Page 1 of Cruel Bratva King

Chapter 1 - Lilianna

“You’re fired!”

I stared at my boss, my mind blank and my blood frozen as I struggled to understand what he said.You’re fired,played on a loop in my head. Yet, I couldn’t make any meaning out of those words, and if I did, I refused to believe that he was firing me.

I’d worked for Jenkins law firm for four years, five months, three weeks, and five days. That was how much time of my life I’d dedicated to working here. Compared to the other lawyers, I had only lost what I considered a reasonable amount of cases.

The case today being one of them.

My eyes darted to the black digital alarm clock on his mahogany desk. It was only ten minutes past eleven, yet I’d already had what I concluded was the worst day of my twenty-six years of life.

As if waking up to find my twelve-year-old Persian cat dead wasn’t enough misery for one day, I’d lost a huge case in court this morning because my client withheld a substantial piece of information from me.

And now I was being fired.

“Get the hell out of my office,” Mr. Jenkins added, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I took a deep breath, reminding myself to remain calm. I was a lawyer, and he was my boss. The last thing I wanted was to lose my cool and make matters worse. “I’m sorry I lost the case, Mr. Jenkins.” Another deep breath. “But I don’t think I should be blamed for what happened in court. We only lost because Mr. Conner wasn’t entirely honest…”

“So you’re saying it’s his fault?” Mr. Jenkins asked, his blue eyes glaring poison at me. With the way he was frowning, I was afraid he’d age ten years in a matter of ten minutes.

My client, Mr. Conner, was the billionaire owner of a multi-million automotive company. To evade his taxes, he’d falsified information on his tax return to limit his tax liability amount, which had put him—us—on the losing side against the plaintiff.

It was his fault we’d lost, and Mr. Jenkins was well aware of that, but he wasn’t going to admit it. “I’m sorry, sir.”

Mr. Jenkins loosened the knot on his tie. “Good. Now get your sorry ass out of my office and turn in your resignation letter.”

My hands dropped at my sides, clenching into fists. My resolve to remain calm was diminishing as anger spiraled to my chest. Jenkins wasn’t the easiest person to work with, yet I’d licked his ass for the past four years, swallowing his subtle insults and letting him get away with his toxic boss behavior despite how low his pay was.

I couldn’t believe he was kicking me out like this.

“Don’t you think this is unfair?” I heard myself ask, my voice almost a growl.

“What?”

“Don’t you think it’s unfair for you to kick me out of the firm this way?” I repeated. “It isn’t my fault Mr. Conner tried to evade his taxes.”

Mr. Jenkins snarled. “Are you talking back at me?”

“I am.” I neared his desk and slammed my hand on it. “If you hate losing a court case that much then you shouldn’t defend shitty clients in court, don’t you think so?”

“Lilianna…”

“I quit,” I cut him off. “You are a terrible boss, I hated working for you, and I earned nothing working for you.” I turned around and stormed out of the office, my chest weightless with relief.

My relief was short-lived, though, because an hour later, I was standing on the front porch of my apartment, reading a notice from my landlord demanding that I pay my rent or vacate the apartment in two weeks.

There had to be a mistake, though. I’d paid my rent religiously every single month. It was impossible that I’d fallen behind on my rent unless…Fuck, unless Derrick hadn’t paid the rent to the landlord.

I’d shared this apartment with my ex-boyfriend, Derrick, for two years before our rough breakup a month ago. The apartment was under his name, and I’d transferred my half of his rent to his account.

My anger returned tenfold as I rummaged through my handbag for the key to the apartment. When I found it, I opened the door and skedaddled inside, looking from one corner of the apartment to the other.

My dead cat, Lila, used to be at the front door, yawning and stretching whenever I came home. Cats were supposed to be reticent animals, but my Lila wasn’t. She loved to play and lie on my lap a lot.

My grandma gifted her to me twelve years ago on my fourteenth birthday, and she’d been by my side ever since. Tears prickled in my eyes as I stared at the empty front door. The apartment felt lonely without her.

I miss you so much, Lila.

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