Chapter 5

Myra leaned against Robert, her gaze cold and mocking. Their arms were practically touching, and Myra's wavy hair even spilled over onto him. It was, without a doubt, an intimate position for a man and a woman to be in.

With one handsome and the other beautiful, they looked like the perfect couple.

The moment the crowd noticed Robert, they quickly dispersed and returned to their desks.

Robert pressed his thin lips together, his expression sharp. Eyeing Julia, he demanded, "Apologize!"

Whitney planted her hands on her hips and piped up, "That's right! Apologize!"

Ruby couldn't stand it anymore and raised her voice to explain, "Whitney was the one who accused Julia of earning the manager position by sleeping her way to the top! Julia was only—"

However, Robert kept his eyes on Julia, showing no intention of changing his mind. Julia clenched her fists again.

Robert had always thought little of Whitney's mother, too. The only woman he cared about was Myra, and Julia had insulted her.

So even if it was the truth—even if Julia had been the one humiliated first, she still had to apologize.

A bitter feeling washed over Julia. Why did she have to put up with such ill treatment?

After a moment of silence, she abruptly smiled. "Fine. I'll apologize."

Whitney froze, not expecting Julia to give in so quickly, while Myra curled her lips into a meaningful smile.

Julia had been clinging to Robert shamelessly for years. She would probably eat shit if he told her to. Even after being insulted and humiliated, she still put on a smile. How pathetic of her.

Ruby knew she would only make things more humiliating for Julia if she tried to interfere again. Her heart ached for her, but all she could do was step aside.

Julia took a deep breath and walked up to Myra.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Swain. I shouldn't have told everyone here that you slept your way to the top. It was my mistake to reveal the truth to everyone. I deserve to be punished for such a grave crime."

Myra and Whitney were speechless. Robert was frowning hard, his gaze sharpening. It was as if he wanted to shoot laser beams at Julia with his eyes.

However, Julia neither flinched nor looked away. She met his gaze and asked, "Is that not enough? Would you like me to record a video of this and post a public apology online for the world to see?"

Ignoring their reactions, she walked off, heading straight to the HR department to resign. The reason she gave for the sudden resignation was that her husband had died, and she wanted to take the time to mourn his death.

When Julia walked out of the office building, the sun was shining brightly. She let out a quiet breath, releasing all the pent-up tension. There was no disappointment or sadness in her eyes.

She'd first joined Juventia to get closer to Robert and repair their relationship.

After she'd given birth to Emmy, she'd been desperately short on money and happened to meet Eric Pearson. He was the heir to a wealthy family who was willing to pay for the medical equipment she was selling.

It was true that her impressive sales figures had come from utilizing certain connections, but they were Eric's connections.

Eventually, he became her business partner, and they started Terravast, a drone company, together. Over the past few years, the business kept going bigger. Before they knew it, they had become one of the leading companies in the industry.

Julia had long since stopped relying on her sales commissions to support herself and Emmy.

There was one other reason why she had stayed at Juventia for five years. The doctors had once suggested two possible treatment plans for Emmy's condition, and one of them would require Robert's bone marrow.

It had only been a backup option, but Julia didn't want to take any chances back then. Rather than saying she had spent the past four years holding on to Robert, it would be more accurate to say she had been holding on to his bone marrow.

However, now that Emmy was cured, Robert's bone marrow was worth less than trash to her.

Myra had brought Whitney into the company just to get under Julia's skin, but Julia had no obligation to sit around and let them walk all over her.

She called up Eric and informed him, "I've resigned from Juventia."

"That's great news!" Eric was unusually enthusiastic about it. "Terravast keeps getting bigger, and I've been waiting for you, our head honcho, to come out of retirement and take the helm!"

Julia chatted with him for a while, and they arranged a time to meet.

Immediately after the call ended, she got a call from Ruby. "Julia, Mr. Stone just reviewed my sales figures and returned the senior supervisor position to me."

Robert wasn't blind after all. He simply catered to Myra's every demand. Since Julia was no longer in the picture, he certainly wouldn't make life hard for anyone else.

"Keep up the good work," Julia said encouragingly.

Ruby hesitated before saying, "I heard you resigned. Did your husband… really pass away?"

"That's right. My husband's as dead as a doornail. That's why I had to resign in a hurry."

Out of the corner of her eye, Julia spotted Robert standing nearby. His expression was dark, as if he were about to unleash a thunderstorm.

In the past, even the slightest change in his expression would have kept Julia on edge for half the day. She would rush over to him, doing everything she could to appease him and apologize.

But now, just looking at him felt like a waste of time. She ended the call, hailed a cab, and left without looking back.

…

"Congratulations, Jules! This is good news for me, too," Yvonne exclaimed. She'd dragged Julia to a restaurant for a celebration. "My favorite goddaughter has finally made it through the hard times. Soon, we'll be able to see her every day!"

Yvonne was thrilled that Emmy had made a full recovery, and Julia was even happier about it. She raised her glass and tapped it against Yvonne's, the glasses making a crisp sound.

"We have your uncle to thank for this," Julia said sincerely.

"If you want to thank him, tell him in person," Yvonne remarked.

Julia's brows drew together slightly. She really should thank Isaac in person. However, when she pictured him with his impossibly austere demeanor and aloof expression, she couldn't help but shudder. Ever since she was a kid, she'd been too scared to approach Isaac.

"If I'm being honest, Uncle Isaac is insanely handsome. He's way better-looking than Robert!" Yvonne couldn't help gushing.

Julia didn't dare make any comments about Isaac, and she certainly didn't want to hear Robert's name. She lifted her glass and downed another drink.

"Let's drink!"

At that very moment, a snort rang out, followed by a snarky voice. With his arms folded across his chest, Jimmy Arnett sneered as he came down the stairs.

"Aren't you supposed to be all tough and unyielding? You publicly slandered someone and even submitted your resignation! What's this, then? Why have you come crawling back so quickly?"

Jimmy was friends with both Robert and Andre. He had always looked down on Julia and loved coming to Myra's defense. He was now eyeing Julia with a haughty expression, his gaze filled with disgust.

"What are you doing here, drowning your sorrows and playing the victim? Do you really think Robert is going to feel sorry for you?"

Jimmy pointed to a spot diagonally above them.

"If you don't believe me, go ahead and see for yourself. You could drink yourself to death, and Robert wouldn't even bat an eye!"

Julia looked up, and her gaze unexpectedly collided with another pair of cold eyes.