At first, Reilei remained silent and listened to Wendell ramble on about how generous and kind he was being for gifting her this opportunity. Then, every few moments, Genesis would chime in like a broken record and further boost Wendell's ego.
Seeing and hearing this made Reilei sick to her stomach. She could not believe that her son was once friends with the two of them, let alone romantically involved with someone like Genesis. If only she had noticed things sooner and not been so consumed by work, she could have seen the two of them for what they truly were.
Even if this was before when she was still working three jobs and never had any days off, Reilei's answer would remain unchanged.
"No..." Reilei said in a low voice in the middle of Wendell speaking.
"The two of you can even live in one of my spare rooms. You should feel honored that I-" Wendell was making himself out to be a saint, however, he heard a word escape from Reilei's mouth that he was sure just him hearing things. He immediately stopped speaking and looked at Reilei with a smile plastered onto his face.
"I couldn't quite hear you well with all this noise around, but I believe I may have misheard you. Truly, it must be some kind of misundersta-" Wendell spoke in an overly friendly manner.
"No." Reilei said with a bit more volume to her voice this time. It was not a yell, but rather it was still loud enough for both Wendell and Genesis to hear clearly this time without any room for misunderstanding.
Both Wendell and Genesis were baffled and dumbfounded. No? Did she just decline his offer? The two of them stood there in a state of disbelief. However, a few moments later, the coldness could be seen in both of their eyes. Being turned down by some poor nobody like Reilei infuriated them!
It was as if Wendell and Genesis had forgotten over the past few years that they had not always possessed their current amount of wealth.
Usually, Reilei would simply walk away from situations like this. She disliked confrontations and believed that everything could be solved peacefully if given time. But, for some reason, something was tugging at her on the inside that prevented her from doing so.
Maybe she was finally tired of being the one to walk away without uttering a word? Maybe she was fed up with her son and herself being treated as if they were worth nothing? Tired of the constant tears that she shed. She herself was unsure, however, one thing was for certain.
Reilei did not know why, but she felt as if she no longer had to run away. She no longer had to be the one to compromise every single time. Then, as she stood there and listened to Wendell spewing out such blatant lies and self-empowering words, she could not help but think back to those words Jin said to her that day with a reassuring smile on his face.
"How could you not be allowed to be happy? If you do not deserve to be happy, then this is a world that does not deserve you." Those were the exact words Jin spoke to her. Right now, she was not happy with the way Wendell and Genesis were behaving, therefore, why should she allow herself to remain that way?
But, one thing that Reilei did not know was that this newfound confidence was not solely her own doing. That small piece of soul that contained a boundless amount of power had been infused with her own soul helping her find that confidence within herself.
A soul was more than just a form of energy, it represented a way and meaning of life. Needless to say, a cultivator like Izroth possessed a soul that was without equal back in terms of purity back in the Seven Realms and even now.
While a soul did not drastically alter one's personality, it would still influence a person on a subconscious level without he or she realizing it. In other words, Reilei always had this confidence, but it was just buried underneath years of stress and compromise. Now, it was finally starting to resurfacing after more than a decade of lying dormant.
"Do you realize what you're saying?" Wendell's said in a cold tone of voice. He previously good mood had just been thrown out the window. Who did this woman think she was to deny him?! Even if she crawled on her hands and knees to beg him for a job he would have never given it to her under normal circumstances. Now, Reilei was practically slapping his face in front of his woman.
First the son and now the mother. Wendell's looked upon Reilei with an icy pair of eyes.
"Wenny, let's just go and leave this old hag here~ Forget that nobody and-" Genesis was trying to cheer Wendell up, however, he glared at her which, in turn, caused her to instantly go quiet.
Wendell then turned his attention back towards Reilei and said, "You would dare reject my kind offer?"
Reilei wanted to look away from Wendell, however, a part of her felt that if she looked away, she would end up losing this feeling that found its way to her. Therefore, she stopped herself from looking away and instead, she looked right into Wendell's eyes.
"Even if I had to work five... No, six jobs. I would never work for a person who has hurt someone I love. I won't allow either of you to hurt my son ever again. If you try, then I will never forgive you. Both of you should be ashamed." Reilei said without faltering.
You should be ashamed! These words struck down on Wendell and Genesis like a mighty hammer. Reilei's words echoed and made them feel something the two of them had always buried at the deepest depths of their being; shame.
Having such feelings awakened once again, Wendell lost control as he raised his hand into the air and without even thinking, he swung it down aiming right for Reilei's face!
Genesis was shocked by Wendell's action! He had always been aggressive, but he had never once actively assaulted someone!
However, Reilei stood there without moving. As Wendell's hand descended upon her, she was unafraid. There was this strange feeling that overcame her as Wendell's movements appeared extremely slow to her. It was as if the hand that should have already struck her was moving in slow motion!
But, she was still unable to react to it due to experiencing such a large sensory overload. While her brain was able to process it, her body was still incapable of keeping up. This was due to the Eight Lunar Cycles physique currently residing within her.
Just as Wendell's hand was about to connect to Reilei's face, he felt an overwhelming force grab onto his wrist. This force prevented him from striking Reilei's cheek just in time.
Reilei seemed to snap out of that unusual state and everything returned to moving at normal speed around her. She could not help but feel that today had been a weird day for her overall.
"Hey, hey, you're not seriously thinking about striking a woman, are you?" The voice of a young man sounded from next to Wendell. That young man had short black hair, dark brown eyes, and a fit body hidden behind the security guard uniform he wore. He appeared to be anywhere in his early to late twenties, it was difficult to tell, however, his appearance was definitely above average.
Wendell glared at the man who grabbed ahold of his wrist and lashed out at him, "What do you think you're doing? A mere security guard that doesn't know his place dares touch me?! What's your name and employee registration number?!"
"Huh? Are you an idiot or something?" The young man said with a confused look on his face. Wendell was speaking to him as if he were the one in the wrong. He was simply doing his job. Besides, he believed that a real man would never stand by and watch as a woman was assaulted.
Genesis was startled and ended up jumping back in fear and loss control of her balance. In doing so, she bumped into one of the waiters passing by with a tray of wine in his hand. The tray ended up being launched into the air, along with the glasses of wine, and before she knew it, Genesis found herself on the floor covered in wine.
Clink! Crash!
The sound of the wine glasses shattering as they hit the floor was heard by the individuals inside of the banquet hall, as they all turned to look in the direction that the sound came from.
Genesis' entire face turned bright red in color from embarrassment. Everyone's eyes were locked onto her covered from head to toe in wine as it not only ruined her beautiful dress, but her makeup ran down her face and her hair was messed up. She had never felt so humiliated in all of her life!
"I-I am so sorry! Please forgive me, madam!" The waiter bowed in an apologetic manner. He was panicked and afraid that he was going to get chewed out and end up losing his job over this! He tried to offer to help Genesis up, however, she slapped his hand away.
"Don't touch me!" Genesis shouted as she stood up by herself. She then walked away with quickened steps from the scene as she heard the faint snickering and laughter of the people within the banquet hall.
Wendell snatched his wrist away from the security guard's hand and said, "I'll remember this. Do not think for a moment that this is over. That goes for both of you." He gave one last look of disdain towards Reilei and the security guard before he released a small harumph and leaving to chase after Genesis.
The young man shook his head as he watched Wendell hurry after Genesis.
"Are you hurt?" The young man said as he turned his focus towards Reilei. To be honest, he was surprised by her unwavering stance against Wendell. She did not look like the type of woman who would face something like that head-on. In fact, most men would not be able to stand so firmly against the face of adversity, therefore, he already had a certain level of respect for her.
Reilei released a sigh of relief as a weary smile found its way to her face. Her hands would not stop shaking as she felt a huge burden being lifted off of her once Wendell and Genesis took their leave.
Even though Reilei stood strong, she was still scared of the potential consequences of doing so. But, if she had to do it all over again, she would not hesitate to do so and her answer would remain unchanged.
"I'm fine, thank you. Ah, my apologies, you've helped me and I have not even asked your name." Reilei said as she looked at the young man before her. He seemed to be around the same age as her own son.
"No need for thanks, it's what any real man would do. My name is Kong Dishi. I am a member of the private security company who's contracted to this hotel." Kong Dishi responded.
After Reilei properly thanked Kong Dishi and spoke a few words with him, he was polite enough to escort her back to her room. Kong Dishi saw the vicious and emotionless look in that guy's eyes as he stared them down, therefore, he wanted to make sure she returned safely to her room.
Reilei could see that Kong Dishi had good intentions and took him up on his offer. With Kong Dishi's accompanying her, Reilei made her way back towards the hotel room she and Jin were staying in.
...
'This is troublesome...'
At the moment, Jin was currently sitting cross-legged on his bed in a deep meditative state. He had discovered something unexpected lurking around in the very depths of his soul.