Chapter 4

Eileen was seething.

She first shot a venomous glare at the executive who'd just spoken up, then turned around and took a deep breath.

"This concerns our team, and I'll handle it after the meeting. Blaire, you may leave."

I laughed and pulled out a chair, taking a seat right there and then.

"No way. What if you claim I fabricated everything after I leave?

"Since all the executives are here for a meeting today, why don't you explain yourself and clear your name?"

The executive traded glances before turning their collective gaze toward the CEO, Lawrence Norton. He remained silent and watched the two of us with a chillingly neutral expression, so none of the others dared speak.

When Eileen saw that he wasn't stepping in, she started to panic and frantically explained, "Don't believe these screenshots, Mr. Norton. They're photoshopped, and I'd never done something like this."

Lawrence ignored her. He finished scanning the printouts and looked up. "This is a chat log between you and the client, isn't it? Since you claim it's fake, pull up your actual messages with them right now and prove it."

Eileen froze. Her eyes instinctively darted to the side.

That was when the man sitting next to Lawrence spoke up. "Mr. Norton, even if this is true, we can't really blame Eileen.

"Business is tough these days. If she lowered the price, she was just trying to secure the client and doing what's best for the company."

The man who'd spoken was Eileen's husband, Oscar Stuart. I'd heard about him from my colleagues the moment she joined our team. He was the head of procurement, well-connected and carried a lot of weight in the company.

When Lawrence heard him, he looked over. "If it takes a price cut to close the deal, how did this junior employee manage to land the deal?"

Oscar faltered for a second before smiling. "Well, you know how it is. These young women get impatient, and sometimes, they use unconventional methods to hit their targets."

Eileen's eyes immediately lit up. She nodded vigorously and chimed in, "Exactly! I saw it with my own eyes. Blaire was going on private dates with that client. She even skipped work several times just to meet him at his office."

I was so mad at the accusation that I actually laughed and blurted, "That's bullshit!"

Enraged, I marched forward to grab her collar. "I visited his office to talk business, and the two times I saw him outside of that, there were other people around.

"Are you having some kind of psychotic break and hallucinating about seeing me on a date with him? Please, get yourself to the hospital."

Eileen's face turned bright red. She shoved my hand away and snapped, "I'm not going to sit here and argue with you. It's a waste of time."

She turned back to Lawrence and said, "Mr. Norton, I've been with this company for years. I'd never lie to you."

He said nothing, and his expression was unreadable.

"If what Ms. Shaffer says is true, she has to be fired."

"We don't tolerate these kinds of unconventional methods here in the company."

"It would be a disaster for our reputation if word got out."

One by one, the executives started siding with Eileen. Her smugness returned in full force as she looked down at me with pure, condescending mockery, absolutely certain that I'd be the one packing my bags that day.

I just smirked.

At any other company, I'd have been terrified of being slandered by an entire board. But here…

I listened to the chatter and tapped the table impatiently. "Lawrence Norton, your daughter's being dragged through the mud here. How much longer are you going to stay silent?"

When the executives in the meeting room heard that, they all fell dead silent.

Eileen was flabbergasted. "What did you just say? Who's Mr. Norton's daughter?"