After he left, Brettley sat in his office, his gaze dark and bottomless as he flipped through each of the photos…
A moment later, Shannon knocked on the door and entered. She placed a letter on his desk respectfully. “
President Morrison, Director Bethan asked me to pass this to you.”
With that, the woman turned and almost fled out of his office.
Brettley frowned and picked up the letter. He thought after the dispute with Bethan this morning, she would send him a resignation letter in a fit of anger. But unexpectedly…
When he opened the letter, two thousand dollars and a slip of paper fell out of the letter.
‘I looked into it, a night’s stay at the hotel costs 1750. I’ll give you 2000, the rest is hush money, as a reward for you in keeping our secret.’
In the office of the design department, Shannon McCartney and a few other female employees were busy engaging in gossip.
“Theo Allen, the great artist looks much better in person than he does on television! He really has the demeanor of an artist, Director Bethan is so lucky! “
“And previously the President’s wife suspected that Director Bethan had feelings for President Morrison… It turned out Director Bethan and Mr. Theo Allen had gotten together a long time ago! “
“Exactly, Director Bethan is a designer, of course, she would fall for an artist like Theo. Even if the President is rich, handsome, and charming, he definitely isn’t Director Bethan’s type…”
The moment Brettley walked through the door, he heard the low rumble of the women’s discussion. He huffed angrily, expression cold, “Is that true?”
At the sound of his voice, the entire office fell deadly silent, so quiet that they could almost hear the sound of a pin dropping.
Shannon raised her head stiffly, saw Brettley’s expression and her eyes filled with terror. “President President Morrison.”
“You’re gossiping about your superiors during office hours?”
His expression remained cold, then he turned and glanced at Lucas who had been following behind him all along. “Record their names, deduct half of their year-end bonus.”
With that, Brettley raised his legs and headed in the direction of Bethan’s office.
After taking just two steps, behind him, Shannon hurriedly opened her mouth to remind him. “
President Morrison… Mr. Theo Allen and Director Bethan are in her office… you…”
Brettley paused slightly in his tracks. A moment later, he turned and smiled faintly at Shannon. “What, I can’t go in when Theo Alle is there? This office belongs to my Morrison Group, it’s not her bedroom! “
With that, he strode over and furiously kicked Bethan’s office door open.
In the office, Bethan sat in her chair with her head down, while Theo squatted in front of her, facing her directly. Their positions were suspicious, as if they were doing something they should not be doing.
He was met with a sight like this the moment he opened the door. Brettley felt a bunch of furious flames shooting upward from the depths of his chest. He walked up to them and lifted Theo up. “
What are you doing?”
“Brettley Morrison! “
Watching as Brettley lifted Theo up, Bethan frowned and hurriedly stood up, grabbing at Brettley’s wrist. “Let go of him! “
“Let go? Why should I?”
Brettley narrowed his eyes, a vicious gaze sweeping over Bethan’s face. “He’s trying to engage my female employee in inappropriate activities, during office hours, and in my office. Why should I let go?”
“What inappropriate activities?”
Bethan rolled her eyes. “Some paint splattered onto my skirt, Theo is just helping me clean it since I hurt my shoulder! “
Brettley paused and unconsciously looked toward Bethan’s skirt. As she said, there was indeed a fairly large paint stain on her skirt. He frowned, then let go of Theo’s collar.
“Does Mr. Morrison care so deeply about every single one of your female employees?”
Theo lowered his head, elegantly smoothing out his clothes, and looked at Brettley with faint, emotion less eyes. “We were just cleaning up a stain, but even if I did do something with my girlfriend… you don’t have the right to question us, do you, Mr. Morrison?”
He intentionally emphasized the words ‘my girlfriend ‘, declaring sovereignty over Bethan in front of Brettley.
The pressure of the surrounding atmosphere in the office was so low it was getting difficult to breathe.
A moment later, Brettley lifted his lips in a faint smile. He turned and sat down on the couch in a lazy yet somehow elegant gesture. “Even if the two of you are boyfriend and girlfriend…”
He lowered his eyes, making a show of looking at the time on his wristwatch. “It’s now office hours. I don’t think Mr. Theo Allen is an employee of the Morrison Group, right?”
“That’s right, he isn’t an employee of the Morrison Group, “
Bethan laughed softly then stood in front of Theo, blocking him from Brettley. “But he is now my assistant.”
Brettley lifted his eyebrows.
Bethan sighed and said, “I remember you gave me the freedom to hire two assistants to work for me, Mr. Morrison. Arianna is one of them. As for the other one, I’ve decided that I want to hire Theo.”
Brettley immediately frowned upon hearing. “No. I won’t allow it.”
Bethan already knew that Brettley would reject her suggestion. She chuckled and lifted her head to stare straight at him. “You promised me that I would have full authority over the candidate selection and that no one would be able to interfere with my decision.”
Brettley squinted at her.
She was right. When he assigned this project over to Bethan at the time, he had given her plenty of authority. One of them was that she had the freedom to choose and hire two assistants to help her.
Brettley narrowed his eyes somewhat sinisterly. “
Bethan, I gave you the authority to do so, but that doesn’t mean you can bring private relations into your work.”
Bethan chuckled, “What are you talking about, Mr. Morrison? How am I bringing my private life into work?”
She unbuttoned her shirt collar and showed Brettley her bandaged right shoulder. “Mr. Morrison, do you remember how I got this injury? Your father-in- law stabbed me with a cutting knife right in the middle of my right shoulder. Because of my injury, I can’t move my right arm as freely anymore, much less hold a pencil like the way I used to.
“Therefore, I’ve decided to hire Theo to help me so that even though I can’ t sketch anymore , my ideas and designs can still be brought to life.”
Bethan shot Brettley a contemptuous glance and said, “I wanted to hire him so that the project can be completed on time instead of being delayed due to my injury. Why do you think otherwise?”
“She’s right.”
Theo laughed and sat down in front of the easel. Then, he picked up Bethan’s pencil and started to sketch on the paper before him slowly. “I admit that I ‘in not a world -famous artist. However, I still have my standards, and if it wasn’t for Bethan, I don’t think Morrison Group would have been able to hire me in a million years.”
Brettley could not help but narrow his eyes into angry slits when he heard this. He was furious at this sudden turn of events, but Bethan’s reason for hiring Theo was perfectly reasonable and justified. Brettley could not vent his anger at all!
He clenched his fists but did not reply. Finally, after a long while, he curled his lips into a smile and said, “
Mr. Allen is right. If it weren’t for Bethan, Morrison Group would not have been able to hire such a talented artist as yourself.”
With that, Brettley picked up the phone and barked to the person on the other line, “Connect me to the human resources department and ask them to process Theo Allen’s employment contract. Then, instruct the public relations department to throw a welcome party for Mr. Allen.”
Bethan gritted her teeth in anger. “What are you trying to do, Mr. Morrison?”
Theo’s achievements and capabilities far surpassed that of everyone in Morrison Group. Therefore, Bethan felt it was extremely unfair for him to be appointed as a lowly assistant in the design department.
However, Theo was very insistent on his intention to help her with her work. Besides, she could not work anyway due to her injury, so Bethan had no choice but to relent.
Brettley smirked. “I’m throwing a party for Mr. Allen to show him my respect.”
Not only did Brettley draw up a contract of employment for Theo, but now, he also wanted to host a welcome party for him?
Bethan knew this was Brettley’s way of humiliating and degrading Theo.
He was a world-renowned artist, after all. If the rest of the employees found out that Theo was working in Morrison Group as an assistant, it would affect his reputation and might even cause his artwork to lose its value over time!
As soon as she thought of this, Bethan clenched her fists and lowered her voice. “Theo, you should leave now. I can draw my sketches on my own! “
Theo paused. “I won’t go.”
A split second later, he strode over and pulled Bethan into his embrace. Then, he shot Brettley a threatening look and said, “Since Mr. Morrison wants to throw me a welcome party, I appreciate your effort. I want everyone to know that Bethan is my girlfriend and that I’m willing to do anything for her.”
Theo had meant for Brettley to hear this, but above all, it was meant for Bethan.
Bethan, who had been standing behind him all this while, paled as soon as she heard this. “Theo, what on earth are you talking about?”
She and Theo had come to a mutual agreement that they would only pretend to be a couple in public.
However, in reality, they would only remain friends.
They just had to make it past this short period of time. Then, as soon as the media got tired of them and moved on to something else, they would pretend to break up and end this relationship. What was Theo doing, saying all this to Brettley?
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.