I am the Queen

Tap

Tap

Eric looked at his watch again. It's still two hours before lunch. His eyes were on the board, but his mind was far away from the teacher giving lessons.

Evangeline was absent today, and she didn't tell him where she was going. She just said she had an important meeting and just left.

Eric's hold on his pen tightened, and his eyes dimmed.

It's just proof that she didn't trust me fully, yet.

On the side, Daniel, too, was in a daze. Concentrate as he might, his mind was drifting away. It contained nothing but worry for Sisley.

His gaze shot to an empty desk. She was absent. As expected. He could only hope she was taking the break-up well and move on.

Though he was worried for her, he was also relieved. Now, the only concern he had was the aftermath and how to get Lilybella off his back.

----

In FROZEN's office topmost floor, Evangeline ran her eyes on the people projected by holograms, sitting in the large board table. They were all foreign to her. There was no one she knew except for Robert Krisnov and Aldrick Loire, who were the only present physically.

"What's the meaning of this?" Evangeline asked voice cold as her face.

"It's exactly as we explained it, Miss Heart. We voted to strip you of your twenty percent share," a woman answered.

"You can't do that," Evangeline countered.

"Actually, we can," a man said. "There's a law in the company stating that we can strip a board member from his shares provided that his shares are greater than the CEO and founder of the company and that most members voted for it."

"But don't worry," another chimed in, "you are to be compensated according to the market price."

Evangeline sneered, "I'm not selling my shares. Those are mine. And I don't think you know who you are talking to? I'm Evangeline Heart, the one who made this company to where it is. Without me, FROZEN would still be that little store selling shoes!"

"We recognized your effort, Miss Heart. That's why we decided to retain your position as an assistant art director."

Evangeline huffed a mocking laughed. "Assistant? I'm the fucking head of the design department!"

"Oh, please. Don't flatter yourself."

All eyes shot to Aldrick Loire, but the latter's gaze remained lock on Evangeline.

"Consider yourself lucky that you have that high of a position when you don't even know what's the difference between a blue and a cerulean."

Evangeline's eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "And how dare an actor who doesn't even know what to wear without the help of his stylist lecture me about fashion."

Aldrick was about to open his mouth, but Evangeline spoke again, addressing the people present.

"If you insist on this . . . outlandish, brainless idea of stripping me of my share and demoting me to an assistant, you're very well sure that I will no longer pick designs for this company."

. . .

. . .

Series of laughter and chuckles bounced in the room, and Evangeline suddenly found it hard to breathe. It was cold, but she was sweating.

"Miss Heart." A woman cleared her throat, repressing her laughter. "You think yourself to highly. Sure that you contributed a lot at the start of this company, but now . . . all you're doing is just picking, altering the designs of our employees to suit to your liking. All you did is popularized it, but you were never the first to design it."

"And what do you want to say?" Evangeline sneered.

"What she wanted to say is that you don't have the necessary knowledge and technical know-how to design something that you could call your own," Aldrick said and added with a smirk, "Time has left you behind. There are thousands of people out there who are more talented than you, equipped with knowledge back up by years of hard work. What? Do you really think that we can't replace you? You're only here because you still owned twenty percent of the company. But without that, you're nothing."

". . ." Evangeline's eyes heated. But she refused to shed a single tear. She wouldn't give these people the satisfaction of seeing her weak.

"Miss Heart," an old man spoke, breaking the temporary stillness, "If I were you, I would sign the papers. Besides, your twenty percent will be given to your little brother."

"He's barely two years old," Evangeline hissed.

"Yes, and that's exactly why Mrs. Cherry Krisnov will look over his shares until he is of legal age," another chimed in. "Besides, since you're already disowned, all your rights and privileges as Robert Krisnov's daughter is automatically null and void. It's only right that the twenty percent share you hold as a previous daughter would be transferred to Robert's only son, the legal heir of all he owned.

". . ." Evangeline looked at the people present. She realized that she was trapped with no allies of her own. She was alone here. No matter what she said, she would not win. She would only waste her saliva.

She turned and went for the door.

"Evangeline."

Evangeline didn't have to turn around to know that it was Robert Krisnov who called her.

". . . It's for the best."

Evangeline's brows twitched as her breathing turned forced. Everyone here is her enemy, and if she didn't leave here soon, she'd drowned in their poison.

She went out and slammed the door shut. She regulated her breathing and calmed her anger. She then fixed her bag on her shoulder and sauntered in the hallway when she stopped on her heels upon seeing Angel's face.

Great!

Evangeline didn't have the energy to deal with her, but Angel was adamant not to let her through.

Evangeline tilted her hips and folded her arms. "What do you want?"

Angel smiled. "Seeing your anger and defeated face is beyond satisfying. It makes all this effort worth it."

Angel no longer hid her intentions and smirked. Though she couldn't entirely strip Evangeline her entire share, it was enough for now. One of her wings was plucked, and it was only a matter of time that she would rip the other, and she would make sure Evangeline fell deep into hell.

Evangeline stifled a dry laugh. "No wonder. So it was you who told those idiots of my shares. Robert Krisnov would never . . ."

She then held her head high and challenged Angel's smirk. "So tell me, why are you so obsessed with me? I mean, it's only natural that I'm angry at you, but I don't understand why you're so obsessed with me. Are you in love with me or something? With all these long years of feud between us, I think I had the right to know."

. . .

. . .

Angel was quiet for a moment, studying Evangeline's expression.

"You really don't know?" she said, almost a whisper.

Evangeline raised an eyebrow and faked a confused look. "That's why I'm asking."

Angel's fingers balled into fist as she blinked away the sting in her eyes. "Evangeline, do you remember? Years ago, a young girl, naive and pure, came to you with all her courage, asking you to be her friend? But what did you say? . . . Disgusting . . ."

. . .

. . .

Evangeline breathed a laugh. "Oh. Now I know what this is. Where all this anger came from."

Evangeline's lips hooked in a sneer. "Well, what do you expect me to say? What do you expect me to say to the niece of that whore who broke my family?"

Angel's eyes reddened, and her words choked beyond her control. "Evangeline . . . I was only a child at that time."

"Oh, come on!" Evangeline scoffed.

"It's far easier for you to play the victim than swallow the truth. Admit it! You didn't care whose family was ruined as long as you have nice dresses, an air-conditioned room, and delicious food served to you in silver platters. Still, you came to me, oblivious, like nothing happened with a dopey smile on your hateful little face and asked me to be your friend? You should call me a saint that I didn't hammer you face on the dirt where it belongs. You're disgusting then, but now . . . I couldn't even find the words to describe you as all the negative words I could think fell short on what kind of a woman you are."

Evangeline's lips rose in mockery before she turned and left, leaving Angel shaken on her spot.

. . .

. . .

Minutes passed that Evangeline left, but Angel remained unmoving on her post, eyes never left where Evangeline had gone. Her mind was empty while her body lost its strength. The anger she bottled over time burst and being emptied.

She had her revenge, and she thought she would be satisfied. But all she felt was . . . emptiness.

She realized that she never wanted revenge. She just wanted Evangeline's acknowledgment.

She thought that if she stripped her of her riches, her family, reverse their roles, be the better woman between them, Evangeline would yearn for her approval. Just like she yearned for hers.

But she was clearly mistaking. Evangeline would never . . . they would never be more than enemies, not in the past, not in the present and certainly not in the future.

All of a sudden, her hatred died, and with it, her motivation. Without the hate, she was lost. It was her companion, her fuel. Revenge was what kept her brain ticking.

Without it . . . what would she do?