Chapter 16: First Stage

Tania||

Everything else they said after then was a blur. It was as if a part of me was levitating outside of my body.

Eloise was crazy?!

I couldn't wrap my head around the thought.

What had that bastard done to my little girl?

I was consumed with the need to wrap my arms around her and protect her from that monster.

"Miss Simmons?" I heard my name echoing in the background.

—It took a lot for me to be able to bring myself back to the present.

"Miss Simmons, if you do not answer this question, you're going to be disqualified. We do not tolerate such behaviours in this company. You can go and wallow in your self-pity and daydream elsewhere but not here." The woman who had broken the news on Eloise's mental health chastised me.

I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry. I totally zoned out for a minute there," I said as I nervously smoothed out invisible creases on my skirt.

"You might as well go home then. We can't hire someone who would zone out on the job." The woman spoke sarcastically.

"I'm