His voice dropped to a baritone thereafter and his words came out, one colder than the other.
“I’ll only say this once, Joanna. Do whatever you want with the Design Department, but you have to do as Lisa says until the last day she is with Gardner Corporation.”
Upon hearing his words, her face immediately paled as a lump began to form in her throat. She didn’t think that Nicole was such an important person to Colton.
Her eyes had reddened by then and through gritted teeth, she grumbled, “It is not like I’m worse than her! The only thing that makes her better is that she has the backing of F&M Appa – “
“That is the thing,” Colton interjected before Joanna could finish her words. “She is the Chief Designer from F&M Apparel. That alone puts her on a completely different level than you. You may go ahead and tender your resignation if you are not confident about your work. I don’t want there to be any more issues while we are collaborating with F&M Apparel.”
A dumbfounded Joanna could practically feel a chill all over her body after hearing his words. She couldn’t believe that the only thing she had received in return for the sacrifices she made was but a measly permission to resign…
Joanna’s palms balled into fists as she lifted her head to look at the dashing man through teary eyes.
For someone who had graduated as the main disciple of Maestro Yitzchak, a pioneer in fashion design, Joanna would have held a higher position than Nicole if she aimed for a bigger company instead of Gardner Corporation, which had only started out.
It was all for Colton that she willingly started from the bottom while achieving her feats along the way.
All those sacrifices, and yet all she received was Colton telling her to resign.
She could feel her nose twitch, but she could only suppress the sadness that was welling up in her chest by answering in a small voice. “I understand,” she whispered.
…
Scarlett had just left the room when a commotion could be heard from outside. Nicole stayed unmoving until she heard someone shouting her name at the top of their lungs.
“Nicole! You b*tch! Get your ass out here!” The shriek was so loud that it was on the verge of breaking.
Stepping out of the office, Nicole was greeted by the sight of Sabrina being surrounded by a crowd of people doing their best to stop Sabrina from barging into the office. With the thick makeup she had slapped on her face, and her mane messy from struggling against the crowd, she looked like a complete lunatic who had just broken out of a mental hospital. To make matters worse, she never once ceased the profanities coming out of her mouth.
“Miss,” Scarlett sternly called out as she grabbed Sabrina by the wrist. “Please stop. This is a workplace!”
Sabrina’s eyes were red with rage. After shoving Scarlett and making her fall to the ground, she turned to Nicole and began chastising, “You witch! Why did you fire my brother? How could you do this just because I have offended you?!”
Nicole only frowned in confusion at that. “What are you on about?”
Thinking that Nicole was pretending not to understand her words, Sabrina let out a scoff before questioning, “What are you acting innocent for? Remember Shaun Geller? Were you not the one who fired him?”
Ah, siblings. Nicole finally connected the dots. That explains why they are both so annoying.
She managed to keep her cool in the face of the enraged woman and calmly said in a raised voice. “For your information, Colton Gardner was the one who laid off Shaun Geller. Go to the President’s office if you want to find someone to bark at. Why did you even come to me?”
“I’m sure you were the one who talked the President into it!” Sabrina’s face began to turn redder by the second as she spouted whatever nonsense she could at Nicole. “Nicole, you b*tch. Everyone knows that President Yates of F&M Apparel is interested in you. Don’t pretend that it was not the reason why you became the Chief Designer!”
Nicole’s expression fell slightly when those words came out of Sabrina’s lips. A hint of anger then began to show on her exquisite face.
Sabrina could feel her spirits rise when she saw the sour expression on Nicole’s face. Thinking that she had managed to poke at Nicole’s sore spot, she passionately continued on with her idle talk.
“You must have such great technique in bed that you were rewarded for your services! That must be how you were impregnated, and later gave birth to that b*stard baby 5 years ago. You even have to bring that child along everywhere you go now! I wonder if – “
As Sabrina was talking, she was suddenly stopped by a sharp pain on her left cheek. The loud sound of skin meeting skin quickly reverberated throughout the office.
Nicole had diverted all her strength into the slap that her own palm was tingling from the numbing pain. However, she showed no emotion as she continued to coldly glare at the other woman.
Swiftly after that, a red handprint began to appear on Sabrina’s face. Sabrina was so surprised that she could only blankly stare at Nicole in disbelief. Never would she have expected Nicole to lay a hand on her when provoked.
“You – ” Her hands were trembling out of fury. After collecting herself from the initial shock, she took a step forward as she raised her hand in an attempt to return the slap.
Her hand didn’t even manage to make a full swing as Nicole had grabbed her firmly before giving another hard slap on her right cheek.
Blinded by rage, Sabrina dashed forward in Nicole’s direction while wildly screaming, “You f*cking tramp! I’ll drag you to hell with me!”
Scarlett quickly rose to her feet when she saw Sabrina on her way to attack Nicole. However, just as she was about to grab Sabrina, Sabrina, the deranged woman now fueled by anger, shoved Scarlett to the ground again.
No one else from the Design Department had dared to step forward as they were afraid of becoming the next target of bullying. Sabrina might no longer be a part of the company, but it didn’t mean that the other employees would continue having another peaceful day at work if words were to reach Joanna’s ears. Sabrina and Joanna were each other’s close confidant, after all.
Sabrina’s hands reached Nicole’s throat in no time. With her eyes blazing with fury, she looked like a demon as she wailed and tightened her grip around Nicole’s neck.
“You only got that position because of your underhanded methods. I bet you don’t even know who that b*stard’s father is. Your son is but a lowly retard!”
Unlike Sabrina, Nicole was fairly calm even though she was in the midst of being strangled by the woman. Despite the pressure on her neck that was gradually blocking the flow of oxygen, she still managed to give Sabrina a powerful kick that sent Sabrina falling to the ground in no time.
“Ahhhh!” She let out a pained gasp.
One could only imagine how much the kick must have hurt, considering the fact that Nicole had no inhibitions when she struck Sabrina with her high heels.
…
It was easy for one to feel suffocated by the somberness of the President’s office, and that was the exact reason why Tony refused to step into the space at first. However, he knew he had to stop the fight from getting worse. Colton would definitely not let him off the hook if Lisa was injured in the commotion.
“President Gardner,” he alerted Colton of his presence in a low voice as he knocked.
Colton’s gaze fell on the teary-eyed Joanna, and he indifferently waved her off while telling
Joanna didn’t respond to him, but instead, she sniffled and peered at Colton with a knowing look in her eyes. As unwilling as she was, she still turned and walked away in obedience.
Tony quickly made way into the office. He didn’t even bother to check whether Joanna had left as he sputtered, “President Gardner, please hurry to the Design Department. Sabrina and Lisa are in a physical fight!”
Colton’s eyebrows immediately knitted together and his expression dimmed when he heard the unexpected news.
Joanna, who was still a few steps from leaving the office, had heard the secretary’s words by accident. She stood there frozen as her face paled. She had only been reprimanded a moment ago. With the impression Colton had on her and Sabrina, Sabrina might as well be considered dead, if he ever had his hands on that nuisance of a woman.
Joanna whipped her body around and quickly suggested, “This is the Design Department’s responsibility. Why don’t you let me handle it my department’s way, President Gardner?”
Colton had risen from his seat then. His tall build was somehow more intimidating than the atmosphere in the office was. He swiftly ignored Joanna as he looked past her and glanced at Tony. “Go downstairs and check it out,” he instructed.
Joanna stiffened upon receiving the cold treatment, but she could only hold it in while she looked at the man walking past her. Clenching her own hand, she quietly followed after them.
However, contrary to Colton’s worst assumptions, Nicole was standing there in one piece.
Sabrina, on the other hand, looked as pathetic as she was crazy while gasping for air on the ground. Her cheeks were completely swollen from the powerful slaps from Nicole.
This looks like a one-sided fight, Tony mused while rubbing his nose.
However, the pure anger on her face had immediately dissipated when her eyes landed on Colton and Joanna.
She suppressed the pain and hopped in front of them with tears in her eyes.
“Director Schmidt,” Sabrina cried to Joanna. “You have to help me receive the justice I deserve. Nicole started slapping and kicking me out of nowhere!”
Looking at the disgruntled-looking Sabrina, Joanna could only bite her teeth and remain quiet. She didn’t dare say a word when the words Colton had said to her were still fresh in her mind.
A glint of disappointment swiftly appeared in Sabrina’s eyes, but just as she was about to continue pleading her case, a man’s cold voice rang out from above her head.
“Where are the guards? This person here doesn’t have an employee badge on her. Who was it that allowed someone who is not an employee of the company in? Is someone looking to get fired because they are sick of their peaceful working days?”
Colton spoke in a cold, low tone, yet it was a voice that had everyone who heard it trembling.
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