she was seeing since last night?
Maybe he was just... A sociopath who didn't know how to interact with others?
The thought suddenly annoyed her and she furrowed her eyebrows.
Like hell... She slammed her glass on the counter, her eyes blazing with flames as she got furious.
He probably can't mingle with the employees because he's only ever been around people with gold and silver spoons in their mouths.
It felt like she had been making excuses for him, thinking positively of him, but there is no way she can forget his cruelty towards her and what he made her go through.
She would engrave it in her heart and never forget.
That man was a cruel capitalist with a black heart.
The only way she would be able to see eye to eye with a man like that was if he did what he said he would and make himself a puppet willingly controlled by her, a puppeteer, and pay her the money he promised her monthly.
And as for the show he had been putting up since last night... Well, she could only take it as a mystery, just as his fox ears.
"What's up?" Yuna arrived, and Isabelle turned, staring at Yuna as she thought about whether she could share this with her best friend.
Of course, she trusted her best friend to keep it a secret... The fox's ears and tail... But what if this was something indeed dangerous, and instead of sharing her worries, she was actually sharing danger with her best friend?
Death... She didn't want that for Yuna.
She might've talked big before, but she certainly didn't have death on her to-do list.
"Is something wrong?" Yuna asked, tilting her head as she watched Isabelle stare at her for an unusually long time.
"No, it's nothing."
She decided to keep it to herself for the time being. When she discovered more information about the man called Elias Yoon, and it didn't seem like a threat, she would share it with her best friend.