Chapter 3

"You really don’t know your place, do you?!" Sisca shouted. SMAAAACK! This old lady slapped me again. "Ma’am, please stop! Let’s talk about this calmly!" Eric yelled at Sisca. "AAAHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed as loud as I could, trying to release the tight, burning pressure in my chest. I kicked Sisca until she fell to the ground and yanked her hair out. "Are you going to stay quiet now or not?" I screamed right in front of her face. No one dared to stop me anymore. Maybe they were all shocked that I could go wild like a madwoman. Every time Sisca tried to fight back, she got another kick. "Mon... Monica... please, calm down..." Hitomi was completely panicked. "Come on... let’s go to the HR room, okay? We can talk this through," Hitomi suggested. I simply obeyed; I was exhausted. I dragged Sisca along, still holding her hair. "Monica... please, let go of Mrs. Sisca's hair first..." Hitomi pleaded. I turned to Hitomi. "Let her go? So she can hit me again? She’s already been let go this whole time, but all that happened was that I kept getting slapped. Do you think it doesn't hurt? Can you use your brain before you speak?" Hitomi only swallowed nervously, visibly frightened. The half-Japanese, half-Indonesian woman looked at Eric, silently hoping for help. "Eric... Help..." Hitomi muttered softly. The woman’s voice was barely audible. I shot a sharp glance at Eric, "Do you want to die?" "If you dare interfere, I will break her neck," I threatened Eric. Eric was stuck between a rock and a hard place. "Okay, Monica. Calm down... Calm down... We can talk this through. If you don't let her go, you'll get into trouble," Eric said, trying to calm me down. I stared at Eric in disbelief. "What did you just say? I’ll get into trouble? Why am I the one being blamed here?" "I'M THE VICTIM!!" I screamed hard. The whispering that had been going on earlier stopped. Monica, a quiet accounting staff member, could scream in anger. "This woman..." I said, still holding onto Sisca's hair. "Look carefully! You all look carefully! There are barely any injuries!" I yelled at everyone in the room. "You let this woman attack me! I’m the victim here! If I let go of this woman, she’ll keep hitting me like an animal chasing its prey. Do I have to die first before your eyes open?" "You’re all idiots! How did you graduate from college with such stupid brains?" I cursed at everyone in the room. I was completely disgusted! Even though I hated Sisca for attacking me blindly, I hated Rizal even more. Look at him! He just stands there, scared to even look at me. Coward! He cheated and trapped me, and now he just stands there as if he's some handsome man worth competing for. I really want to punch him as much as his wife punch me today. Hitomi, trembling with fear, continued to try and speak to me, her voice shaky. "Monica... Okay... You’re the victim, and Mrs. Sisca is the one at fault. Now, let go of her, okay? Let's talk this through," Hitomi begged, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are you deaf?" I growled, my words sharp as a knife. "I said I’d listen and talk, but I can't let go of this madwoman. She'll hit me again, I know it." "You deserve to be hit, let go of me!" Sisca struggled against me, but I didn’t hesitate. I drove my foot into her leg, making her collapse into silence. "But... let go first..." Hitomi's voice was a fragile whisper, barely audible, trembling with raw fear. Her eyes were wide, locked in terror. She was afraid of me now, but she had to step in, to try and restore order, keep the peace between me and Sisca, before everything spiraled completely out of control. "Can't you see this woman keeps cursing me? I won’t let her go. If you want to talk, let’s go to HR room now." Eric, standing frozen, couldn’t argue. He knew Monica was right. Sisca would keep hitting her, no matter what. "What if I hold Sisca back? I’ll make sure she can’t hurt you. If I do that, will you stop pulling her hair?" Eric’s voice was calm, but there was a razor-sharp edge to it. Sisca’s eyes burned with fury, her fists clenched, ready to strike. She was like a predator on the hunt, her rage palpable, thick in the air. I could feel the tension pressing against my chest, suffocating me. But I was exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. The last thing I wanted was to be the center of this twisted drama. I just wanted her gone. "Fine," I muttered through gritted teeth, nodding sharply, my resolve tightening like a vice. "Just... get her out of here." Eric’s response was swift and almost too eager. "Alright, I’ll hold her back. Let’s get to HR room." He stepped forward, grabbing Sisca firmly by the arm, his grip steady and unwavering. I could tell he had sensed the shift in my expression, in the storm that was brewing beneath my skin. "Enough... Enough... Get back to work..." Hitomi’s voice rang out, a commanding snap that sliced through the thick tension. The crowd that had gathered looked nervous, confused, almost afraid, but they dispersed quickly. The moment we stepped into the HR room, the tension clung to the air like smoke after a fire. I laid out the sequence of events to Hitomi, my voice steady, but every word carried the weight of humiliation and rage. Sisca sat across from me like a statue carved in malice, her silence broken only by venomous mutters. “You deserved to be hit. Would’ve been better if you died from it.” Her words were cold, deliberate. Each one cut like glass. Hitomi turned toward Eric, her face pale but composed. “As someone who saw what happened, at least part of it, was Monica telling the truth?” Her question felt like a courtroom verdict. Eric exhaled slowly. “Honestly, I just got there in time to pull them apart. I didn’t see how it started. I wasn’t around when Mrs. Sisca showed up.” I studied him carefully. He looked tired, but sane. “At least he’s not throwing gasoline on the fire,” I thought bitterly. Then, with theatrical flair, Sisca pulled out her evidence, the same photos or messages she had shoved in my face earlier, and handed them to Hitomi like they were a final blow. Hitomi’s expression shifted, a flicker of hesitation before pity seeped in. “The evidence is pretty clear, Monica. Why don’t you just confess?” I didn’t even flinch. I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. “Check it.” My hands were trembling, not from fear, but from exhaustion. “Don’t bother,” Sisca snapped. “She’s probably using a different phone. Or a burner number.” My blood boiled. “Why are you so obsessed with this? I told you before, I never had an affair with your husband! Someone set me up! It was all fake.” My voice was sharper now, laced with fury. “It was you!” she shrieked, jabbing her finger at me like a knife. “Tell me, Rizal! You did cheat with this woman, didn’t you?!” Everyone turned to Rizal. He just smiled. That same awkward, guilty little smile. He adjusted his crooked tie like none of this mattered. “I didn’t cheat. Just... go home,” he muttered. Empty. Weak. “What?!” Sisca’s voice cracked as she exploded. “You dare tell me to leave?!” “Enough... just go home. We’ll talk there.” He grabbed her arm, dragging her out like she was nothing more than a problem he wanted to disappear. The silence that followed was deafening. The storm hadn’t passed, it had just been moved behind another door. Hitomi turned to me, visibly shaken but trying to remain composed. “Monica... please go to the medical room. You need a treatment.” And for a moment, I just stood there, not moving—because deep down, I knew the wounds weren’t only on the surface. I feel like this conversation hasn’t given me any solution. *** I was on my way to the HR room after receiving the email. They said the incident from yesterday would be discussed again, this time, with the Head of HR present. A part of me felt… relieved. Maybe now, Sisca wouldn’t have another chance to explode like a madwoman. But the office wasn’t the same anymore. Ever since that day, the air around me felt heavier. The stares—sharp, silent, accusing. Words murmured just loud enough to stab. Judgments passed like poison in coffee cups. “Look... look… the w***e is walking...” A woman sneered to her friend. I didn’t even know them. Didn’t recognize their faces. Didn’t know which department they worked in. But their eyes said enough. I was guilty until proven innocent. “Things will get better once I talk to HR,” I whispered to myself, clutching onto that single thread of hope like a lifeline. I kept walking, head held high, but my body was heavy, like it knew the world wanted me to fall. And then— BRAAAKKK! My foot caught something. Or someone. The floor rushed up to meet me. I crashed down, hard. Pain shot up my wrist, and gasps echoed around me. Someone had tripped me. Deliberately. The whispers started again, but this time, louder. I didn’t need to look up to know they were smiling. "Who are you? Why did you trip me?" Once again, I was tripped by a woman I didn’t even know. "Sluts like you deserve it." Her voice was calm. Icy. Venomous. "You!!" I could feel my hands curling into fists. "What? You wanna grab my hair? Go ahead, try it!" she sneered. "I’ll make sure you get a warning letter the moment you lay a finger on me." She smiled confidently, cruel, and walked away like she had just stepped on trash. I clenched my jaw, biting down the fury that boiled in my throat. All I could do was mutter under my breath, trying to pick myself up. "This misunderstanding will be cleared up soon… It’ll all be over soon…" I repeated the words like a mantra, as if saying them enough would make them true. When I finally arrived at the HR office, the Head of HR and Hitomi were already inside. I greeted them, forcing a polite smile. They didn’t even look at me. What happened?