Two Reborn, One Throne novel Chapter 25

After returning to their small apartment, Arthur went straight back to the hospital to take care of Grace.

Amber didn't bother stopping him. The only thing that would wake her dad up was hitting rock bottom, and she wasn't in a rush. Her most pressing priority right now was tomorrow's interview.

Because she had dropped her backpack and rushed straight to the hospital the moment she got home, she hadn't prepared her interview outfit yet. Still, she was just a graduating high school senior; she didn't need to dress up as elaborately as she had in her past life.

However, Sharif was a man who placed heavy emphasis on presentation. You could be broke, but you had to be clean and put-together.

In her past life, her first encounter with Sharif hadn't gone well. To this day, Amber remembered how—even when she later became his business rival—he always looked down his nose at her. She would never forget his brutal comment: "Where did this beggar come from? Toss her some spare change and get her out of here."

It still made Amber furious. That day had easily been the unluckiest of her professional career. She had secured an incredible project just so Lucian could use it to gain a prestigious internship at Madison Group. But her direct supervisor—who happened to be a massive kiss-ass for Sharif—had stolen her project to claim the credit.

Fresh out of college and totally fearless, Amber had fought the credit-stealing supervisor tooth and nail, resulting in security dragging her out of the building across the floor. It had been pouring rain, leaving her drenched, filthy, and completely pathetic. And, of course, Sharif had witnessed the whole thing.

She still remembered the look in his eyes—utterly aloof, staring at her as if she were an insect.

Later, even when she endured endless humiliation for Lucian's sake, working as Sharif's secretary for three grueling years before inevitably turning on him to co-found a rival company with Lucian and stealing his market share, Amber had never quite been able to let it go.

Lucian loved the color white. Sharif loved pink. Naturally, most of Amber's professional wardrobe consisted of white blouses. Once, at a corporate gala, Amber was just doing her job when Sharif fixed her with a freezing glare.

He had asked, "Are you here for a funeral?" and "Are you eighty years old?"

Amber hadn't had a clue how she'd offended him. In the end, he dragged her to a luxury boutique and bought her a massive pile of bright, vividly colored clothes, bags, dresses, and shoes.

Thanks to Sharif, her fashion sense actually improved drastically. But Amber knew better than to owe him favors, especially since his moods were so unpredictable. She worried about office gossip and didn't want Lucian getting the wrong idea.

So, she tried to refuse the gifts. Sharif, however, didn't let her.

He somehow understood the struggles of a broke, entry-level rookie. So, he offered a compromise: he would "rent" her the clothes, bags, shoes, and jewelry for ten bucks a day, giving her enough pieces to never repeat an outfit for a full week.

He had taught her so much. Amber remembered the day she handed in her resignation. Her heart had actually ached, but she felt she had no choice. She loved Lucian, and they had a pact to start a business together.

She thought Sharif would reject her resignation. Instead, she received her approved notice—along with a generous financial bonus from him to fund her startup.

Amber opened her closet. She didn't own many pink clothes. In fact, she only had one pink hoodie, bought by her dad as a reward for getting into high school. She had barely worn it. It might sound laughable, but she even kept the original plastic cover over it to keep it pristine.

She didn't have many clothes in general. Grace always claimed teenagers grew too fast and buying new clothes was a waste of money. Amber had even worn hand-me-downs from older girls in the neighborhood.

Kids living paycheck to paycheck grew up exactly like that, and Amber had never felt there was anything wrong with it. She took the hoodie out, carefully hand-washed it to ensure it didn't smell musty, and spun it dry. Tomorrow, she would throw her hair into a high ponytail, wear this hoodie, and go to the interview. Hopefully, in this life, her first meeting with Sharif wouldn't be quite so humiliating.