Page 31 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

“The hospital?”

I nodded, not able to tear my eyes from the vague, half-assed and carelessly written apology.

I’d sent the hospital an email in a moment of rage, explicitly expressing how their carelessness almost cost me everything in my life.

The reply was not only careless, it was also late by two months. I had already forgotten I'd sent it.

“The fuckers.” I hadn’t noticed her scoot closer until she was peering over my shoulder. “I’ve said to sue them for damages. There’s no shred of sincerity in them.”

I deleted the email, clicking off my phone. “I just want to put it all behind me.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you sold all your properties and donated your life's worth of money to charity.”

“Good thing the appropriate result arrived before then.”

“You mean after you already traded yourself to the mob?” Her voice hitched. “Have you ever thought of what could’ve happened if Kazimir didn’t step in?”

I swallowed the bitterness filling my tongue. Kazimir’s timely arrival at the scene of my humiliation was my personal proof of the existence of miracles.

But there were moments, no matter how brief, where my mind wandered back and I tried to imagine what would’ve become of me if Kazimir had not arrived at that very moment.

I would still be trapped in that lewd place with disgusting old men trying to cop a feel, and I’d still be very far from offsetting half the debt unless I decided to…

I dissolved the rest of the thought with a head shake. I was here now, I was safe, Leo was out of debt and that’s all that mattered. I could only hope the original owner of the result made better decisions than I did.

“It’s all in the past,” I repeated more to myself than to Anna.

Anna tsked, shaking her head. “You’re way too nice for your own good. I would’ve seized the opportunity to teach them a thing or two on patient management and respect while making bank from it.”

“I totally believe you.”

Her eyes suddenly lit up and she shot off the couch like a lightning bolt and made for a rack in front of her.

“Perfect. Absolutely beautiful.”

I craned my neck to see what she was gushing over, but I didn’t need to stretch much.

Anna marched to me, wide smile and twinkling eyes, with clothes hanging on her arm.

“I think I just found the perfect office attire. SSB wouldn’t know what hit him. The office walls are soundproof, yeah?”

“First, we have completely different ideas on what constitutes the word perfect. Two, would you stop calling him that?”

Like any well-meaning best friend, she completely ignored my comments and proceeded to lay out the outfit before me.

As much as I hate to admit, I let out an audible gasp when I looked at the ensemble.

It was exactly something I would wear. A black pencil skirt, a charcoal black silk shirt without the shine, and a bold belt with dainty gold detailing.

It was absolutely gorgeous and I could picture all the ways I would style it: the shoe of choice, bag, accessories and hairstyle. I just knew I would be an absolute stunner in it, I just didn’t know how it would be received at work.

As far as I could remember, the company had no dress code. Rose from finance treated work like a runway and always arrived in the most fabulous and sometimes scandalous fits, but she was about 5'1".

The outfits didn’t look as though she was begging for attention. I, on the other hand, was the whole of 5'9" and had played it safe with knee-length skirts and cotton shirts. A low-cut silk shirt and a slightly shorter skirt would certainly stand out.

“It’s so pretty.” I felt the soft fabric in my palm. “But I don’t think it’s—”

“It’s a skirt and shirt for Christ's sake, and you said it yourself, it’s pretty.”