CHAPTER NINE - ROASTED.

" Dónde Estás?!" Rosa was whisper yelling from the other side of the phone. Isabella was panting, as she almost sprinted to the elevator. Everyone's eyes had been on her as she ran through the lobby and reception area of the office building, but she had been too busy trying to save herself to notice. On a normal day, Isabella would have hated the attention and tried to become inconspicuous, or blend in with the environment or others. She came to a stop in front of the elevator and pressed down frantically on the button that calls for the elevator. " En El ascensor," Isabella panted into her phone as the elevator tinged open, and she hurried inside. Thankfully, the elevator shaft was empty. Isabella pressed the key for the last floor of the building and lowered herself slowly to the floor of the elevator. She cradled the arm that had a crawl wound on its shoulder to her chest, her lips wobbling as she tried to endure the pain that driving and running with her had caused. Her thigh wasn't left out either, there was a burning pain down there. Maybe she shouldn't have worn a A-line skirt; it was pressing on the wound and making it almost impossible to walk without feeling pain. Sitting there on the elevator floor cradling her arm, the pain slowly began to subside. Isabella stood slowly from the floor, glancing up at the changing numbers on the floor display . She was almost there. Straightening, Isabella adjusted her clothes; smoothing out wrinkles and any dust that had gotten on it. She picked up her bag from the floor just as the elevator tinged open. She did her best to walk fast without disturbing the wound on a thigh a lot, but the efforts were futile. Maybe it was because of the run downstairs, but taking even a step hurt now. She walked to get desk regardless, Rosa walking up to her desk the moment she dropped her handbag on her table. " Miss. Bella, Mr. Sanchez asked you to see him in his office the moment you get here," she informed. " I think it has to..." The intercom on Isabella's desk buzzed and she picked it immediately. It was Mr. Sanchez. " My office, now!" The line went death. Isabella sighed, her heart picking up pace once again. With the way a lot of things had been happening that made her heart jump or race, Isabella was sure she would have a heart attack pretty soon. I really don't fancy a scolding this morning. Quiet please, Isabella begged the voice in her head. I'm already in his bad books, I can't afford to anger him further. Whatever. You have always been a pussy, anyway. Isabella didn't reply. That was the best way to keep the voice quiet, sometimes anyway - Let her have the last words. " We will talk later, Rosa." Isabella made her way to the office of the CEO of Navarre Hospitality, whom she happened to be the secretary of. Isabella had no idea why he had chosen that name for his company, when he clearly made loads of profit from the business. It was not as if the company allowed people stay at their hotels and resorts for free. Isabella knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open the moment she heard the terse " Come in." She walked into the office, closing the door behind her gently. Mr. Sanchez lifted his gaze from the file in front of him and leveled a look of disgust on her. " Why are you coming to work now?" He asked. Isabella swallowed around the knot in her throat. "I... I couldn't ..." " Let me guess, you were frolicking around last night and was only able to come back at the wee hour of the morning," Mr. Sanchez clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. " You poor thing, you must have been so tired and slept in." Isabella stared wide-eyed at him, her mouth parting slightly. Mr. Sanchez scoffed, standing from behind his desk. " What? You thought I wouldn't know?" He came to a stop in front of Isabella. " Maybe I should let you know that the fact that I'm away from my house doesn't mean that I don't know what's going on there." He warned. Isabella's eyes darted between his eyes. Ivie must have told him about her coming back in the early hour of the morning, she was the only one that saw her come in. " You good for nothing fool," Mr. Sanchez spat at her. " The next time you stay out late in my house, destroying and dragging this family's name through the mud, is the day that you cease being part of this family, got it?" Isabella nodded, lowering her head slightly. " Worthless thing. You can't even keep a decent man and you are no good at work, either. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Diego broke up the engagement because of your stupidity!" Tears sprang into Isabella's eyes, but she refused to let it fall. Her head was down, so he won't be able to see how much he was hurting her. " Let me spell this out for you; the sooner you find a decent young man to marry you and bring some value to this family, the better for you and your just as useless mother," Mr. Sanchez walked closer and placed a hand on her shoulders. " Do you want me to stop taking care of her bills? I mean, she's as good as dead already, don't you think?" Isabella's breath caught. It was a warning and she knew it. It practically meant; behave or I would cut your mother off from the land of the living. Isabella's fingers closed into tight fists and she made no attempt to answer. Answering would only make things worse when it came to Mr. Sanchez. He walked back to his desk and picked up some papers from the it. Turning back to Isabella, he flunked it at her. The papers hit her on the face and fluttered to the floor. " Take those damn papers and do the needful!" He berated. " You have been working here since forever and yet, you can't even balance the flow of money. I want those papers back on my desk in an hour, Maximum!" " Yes, Sir," Isabella answered, going on her knees to pick the papers up. " Worthless!" Mr. Sanchez spat and went to sit back on his seat. Just as his butts touched the seat, the door of his office pushed open and an elegantly dressed young lady walked in. She was all smiles. " Papa!" She called out. Isabella froze where she was on the floor. Only one person had that voice and only one other person could call the man sitting not too far from her, 'Papa', as she did. Isabella turned slowly to see the person that just walked into the office, and just as she thought; It was Natalia. She was dunked out in jewelries, just as she always was.