Chapter 77 Hill's party

(Lena's POV)
I simply could not understand what was going on in Raphael's mind.
He was still very strong. And now, Rafael was no longer looking at me the way he did a moment ago. His eyes became more oppressive, which made me feel some fear.
However, when I think of how gentle Raphael once was with me, I mentally reassure myself not to worry too much.
I gave Rafael a soft laugh, "What are you going to do to me, my dear? You're making me feel uncomfortable by pressing against me like that."
Raphael didn't say anything, he reached out and gently stroked my hair. When I thought Raphael was about to let go of me, he suddenly kissed me.
The kiss was very gentle, but it didn't take long for the kiss to become more and more dominant. He made it impossible for me to breathe, my body trembled violently, and even when I tried to push Rafael away, Rafael was able to hold me in check easily.
At this moment, I feel my fear.
I want to escape from here.
This scene suddenly became somewhat familiar, but at this time I simply do not have the spirit to think more, I only think about how to escape Raphael.
When Rafael stopped, I shouted, "Rafael, are you crazy? You can't do this to me."
"Lena, you are my wife."
The word "wife" stabbed me in the heart. If Raphael didn't give me enough respect, how could I be his wife?
I had thought Raphael was good enough for me, but just when I was about to move on, Raphael dealt me a hard blow, and
"I'm not! It's all in your head, Rafael, I never admitted to our relationship!" My voice began to tremble, but Raphael looked at me indifferently, he didn't seem to have any reaction to it.
My heart began to grow desperate.
Then I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his face again.
I shouldn't feel sadness, I should feel anger, but besides anger, sadness overwhelmed me viciously. I must admit that I couldn't face such Raphael, I shouldn't have such emotions towards Raphael.
But that's the truth, I'm sad, I'm sad enough to cry.
I knew there was no way I could break free of Raphael, so I stopped struggling and my head lolled to the side, tears slipping from inside my eyes.
All of them no longer matter.
But this time Raphael let go of me.
He pulled me up and then took my whole body into his arms.
"I'm sorry, Lena, I'm sorry."
When I heard Raphael apologize to me, I was just relieved.
I simply could not control my tears, they flowed down in large quantities and wet Raphael's clothes.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I questioned in a hoarse voice.
Why do you do this to me?
What did I do wrong?
I love you like this, I believe in you like this. But in the end, you made me lose completely first.
I don't know why I suddenly had such a thought.
Raphael held me tightly in his arms, then he tenderly wiped away the tears on my cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Lena, you'll understand me later."
In the end, Raphael didn't explain to me why he suddenly became so strange.
When I had finished all my work, I didn't stay with him any longer.
Our relationship seemed to have gotten worse, mainly because I had been avoiding Rafael and I was afraid that something like that would happen again. But after that day, the matter became a problem for me. Every night, I would wake up in my dreams.
In the dream, Raphael forced me to do something I didn't like to do.
Such feelings made me more and more intimidated, and I was not afraid to live with Raphael.
I still can't leave that house because of Jamie's presence.
And the rumors inside the company have been getting worse.
Before, Raphael intervened on my behalf to solve the problem, but the rumors did not get stopped, but became increasingly strange, to the point that even I could not bear to continue to hear the content of the rumors.
A week later, Hill Group was to hold a party due to some leadership changes.
These days Rafael has been preparing for this and there is less and less communication between us. Of course, this was not a good thing for me either, because I wanted to know why Rafael was doing this to me.
This situation dragged on until the day of the party.
I rarely get my work done early and don't have a ton of work weighing on me. Tonight, I hope I can enjoy a nice party.
The Hill Group is arguably the most established company in all of New York. However, they rarely hold such internal parties.
Jerry looked so excited that he asked me to be his dance partner for the night, but I declined.
"Because you're worried about Mr. Raphael?"
That's certainly part of the reason, but I don't want Jerry, because of me, to be implicated.
I'm sure Jerry wouldn't be happy if I explained it to him like that.
So I had to laugh a little and then explained, "That's right."
I say that this is enough, the problem has been solved.
Once the evening started, the atmosphere was electric.
My mood relaxed for a rare moment.
Jerry handed me a glass of red wine. Of course, I was well aware of the relationship between the two of us, because not long ago, I had drawn the line with Jerry. He knows that my feelings for him are just ordinary friends, so he has no more thoughts about me now. That's something I'm happy to see.
"I'm going to try to invite Tina."
Tina is a very lively little girl, and Jerry likes her a lot.
"I wish you success."
Jerry took another sip of his drink. I knew that this was just his way of cheering himself up.
I tried hard to encourage Jerry to pursue his happiness.
After I persuaded him for the third time, he finally mustered up the courage to thank God.
When I was on my own, I had to watch out for people who were always hostile to me.
For example, Safina, like Debbie.
The two stayed together all the time, showed up together, worked together, got me in trouble together, and this got worse and worse in the end.
Of course, the others didn't bother, and they didn't want to get into trouble, so they turned a blind eye to the matter. I understand that everyone wants to protect themselves, but I now have to be brave enough to face it all.
Sure enough, by the time Jerry left, Debbie came over.
"Good evening."
Debbie's tone was very harsh and her makeup was very heavy, which made her look very badass.
Debbie did. I gave her a look, said nothing, and turned to leave.
But at this time, Safina stood in my way.
"I thought you would come to this party with a different identity, I didn't expect that." Safina looked me up and down again with eyes I hated.
"What do you think I should be?"
"I suppose you've heard the rumors?"
I had certainly heard the rumors that my relationship with Rafael was unusual, that I had been abandoned by Rafael, that we both had a very bad relationship.
There are more outrageous rumors, of course, I did not care about all of them, but just remembered a few heard more than the other.
I shrugged, and then I skimmed Safina.
"Which one are you talking about?"
"Seriously, Lena, when Mr. Raphael stood up for you, I thought how strong the two of you were. I never thought that you would end up back here."
Debbie suddenly walked up to me and she looked at me in a mocking tone and said.
"What? Lena, all those old tricks don't work anymore? Mr. Raphael has lost interest in you now, right?"
Debbie's tone is indeed irritating, but I've met plenty of people like that. I don't intend to care about the words.
She thought wrong.
I let out a soft laugh and then walked over to Debbie. "Debbie, you must be reminded that you had better think carefully about your job or I may do more of your work for you in the future."
I was so happy to see Debbie's face turn a little ugly.
"Moreover, I have heard some people say before that the company will lay off staff recently, whether you will be included in it or not, I don't know."
Debbie looked very angry and she reached out her hand to push me, but at this time, Sophina Jo pulled her back.
At least Sophina seems to have some more brains than Debbie.
I surveyed the two of them with a cold gaze and did not mean to dwell on it.
"Calm down, honey." Sophina calmed Debbie down and then looked over at me.
"Lena, Mr. Rafael doesn't like people who like to cause too much trouble."
"Don't you know him better than I do?"
"Of course, I don't know Mr. Raphael, except that Lena knows you well."
My eyes narrowed when I saw the confident look of Safina.
"What do you mean?"
"We all know you don't have a great relationship with Mr. Raphael, but that's no reason for you to mess with other people."
Safina walked up to me. She sized me up, her gaze a little too much.
"Jerry likes you, or at least he did before, I'm well aware of that."
"And do you know who Jerry likes now?"
Sofina looked down at me, and there was a flash of resentment in her gaze.
I looked at her indifferently and continued, "He doesn't like you anyway."
"We're talking about you, Lena, don't derail the conversation."
"You go on."
"After you seduce Jerry, you'll continue to seduce others."
"I didn't."
"Whether you have or not, the facts will prove everything, but when the time comes, I'm still curious to know how exactly Mr. Raphael will punish you?"
I turned around and stood in front of Safina.
"I don't need to be told what to do."