Middle Child Syndrome - Chapter 352

Chapter 352: Ch 352: Like a doll
Rika felt so comfortable in the bed that she did not want to wake up.

Her body continued to force her to wake up, but Rika kept finding excuses not to leave her bed until she gave up and ran out of them.

“You should rest more. You have not recovered enough. What if you relapse again, and there is no one around to help you out?”

Emily asked with an unhappy expression.

Rika felt that Emily was giving her the perfect excuse not to get up, but even still, she could not do that.

“It’s fine! I need to get to work now before I am late. I will call you if I feel like I am going to collapse. You don’t have to look this worried.”

Rika assured Emily, but she could tell that the older was still worried. There was no way for her to reassure Emily, so Rika gave up on it and quickly got ready.

Emily had some clothes in Rika’s size for these occasions, so Rika grabbed an outfit and quickly changed into it.

Once she was ready, it was time to head out.

By the time Damian stirred, Rika was long gone.

…

People were still avoiding Rika when she stepped into the office. She could see how they all looked at her and whispered before quickly turning tail and running away. No one wanted to try to get to know her anymore.

‘Tsk, it’s all because of Mark. He is the reason I am like this. If not for him, my fellow workers would have no problem approaching me.’

Rika knew Mark was not the only one causing this situation to arise; he also had a significant role in it.

Even now, her brother was looking inside the room through the two-way mirror, making Rika and the other employees nervous to raise their heads and look his way.

‘Enough is enough. I should not acknowledge this. If I do, then I will cause myself trouble.’

Rika did her best not to look out and see her brother, but it seemed impossible under all the pressure.

She finally let out a relieved sigh as soon as her brother looked elsewhere. She hurriedly dashed out to escape all this pressure as quickly as possible.

Mark made a headline for her, but Rika picked up her speed as soon as she noticed.

Zhu Li was waiting for her at the same spot she had been waiting for the previous day. As soon as he noticed her, he gestured for Rika to come to him, but Rika quickly stalked toward him and sat down.

“Get moving! Hurry! Otherwise, Mark will catch up to us. He has been following me around for some time now.”

Zhu Li opened his mouth, likely to ask questions, but he closed it as soon as he saw the hardened look on Lisa’s face.

Before they knew it, the pair was out of the way, and Mark could only look at their back with a bitter look in his eyes.

“Your brother is trying hard to make it up to you. Don’t you think it’s time to give him a chance?”

Zhu Li asked in an amused voice.

“Sure! I would have given him a chance if he was doing this out of anything but guilt. Guilt is a fickle emotion that can change any second. Who knows when it might turn into anger and come back to bite me? I don’t want to risk it.”

Rika was serious about it, but Zhu Li just laughed her words off. It must be nice to be this carefree and casual. Rika knew she had lost her opportunity to be like this ages ago.

“Oh! This is funny! But let’s not worry too much about all this. Just focus on what needs to be done. And for you, it’s the upcoming party, right? You need to focus on it to keep up with my uncle.”

Zhu Li warned Rika and tried to make her feel better at the same time.

Rika stopped quickly, paying attention to the other teen, and focused on what was happening outside the window. She was tired of talking to Zhu Li now.

They quickly reached the base, and Rika spoke to Ren Li first. But the dominant alpha was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, she was taken away by a stylist and a dress designer to be fitter for the show.

Somehow, these people had her perfect measurements and shades because they finished with Rika within an hour.

She did not want to question how these people did this, but it was apparent that much illegal data mining had been involved.

By the time Ren Li returned, Rika did not feel like herself anymore. She felt like a doll dressed up in clothes that belonged to someone else.

“I will let you know that I have never owned anything this fancy and flashing. I look like a kid pretending to be a grown-up in this.”

Rika complained as she looked at the man holding his hand out to her.

The dominant alpha was dressed in black and red, a perfect combination of sharp and dangerous. He also gave off the tense air, and his mere presence made Rika’s instincts yell at her in shocked surprise.

“Don’t look so startled. Even if you look like a doll dressed like this, you are my doll tonight. Not one will mess with you if they know what is good for you.”

Ren Li looked years younger now (not that he had looked old before). It was easy to see why he was the leader here.

‘I need to be careful with this man. He is not as easy to deal with as he is pretending to be. I am sure he is hiding many secrets behind his smile.’

Rika felt shivers travel down her spine, but she ignored them and put her hand in the extended hand.

It was time for the show to start; she needed to be perfect to make this work.