She was so furious that her eyes turned bloodshot. As she tightly clenched her fists, she could feel the pain since her long nails had dug into her palms.
Nicole and Colton being together was something that she would never allow. If she lost both Colton and the Gardner Family, the Anderson Family would be doomed!
After wiping the tears away from the corner of her red-rimmed eyes, Queenie spat through gritted teeth, “Nicole Anderson, we’ll wait and see who the winner is in the end!”
She refused to believe that Nicole could turn the corner each time.
By the time Colton walked out, Nicole was bickering with Hayden.
“Mom, I have already said that Joseph, the foolish bum, can’t possibly be my dad! I’m sure my dad is someone like Mr. Handsome.”
“Stop it. You’re already shameless at such a young age!”
“Hmph! If you don’t believe me, you can check out his DNA paternity test report,” Hayden grumbled indignantly with a pout.
The moment Colton walked out, he overheard the conversation between the mother and son, and the gloom on his face was slightly dismissed. Holding the paternity report, he waved it at Nicole and asked, “Miss Anderson, do you want to check this report?”
As she looked downward, she pressed her lips and shook her head with a faint smile. “It’s okay. Regardless of the content in it, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Assuming that she did not wish to comment further on the topic, he kept the report away and said, “I’ll send you guys back.”
“Thanks a lot for your help today, President Gardner.” Nicole expressed her genuine gratitude as she knew she must have caused Colton, a dignified president, a dilemma by asking him to do such a sneaky task.
Colton smiled nonchalantly and did not continue with the topic since Hayden was still around. “My pleasure.”
…
By the time they arrived home at night, Zachary was already home with a weary expression.
Seeing his exhausted countenance, Nicole bit her tongue and remained silent for a moment, but she eventually said, “Zachary, if you have any matters to settle, please go ahead. I’m still able to handle my affairs so far.”
Shaking his head, Zachary pressed his brows and hummed gently, “It’s all settled now.”
She nodded and did not probe further. Thereafter, she brought Hayden upstairs.
When she arrived at the office the next day, Nicole noticed the originally quiet Design Department was much livelier and even heard people whispering the moment she entered.
However, the murmurs ceased moments after she went in.
She was not surprised by this because she had been transferred from F&M Apparel after all, and the staff still deemed her as an outsider.
As soon as she entered her room, Scarlett followed her in.
“Miss Nicole, Director Schmidt is back,” Scarlett said with a low voice. Although she was an employee of Gardner Corporation, she had been working under Nicole since joining the company. Meanwhile, Nicole was protective toward her subordinate and treated Scarlett well.
“You mean Joanna Schmidt?” Nicole raised her brow and asked. She had heard of such a name from Queenie when she first came to Gardner Corporation.
“Yeah.” Scarlett nodded. Looking hesitant, she still spoke up after a while. “Miss Nicole, about this… I heard from colleagues that Sabrina is exceptionally close to Joanna and was fired from Gardner Corporation…”
Nicole knew what Scarlett wanted to say. She lifted her head to gaze at the cautious young lady in front of her, who was obviously on her side despite the timid appearance.
After giving an unconcerned smile, Nicole nodded. “I see, alright. There’s always a solution to a problem. She can’t possibly declare a war the moment she returns.”
Seeing Nicole’s confident smile, Scarlett heaved a sigh of relief.
Rumor had it in the Design Department that it was Nicole who chased Sabrina out of the company and Joanna would surely teach Nicole a lesson upon her return.
However, judging from Nicole’s calm look, Scarlett reckoned that she was already prepared. “Alright then. Have a good day, Miss Nicole. I shall excuse myself first.”
A knock at the door emerged out of the blue at around 10:00AM.
Ever since Nicole started working here, no one had entered her office besides Scarlett.
Seeing that the visitor had not entered the room after a while, Nicole guessed it must be the Joanna Schmidt whom everyone was talking about.
In fact, Nicole did not find Joanna’s name to be strange. Not only was Joanna a well-known designer in the country, she was also a student of Master Engler. As such, she thought that it would be awesome to have an opportunity to meet Joanna.
“Please come in.”
After Nicole said that, the door was opened to reveal a tall woman walking in.
The woman was dressed in a light-colored one-piece dress while her hair was kept at shoulder length. With her optimum makeup, she made a first impression of gentleness and elegance and did not seem to be someone who came to seek trouble.
“You must be Ms. Lisa.” The woman’s gaze fell on Nicole the moment she entered the room while her warm voice that resembled the spring breeze was pleasing to the ears.
A courteous Nicole stood up and nodded. “Yes, you can call me Nicole.”
“Hi, Nicole. I’m Joanna Schmidt, the design director of Gardner Corporation.”
“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” Nicole politely said.
“You flatter me. I should be the one saying that. Not everyone has the chance to work with the Chief Designer from F&M Apparel.”
A smiling Joanna had spoken so eloquently that one could hardly find any fault in her.
“Not at all. The collaboration this time is a bilateral agreement between F&M Apparel and Gardner Corporation,” a humble Nicole responded.
“By the way…” Joanna paused out of the blue and lifted her head to look at Nicole as her smile slightly faded. “I heard that Sabrina was fired from Gardner Corporation because she has offended you?”
Joanna finally went to the main point after beating around the bush. Nicole did not avoid the topic either as she met Joanna’s gaze and answered, “I won’t say I was offended. It’s just that the young lady has a big mouth. I reckoned someone overheard her and complained directly to President Gardner.”
“I see. It seems like the rumors aren’t true after all.” Joanna wore a faint smile again and continued in a kinder tone, “I knew you are not someone calculative and petty, Ms. Lisa. How would you possibly drive the girl into a corner because of such a small matter? Sabrina is indeed a big mouth. Ms. Lisa, if you don’t mind, I’ll bring her here to apologize to you. I hope you can forgive her.”
Nicole cast a glance at Joanna. Although Joanna did not appear to be aggressive, she had phrased each word in such a deliberate manner that Nicole had no other option but to follow her lines.
“Please don’t say that. After all, I’m not the one who fired her.”
Joanna nodded and subtly raised her brow.
“I brought Sabrina into Gardner Corporation, so it can’t be helped that she will side with me and behave rudely toward you. I’ve already taught her a lesson and she has realized her mistake. How about this? I’ll bring her to officially apologize to you this afternoon.”
As she narrowed her eyes, Nicole gazed at the lady in front of her, who still had a gentle look, and smirked. Truth be told, she would rather have Joanna be as shrewish as Queenie so that she could at least fight back.
Now, it felt like Nicole was punching on cotton and couldn’t even be charged up.
“It’s unnecessary to apologize since it’s not a big matter to begin with.”
“That won’t do. After all, you were transferred from F&M Apparel. This incident can be a warning to the others too. Later in the afternoon, I’ll get Sabrina to apologize to you in front of the entire Design Department and we’ll revoke her salary for a month as a punishment. What do you think?”
Looking at Joanna pressing forward with her agenda, Nicole knew that Joanna was forcing her to forgive Sabrina and allow the girl’s return to Gardner Corporation.
Nicole narrowed her eyes as she sneered. Despite Joanna’s gentle appearance, her words were filled with the intention to compel Nicole to surrender.
“What if I say no?” Nicole wore a half-smile and asked Joanna in return.
Joanna probably did not expect that Nicole would turn her down, so her expression tensed for a second. Nevertheless, she quickly regained her composure and answered, “Ms. Lisa, as the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel, you don’t have to be calculative with an insignificant staff.”
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