Selene laughed.
"Work together?" She tilted her head as if hearing something genuinely confusing. "You don't work together with my brother. You work under one of his subordinates. There's a difference. A very large difference. I will make sure you are fired after this."
Her smile darkened as she continued.
"My brother doesn't even know your name. You are nothing. You will amount to nothing. Don't let me see you in this tournament again. Otherwise you will not make it to the next stage. Is that clear enough for you?"
The surrounding competitors who had been snickering now openly laughed, the humiliation rippling outward as more people caught the exchange. They didn't fully understand the context, but it was clear that an idiot was being made fun of, and they were all for it.
Marcus heard and felt their snickers. The faces turning toward him, the smirks, the entertainment of his peers watching him get torn apart by a girl.
