Bethan calmly stuffed a forkful of food into her mouth. “This fiancé of hers is none other than Brettley Morrison.”
Anne’s jaw dropped. “Does that mean…the one who stole her fiancé was…”
“It was me.”
Bethan gave Anne a smile. “Surprising, isn’t it?”
Anne still gaped at her. “Surprising, indeed.”
Bethan finished her food and set down her cutlery. She got up, grabbed her coat, and said to Anne while she put it on, “Like me, Ms. Walter is just another poor girl who fell head over heels for the wrong person. She and I both sacrificed too much for that idiot Brettley. I pity her.”
Bethan’s words baffled Anne so much that she did not know how to respond. After a while, she finally said, “Bethan, do you think maybe…Ms. Walter used your face as inspiration for her plastic surgery?”
Bethan shook her head. “Anyone familiar with me and Brettley would know that we were never happy together. No one in their right mind would think Brettley is in love with me. Since he doesn’t love me, why would she want to look like me?”
With that, Bethan picked up her bag and left.
Anne pursed her lips and mulled over what Bethan had said. Anne knew that Bethan was right, but she could not help but think something was wrong.
Everyone in Banyan City knew that though years passed, Brettley was still loyal to his ex-wife.
When Bethan arrived at the office, it was just past 7am. The entire office was deserted. She turned on the lights, picked up the sketches from last night, and continued working on them with her door closed.
An hour later, the office bustled with activity as people came in for work.
“Did you guys see the news? I never thought Bethan would do something like this…”
“That painting was priceless! How could she ruin it just like that? I guess it’s true that women can do anything out of jealousy.”
“I heard that the reason Mr. Morrison started dating Bethan is to put on a show and trick Mrs. Morrison into coming home. Now that she’s back, Mr. Morrison dumped Bethan. Of course she’d be jealous of her! “
“That doesn’t mean she can do something like this out of spite! Doesn’t she know how to respect other people’s artwork?”
Although her door was closed, Bethan could still overhear the whispers and murmurs coming from outside. She frowned and swiftly opened the door.
Upon seeing Bethan, the employees fell silent immediately.
“Besides…”
Shannon had her back to Bethan, so she did not see her. She continued in a gleeful tone, “
After this scandal happened, Mr. Morrison assigned Bethan an impossible task yesterday. It’s clear he’s just trying to make her life miserable! Of course, she made him lose ten million dollars to compensate for the ruined painting, so he had to get back at her somehow! “
“You seem to know more about Brettley than himself,” commented Bethan with a smirk.
Shannon jolted in shock upon hearing Bethan’s voice. She immediately turned around and gave Bethan an awkward smile. “Director Bethan, you’re…here. We didn’t know you’re here.”
Bethan gave Shannon a sideways glance. “If you did, would you still talk bad about me so openly? “
She fixated her gaze on Shannon’s pale face. “What painting are you talking about?”
Shannon bit her lip and handed Bethan her phone. “
Here. See for yourself.”
Bethan frowned as she looked at the screen. The news headline read, (When Jealousy Turns into Vandalism: Woman Ruins Priceless Painting Out of Envy.]
There was a video under the headline. It seemed to be a video recording taken from a bystander’s perspective. In the video, Alice was crying and accusing Bethan of ruining Theo’s painting.
All of a sudden, the image cut to the surveillance room. Finally, Brettley’s face appeared on the screen. “
I didn’t see anything.”
Bethan chuckled after scanning through the article. She knew who it was that leaked this incident to the press.
Bethan shrugged and gave Shannon her phone back. “
Get back to work. You shouldn’t be looking at stuff like this during office hours.”
Shannon’s jaw dropped. “Director Bethan, don’t you… want to explain anything?”
Bethan glanced at her. “Why do I need to explain anything to you? Maybe I should put it this way: None of you will believe me even if I explained, so why should I waste my energy?”
With that, she turned around and went back into her office with a small smile.
To be honest, Bethan did not care that Alice had gone to the press. She did not care if everyone who saw that article ended up misunderstanding her and thought she was a selfish, jealous woman. Long gone was the Bethan who cared about the opinions of others, who strived to please everyone she met.
All she wanted to do was finish her sketches in time so she could take Neil and Nellie on an outing as Brettley promised.
It was another busy day. When it was time to get off from work, Bethan’s assistant knocked on her door. “
Director Bethan, someone is here to see you.”
Bethan glanced at the time –it was 5pm. She smiled faintly, thinking it was Theo who came to pick her up from work. She instructed her assistant, “Alright, let him in.”
Someone pushed the door open a moment later, but it was not Theo as Bethan had expected.
It was Granny Morrison. She entered the room with the help of two servants and sat down on the couch grouchily. She had a hostile expression and appeared to be furious about something. “Well, well. If I hadn’t seen the news today, I wouldn’t have found out that you’re working here!”
The corners of Bethan’s mouth turned up in a small smile. “Ma’am, you fired me from my position at Blue Bay Villa because Cynthal gave you something in return. Are you trying to get me fired from Morrison Group now? Whose gift did you accept this time?
Alice’s?”
Granny Morrison grew even more livid at the mention o f Alice’s name. “How dare you even mention my granddaughter-in-law! You think I don’t know what you did?”
Granny Morrison leaned against the sofa and knocked her walking cane against the floor. “You ruined the artwork painted by Alice’s favorite artist, all because you were jealous of her ! Alice came to see me today because of this, so upset that she cried! How could you? That’s her favorite artist. She’s been a fan since she was a teenager, but you ruined her favorite painting just like that!”
The more she scolded Bethan, the more worked up Granny Morrison got. She wanted so badly to knock Bethan on the head with her walking cane. “When Brettley and Cynthal were together, you sabotaged their relationship. Now that Brettley’s real wife and Nellie’s birth mother has returned, you’re trying to break this family apart again! “
Granny Morrison lifted her hand and pointed at the door. “Get out! Morrison Group doesn’t need an employee like you! Either you get out now, or I find Brettley right this instant and get you fired! “
This amused Bethan. She adjusted her position and leaned against the back of her chair, her gaze never wavering from Granny Morrison. “Alright, go find Brettley, then. Let’s see if he’s willing to fire an employee as hardworking as I am.”
Bethan’s smug attitude enraged Granny Morrison even more. She had never felt this disrespected before in her life.
Granny Morrison got up and walked toward Bethan. “
Hardworking? Morrison Group has enough hardworking employees as it is! “
With that, she picked up one of the sketches strewn on the desk, one that Bethan had just finished mere moments ago, and proceeded to tear it in half.
Bethan watched as the paper got torn into two right before her eyes. Granny Morrison, however, did not think that one was enough. She extended her hand toward Bethan’s desk, wanting to grab another piece of paper.
“Enough ! “
Bethan yelled, outraged. She could not stand watching hours of her hard work turned into scraps. She grabbed Granny Morrison’s hand and snatched the two pieces of paper away from her.
“How dare you stop me ! “
Granny Morrison glared at Bethan with deranged eyes. “You ruined someone’s artwork. What’s wrong with me ruining one of yours?”
She reached out to grab another one of Bethan’s sketches.
Bethan clasped her hands around Granny Morrison’s wrists. She had been trying to suppress her anger, but she could no longer take it anymore. Bethan hated it when people touched her sketches!
Bethan did not know what Alice had said to Granny Morrison that made her so worked up, but Bethan could not stand by and watch her hard work ruined in mere seconds. It was one thing for Granny Morrison to touch her sketches but another thing entirely for her to tear them up. No matter how mild-mannered a person was, they were bound to snap.
Courtney led Bethan and Theo to Brettley’s office. When they arrived, Granny Morrison was perched on the couch as she made a scene.
“Brettley, I’m a frail old lady, and my bones aren’t as strong as they used to be anymore. That Bethan girl gripped me so hard just now. I thought my bones were about to break!
“That painting was worth ten million dollars! That’s not a small amount. How could you pay for it just like that? Don’t you know I can buy a full set of
Moon’s jewelry with that amount of money?”
Theo and Bethan could hear Granny Morrison’s shrieks even from outside the door.
Theo listened to this with a solemn expression. After a moment, however, he glanced at Bethan, slightly amused. “Turns out Granny Morrison is also a fan of your work.”
Bethan scoffed but said nothing in response.
Courtney gently knocked on the door before entering the room. “President Morrison, Director Bethan is here.”
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.