Chapter 16

Who she might've offended? Leon was the only person Victoria could think of. No one else could have the ability to meddle in her interviews. She anxiously grabbed her phone and called him as her hatred for him reached its peak. "Hello, who's this?" A flat emotionless voice answered. It was the secretary. Victoria was utterly confused. She glanced at the number she'd dialed and confirmed it was Leon's private number. Why had his secretary answered? "Victoria speaking. I need to speak to Leon." She had no time to dwell on it. Right now, she just wanted answers. The secretary glanced at Leon, who was seated in his chair. After receiving his silent instruction, she unhurriedly replied, "Mr. Quigley is in a meeting, and it ends in two hours. If you have a message, I can relay it for you." "He's right next to you," Victoria firmly stated. Leon would never give anyone his private phone, not even his secretary. The secretary instinctively looked toward Leon, who took the phone and motioned for her to leave. It was only after she left that he said, "I thought my secretary's response would make it clear that I don't want to take your calls." "If you hadn't ruined my job search, I wouldn't have called you either," Victoria bluntly replied. Then, she questioned, "Why did you make sure I was rejected from every job?" "What job?" he asked. "Drop the act." "If you were rejected, you should reflect on whether you're qualified instead of putting the blame on me. You've been out of the workforce for five years, and it makes sense for employers to reject you," Leon coldly said. Victoria didn't believe a word of it. "Are you seriously saying you didn't interfere?" "I didn't," Leon replied almost instantly. "I simply told them not to lower their standards for my sake. You're not Mrs. Quigley anymore, so there's no need to give you special treatment." He hadn't explicitly said anything against her, but the effect seemed greater than if he had. People in his circle were smart enough to understand the hidden implication in his words. "Is this fun for you?" Victoria couldn't understand why he was so determined to make things difficult for her when he was the cheater who'd agreed to the divorce. Why was he still making her life miserable? "What?" Leon didn't quite catch that. Victoria hung up and knew that it was pointless to say more. She realized that finding a job she wanted would be nearly impossible. Then, a buzz came from her phone. It was a text from Leon. "If you really want a job, I can lower the standards for the sake of our past marriage and have you work at Quigley Corporation." She didn't reply and knew he just wanted to make things harder for her. With no choice, she had to start over. She started eliminating any company that had worked with Leon or was in the same industry. This left her with only a few small and mid-sized enterprises to choose from. After submitting her résumé again, she focused on finding a new apartment. … One day, she'd just finished viewing a place and was on her way home. Before arriving at her door, she saw Eva waiting outside. As she passed, Eva blocked her path and said, "Let's talk." "I have nothing to say to someone who knowingly gets involved with a married man." Victoria shoved past her and stepped in. "I know that Leon didn't give you a single dollar in divorce, so you're in need of money right now." Eva stepped forward in her high heels. Her outfit was this season's latest limited edition. Then, she continued, "As long as you leave Jonridge with your child, the one million dollars in the card is yours."