Chapter 62: Feared By The Entire Office

The next day, Elena went to the branch office. As the car pulled up to the office building, Elena straightened her spine and set her jaw. No matter what sort of rumors or gossip was swirling, she would not cower or shrink away. If anything, her actions last night proved her strength in the face of horrible mistreatment. Elena strode through the lobby towards the elevator bank, her heels clicking defiantly against the marble floors. She could already feel the weight of wary glances and quickly averted eyes from employees milling about. Word had clearly spread about an incident involving her. In the elevator, she was greeted with hushed "good mornings" from other riders, their tones a mixture of politeness and caution. Elena simply gave the briefest of nods in return, standing ramrod straight as she focused on the ascending floor numbers. When she finally reached her department, the atmosphere was thick with tension. Elena's colleagues not-so-surreptitiously stopped their