The security guards immediately came running when they heard the cold threat. With one of them holding Sabrina by the arms and the other grabbing her legs, they attempted to manhandle her out of the building.
She kept letting out sounds of protest as she struggled out of their holds. Never could she have imagined that Colton would take Nicole’s side without knowing the whole story.
Her attempt to break free finally succeeded after she relentlessly moved against their grips.
“President Gardner! President Gardner!” she howled as she stumbled her way back toward Colton. “Nicole was the one who attacked me! She hit me first!”
Colton’s expression only further hardened. With his tightly pursed lips and eyes that had dimmed, anyone could see that he wasn’t in his best mood at that moment.
Looking at the scene, Joanna’s palms began to sweat. Then, she stepped forward before Colton had responded, and she lowered her head to peer at the pathetic woman.
Even though they always had a close relationship, Joanna couldn’t just overlook how embarrassing Sabrina was behaving.
“Stop sticking around and causing trouble, Sabrina. You have been fired. How dare you show up at your former workplace and cause this mess!” Joanna chided coldly.
Sabrina froze again out of surprise. With tears in her eyes, she looked up at Joanna like a scolded puppy, and her lips began to quiver pitifully. “Miss Schmidt…” she muttered in an equally shaky voice.
She couldn’t understand why Joanna was treating her this way when all she did was siding with Joanna!
Instead of taking pity on Sabrina, Joanna continued coldly, “Who the hell do you think you are?! Lisa is the representative sent by F&M Apparel for the collaboration with Gardner Corporation. Continue with your silly antics if you have no intention of staying in Goldwick!”
Those words seemed to work as they finally broke Sabrina out of her delusions. Nicole was indeed a representative from F&M Apparel, and if Gardner Apparel had any intention of becoming a top brand in the country, they should definitely try to get on Nicole’s good side.
Joanna had promised to get Sabrina back into Gardner Corporation, but the plan seemed to have backfired all because of Nicole’s refusal to say anything.
On top of that, Sabrina had come across Queenie after learning that Shaun had been sacked by the company. She must have been so blinded by rage for her to cause such commotion at the company.
Sabrina began to pale as she thought about the consequences of her behavior. She wanted to explain herself, yet, she couldn’t possibly say anything about Queenie, who was the Mrs. Gardner-to-be. Like a fish gasping for air, her mouth opened and slammed shut multiple times as she fought her internal conflict.
Thinking that Queenie would probably not let Sabrina off if she were to snitch on her, Sabrina’s fists began to tighten again.
“President Gardner, Miss Lisa, this was my fault. I’m sorry,” Sabrina confessed to the crime with great difficulty. Her fists were still tightly balled as she looked at the floor.
After hearing the apology, Nicole sauntered in front of Sabrina, and with a dark expression on her face, she coldly spat, “Not all apologies deserve forgiveness. You are an adult, and I want you to be held responsible for your actions. I will be releasing a statement as the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel. Good luck finding a job within the fashion industry.”
Hearing those words was like a death sentence to Sabrina. There was no room to doubt F&M Apparel’s influence in the industry. They were a global leading brand, after all.
A nervous expression soon replaced the pitiful mask she had on just moments ago. Fashion design was the one thing she wanted to do. She had only ever worked as a designer ever since she had graduated from school. “Miss Schmidt!” Sabrina cried.
She turned to Joanna in hopes for her to lend a helping hand, but Joanna was in no position to save anyone since Joanna could lose her own job any moment now.
“What are you waiting for? Want me to bring her out myself?” Colton’s icy glare stayed on the guards the entire time.
The security personnels quickly reacted by seizing Sabrina and pulling her out of the office. They had covered her mouth this time to stop her from spewing more nonsense.
And just like that, the office immediately returned to its quiet state in the morning. And yet, no one dared to break the stern atmosphere in the room even after witnessing the gossip-worthy scene unfold before them.
Joanna finally broke the silence when she told the rest of the employees to resume with their work. It was only then that the crowd dispersed as they each went back to their own desks.
Looking at Colton, Nicole knew that he had come downstairs specially to help her out of the situation, so she thanked him with her head lowered. “Thanks for your help, President Gardner.”
When Colton turned to her, his expression softened a lot; there was a gentle smile on his face, and his tone was more relaxed and not as aloof as earlier.
“You’re a guest of honor at the Gardner Corporation, Lisa, and we should have given you a great working environment. I didn’t expect to make you feel bad here.”
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but just enough for everyone in the department to hear it, and they all knew that both this partnership and Lisa were important to Colton.
Aware that Colton was helping her to set up her dominance in front of everyone, Nicole chuckled lightly. “President Gardner, I would like to discuss some details of the partnership with you. Are you free now?”
“Yes, let’s go upstairs together.” Colton nodded, moved closer to her, and walked side by side with her.
Even though Joanna watched everything unfold in front of her without much of an expression, the anger within her was already ignited. Her eyes were red as she fixed her gaze on Nicole while she walked away and stared at Nicole so hard that it was as though her stare could pierce holes.
For so many years, she had never walked side by side with Colton and would always be a step behind him whenever they were walking together.
Initially, she thought that a bimbo like Queenie would be kicked out by Colton sooner or later, but Nicole unexpectedly showed up out of nowhere.
It was only after the both of them had disappeared from her eyesight did Joanna retract her gaze. Recollecting her emotions, she then swept her gaze through everyone in the office and said indifferently, “Bear in mind to be more careful when you’re working with
Lisa, everyone.”
In response, everyone nodded and answered softly. After all, they had all witnessed what happened to Sabrina and learned a lesson from her fate.
Because of what happened earlier, the entire atmosphere in the workplace remained awkward and Joanna left the office after scanning across the room.
After immediately walking downstairs, she went out of the building, and sure enough, Sabrina was still around as she sat on a concrete flower bed. Upon seeing her, Sabrina paced to her in a hurry while calling her in an aggrieved voice, “Miss Schmidt.”
Staring at the person in front of her, Joanna sighed softly. “Why are you so silly, Sabrina?”
Sabrina’s eyes were filled with tears. She was so overwhelmed with anger that she didn’t think that much at all, but it was too late for regrets because her life was as good as ruined now.
She looked at Joanna in helplessness and sniffled. “Miss Schmidt, w-what should I do?
My life is over if I can never be in the clothing industry.”
Looking back at her, Joanna patted her shoulder. “Lay low for the next few days. The company will definitely compensate you with some money after kicking you out, and you should just settle down for now. Once Nicole is toppled, I’ll help you to get back to the Gardner Corporation.”
When Sabrina heard the words ‘once Nicole is toppled’, a look of delight washed over her face, and she lifted her head at Joanna, whispering, “Do you have a plan already?”
Joanna looked at Sabrina. She actually didn’t want to be associated with people like Queenie, but since the situation had come to this, she had to do something. If she didn’t and allowed Nicole to continue as she was, it would only be a matter of time before she herself was kicked out of the company as well.
A gleeful Sabrina thought, There is basically not much problem anymore since Joanna has made a promise. Recollecting the look on her face, she said happily, “Okay. I got it, Miss Schmidt.”
“Also, don’t breathe a word about this to anyone else; otherwise, even I won’t be able to help you,” Joanna warned.”
Bobbing her head eagerly, Sabrina had a look of malice in her eyes as she gritted her teeth. “Don’t worry, Miss Schmidt. As long as I can see Nicole down and out, I don’t mind even if I can’t return to the company.”
Meanwhile, Nicole went to Colton’s office with him, and she only spoke when the door was closed. “President Gardner, you don’t have to side with me so much, actually.”
Colton lifted his head at her without much change in his expression, and he lowered his head again as he chuckled softly. “Nicole,” he called out, while the look in his dark eyes were different from earlier as there was a hidden smirk in them. “This is a partnership between F&M Apparel and the Gardner Corporation, and your talent as the Chief Designer for F&M Apparel is unquestionable.”
Astonished, Nicole wasn’t expecting that he would say something like this to her. She lowered her gaze, and a smile spread across her face. He probably found out what Sabrina said to me earlier and is trying to console me with this now.
With a smile, she said casually, “President Gardner, as the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel, I’ve been through turbulent situations before as well. Although those were some mean criticisms, it’s still within my tolerance level.”
For a few seconds, Colton kept his eyes fixed on her before giving her a nod. “Okay.” He paused. “You can also tell me if there’s any issue.”
Without holding back, Nicole said straightforwardly, “Even though I had a small argument with Shaun from human resources last evening, there was no need to fire him. It’s inevitable to have some disagreements between colleagues, and I don’t wish to be an exception.”
It didn’t occur to Colton that she would speak up for Shaun, so a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. Looking up, he pursed his lips and asked, “Is that really what you think?”
Nicole nodded. “I’m only going to be in Gardner Corporation for a few months, so there’s no need to cause such a big ruckus because of me. I joined Gardner Corporation with the idea of creating a clothing line for your company together with your other designers, not to cause the situation now,” she said, a bitter smile hanging on her face.
Fixing his gaze on her, he nodded. “It seems that I didn’t think it through properly.”
After their chat, Nicole went back to her office, which was so quiet that she could hear her own footsteps, and the atmosphere in the room was incredibly depressing.
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