Chapter 298: It’s Just Not Worth It
Red and Vodka, who were casually smoking on their front lawn, looked up. Their brows tightened when they saw Betty advancing toward them.
"Uh, Red?" Vodka puffed smoke into the air. "Is that woman heading here?"
Red narrowed his eyes and hummed. "Seems like it."
The duo, however, continued smoking until Betty reached their gate. She pushed it open aggressively, earning a frown from both of them.
"What the hell?" Red muttered. "First, she comes and goes here like it’s her home. And now, her assistant is acting the same."
Vodka leaned toward him. "It’s secretary."
"What’s the difference?"
Before the two could continue discussing the difference between an assistant and a secretary, Betty huffed angrily. Her fists trembled at her sides as she glared at them.
"What are you two doing here?" She asked through gritted teeth. "Shouldn’t you be somewhere else?"
"Huh?" Both Vodka and Red scrunched up their noses.
They glanced at each other and shrugged, dragging on their cigarettes unhurriedly. Compared to her, they were far too relaxed.
Betty shouldn’t have asked because she already had a guess.
Still, she was in disbelief. This was not what she expected from them.
Just then, the front door opened.
She instinctively snapped her eyes toward it, catching Rum, Tank, and Gin walking out. They stopped at the small front porch the moment they saw Betty standing before Red and Vodka.
"What’s going on here?" Gin asked, only for Betty to fire back,
"You three are here too?"
Rum blinked. "Yeah, but we’re about to head out and play some games."
"Games?" Betty scoffed, her chest swelling with anger.
Glaring at Red and Vodka, she swiftly grabbed the cigarettes clipped between their lips. In the process, she scalded her hand, but the frustration burning inside her numbed the pain for a moment.
Throwing the cigarettes onto the concrete path, she stomped on them with her mismatched slippers and crushed them beneath her feet.
"Hey!" Red barked. "What the hell?"
Vodka, meanwhile, frowned deeply.
As for the others, they could only stare at her in confusion.
"You guys..." she breathed out, her eyes blazing with rage. "Both of you, get up!"
When Red and Vodka didn’t move, she grabbed their arms and yanked them up with all her strength.
"What the—" Red resisted mildly, but with how aggressive she was, he still rose to his feet before she nearly stumbled on her own. Vodka also stood up, though the frown on his face deepened further.
"You guys... do you really think you have time to sit here, chill, and think about playing games?" she grumbled.
And before they could answer, she started pushing and dragging them back toward the house.
"Woah, woah!" Rum raised his hands to his chest as the three got closer. "Chill, girl! What the hell? Is this who you are when you’re on your period?!"
"Is this really how you’re going to act at a time like this?!" she snapped at him, finally letting Red and Vodka go.
Betty’s eyes stung as she looked at them with equal parts frustration and disappointment.
"Do you guys even know what’s happening in Dominion right now?" she asked, her anger nearly making her tear up. "Do you!?"
Hearing that, their expressions darkened with frustration.
Seeing the shift in their faces, Betty almost screamed. "You knew, and you’re still here? Why?!"
"Why?" This time, Red repeated her question. "What does that mean? Why are we here and not there?"
He scoffed and looked at her sharply. "Hey, just because you’re called a secretary doesn’t mean you can talk to us like this."
"And why not?" Betty’s face twitched as her shoulders tensed. "What makes you better than me?"
"This little maid sure let her little promotion get to her head." Red laughed, glancing at the others.
But unlike him, no one else laughed. They merely looked at him before shifting their gazes back to Betty.
Just when they thought that would be enough to make her back off, Betty took one large step forward and grabbed Red by the collar.
"And why shouldn’t it?" Betty asked under her breath, glaring at him with murderous intent. "I am the Madam’s assistant. Why shouldn’t it get into my head when the person I work for is the Madam of Dominion?"
Red frowned as he glanced at her hand clutching his shirt. "Get your hands off me. I’m asking you once... don’t blame me if I break it."
But Betty didn’t let go. Instead, her fiery eyes remained locked on him.
"If you have the energy to break my arm, then maybe use that energy on the people trying to get their hands on her and tear her apart," she said in a shaky breath, staring at Red sternly. "You guys know the master isn’t in his best condition, and more than I do, you know what that means."
Betty felt like she was choking on her anger, but she forced herself to stay composed.
"Once the master falls—or even shows a moment of weakness—you... of all people..." she trailed off, her gaze sweeping over the others before returning to Red. "...know that she’ll be on her own."
Her breath hitched. "But instead of standing beside her, you’re here smoking and talking about going out to play? Proving that she was right all along? Hah! What pathetic jerks."
Betty finally let go of Red and stepped back, still glaring at them fiercely.
"I thought you guys had finally given her a chance since you seemed to care," she continued with a mocking laugh. "But I guess I was wrong. You guys were just on high alert—not because you cared she might get abducted, but because you were afraid it would reflect badly on your records."
She shook her head. "Before you leave to play, I suggest you pack your things. This mere former maid can do something as simple as reassigning you to another post. You guys... don’t deserve to be here at all."
With that, Betty turned her back on them, only to stop at Red’s remark.
"Don’t get emotional and take this personally," Red said. "In a situation like this, we can’t just throw away years of hard work for someone who gave her own security an empty house. It’s just not worth it."
