Bethan immediately turned to look in the direction of her desk.
She was right.
The desk was empty.
“Someone stole our design sketch ! “
Samson, too, noticed the missing sketch. “I knew Fiona was up to something! She deliberately caused a commotion so someone could steal the folder from right under our noses! “
Samson was outraged by this discovery, and on the other hand, Zayne got out of his seat, about to check the security footage.
“Don’t go.”
Bethan, however, was calm and level- headed, as opposed to them both.
She shifted into a more comfortable position and leaned against the back of her chair. “The sketches are kept in a safe place. Don’t worry.”
Having heard Charmaine’s warning about Fiona’s intention to sabotage her competition, Bethan never would have kept such an important folder in her office, where Fiona could access them.
Samson let out a sigh of relief when he heard this. Zayne, on the other hand, furrowed his brows. “We still need to find out who took it. I think it’s best if I check the security footage.”
Bethan curled her lips into a smirk. “There’s no need.”
Just as she said this, the piercing screech of an alarm blared from outside her office.
Samson immediately frowned, then stormed out the door.
The alarm was coming from a drawer belonging to one of the male employees. Samson quickly rushed over and pulled the drawer open, utterly ignoring anyone that tried to stop him.
Inside the drawer was a folder that was identical to the one containing Bethan’s design sketches. The alarm was coming from inside the folder.
Samson could not help chuckling when he saw this. “
You’re smart, Director Bethan.”
Bethan shrugged, then lowered her head to dab at the coffee stain that splattered on her shirt with a tissue.
She was not the smart one. This had all been Neil’s idea.
In the past, when Bethan was still working abroad, one of her coworkers had experienced a similar incident whereby one of her design sketches had gotten stolen.
As soon as Neil found out about this, he came up with the idea of embedding a built-in alarm system within a folder.
Together with Nigel, they managed to create different kinds of folders for Bethan. Neil was the brains of this operation, while Nigel worked behind the scenes in engineering the actual product.
However, even though she had acquired this new technology, she never got the chance to experience it for herself since no one had attempted to steal her documents.
Bethan never expected that Nigel and Neil’s masterpiece would come in handy at this time.
As soon as she thought of Neil…
Bethan could not help feeling her heart sink. Perhaps this was the last thing Neil could do to protect her.
“Ms. Blake, I’ve failed in my mission.”
Fiona, who at this moment was inside the VIP ward in a nearby hospital, received a phone call.
“The folder is a fake one. Not only was it fake, but it even had a built-in alarm system… I’m at the police station right now…”
As soon as she heard this, a flicker of hatred flashed through Fiona’s eyes. She bit down on her lip and snapped, “If you still want the money, shut up and don’t rat me out! Don’t you dare try to contact me again! “
With that, she hung up the phone and deleted the call history.
After tucking her phone away, she closed her eyes. Bethan was more alert than she thought.
After a moment, she opened her eyes, and her gaze landed on the kettle a short distance away that had been put on boil for her use.
She gritted her teeth and strode over. Then, she picked up the kettle and hovered it right where she had gotten scalded by the coffee.
When Brettley finally arrived at the hospital, the doctor was in the middle of cleaning and bandaging Fiona’s wound.
He could not stop himself from complaining to his assistant, who was watching from the side, “Why didn’t you tell me to come earlier, knowing how serious her wound was? You’re useless! “
The assistant bit down on her lip and answered in a slightly sheepish tone, “She looked perfectly fine, and she even said she was fine. She was just scalded by a cup of coffee, so I didn’t take much notice of her. I didn’t know that…”
She did not know how serious this patient’s burn was!
At this moment, Brettley strode into the room.
The first thing he saw when he entered was the string of blisters on Fiona’s abdomen, as tightly strung as a chain of pearls.
As soon as he saw this, Brettley furrowed his brows. “
What happened?”
Fiona bit down on her lip and answered in a low voice, “Nothing. It was my fault. I accidentally spilled coffee on myself.”
“What do you mean, it was an accident? It’s murder! ” the doctor scoffed. As he continued to treat Fiona’s wound, he coldly added, “Ms. Blake asked us to keep this a secret and not tell you that one of your employees had hurt her, but I believe that if this happened once, there’ll always be a next! “
He pointed at the blisters on Fiona’s abdomen and continued, “Fortunately, she got scalded on her belly, but what if something like this happens another time? If she gets burned on her hands, legs, or face, how is she supposed to live a normal life ever again?
“Let’s say that looks aren’t a priority, but even then, she’s not doing so well physically either. if she gets burned another time , she’ll suffer life-threatening consequences! “
The doctor’s explanation sounded so severe that Brettley froze. Then, he lifted his head and shot Fiona a somber glance. “Tell me what really happened.”
Fiona bit down on her lip, then finally stammered, “
Ms. Bethan has been hiding things from me lately.
Even though she and I are on the same team, she’s never shown me the design sketches before… I thought that because of what happened in the past, she probably still had reservations about me, so I made a cup of coffee and brought it over to her in an attempt to alleviate the tension… “
Fiona could not stop her tears from falling as she continued, “But… I didn’t go at the right time , and she wasn’t in her office when I arrived. Then, the power got cut off all of a sudden, and I panicked in the darkness. I think maybe I walked in the wrong direction, and Ms. Bethan thought I was trying to steal her sketch… When I handed her the cup of coffee, she refused to take it and shoved me forcefully, so I accidentally spilled the coffee all over myself… “
She sniffed, then grabbed a piece of tissue to wipe away her tears. “Of course, I don’t blame her. It’s my fault, after all. I shouldn’t have gone into her office without her permission. Besides, I knew that she hated me, but I still tried to alleviate the tension between us…”
As soon as they heard this, the doctor and assistant immediately piped in, feeling outraged at the way Fiona was treated, “Who does something like this? “
“Aren’t you a part of her team? Why is she hiding things from you?”
“You were just trying to do her a favor and bring her coffee, but you got scalded in return! “
Brettley furrowed his brows upon hearing this.
Finally, the doctor finished treating Fiona’s wound and could not help letting out a sigh. “Ms. Blake, you’re Mr. Morrison’s girlfriend, after all, but how could she treat you like this?”
“Bethan has never been afraid of me, much less Fiona.”
Brettley walked over to Fiona’s bedside and handed her a piece of tissue. “Wipe your tears. It’s understandable for Bethan to have her reservations about you. It always pays to be careful, after all, but a s for scalding you on purpose…”
Brettley let out a sigh. “I’ll look into this.” “There’s no need.”
Fiona pursed her lips and, dabbing at her tears, understandingly said, “Let’s just forget about this. Ms. Bethan didn’t do this on purpose. I’ll just keep my distance from her from now on.”
Brettley sighed, then pulled Fiona into his arms, burying her head in his chest.
Sometimes, he did not understand why Fiona was so naive as to get on Bethan’s nerves repeatedly.
However, there were other times when he thought she was so considerate of others that he could not help feeling sorry for her.
“Brettley, the competition is less than three days away. This is the most important time for Morrison Group to prepare for the competition. Please don’t get into conflict with Ms. Bethan for my sake, do you hear me?”
Brettley let out a sigh and nodded. “Alright.”
Fiona, whose face was still buried in Brettley’s chest, curled her lips into a smirk when she heard this. A flicker of mischief flashed through her eyes. After the incident involving Fiona and her cup of coffee, Bethan’s presence in Morrison Group Tower would attract whispers and murmurs no matter where she went.
“Was she the one who scalded Ms. Blake with her coffee?”
“Yes. I heard that Ms. Blake’s burns were so severe that her abdomen was covered entirely in blisters. How terrifying! Despite that, Ms. Blake didn’t blame her for anything.”
“Not only did Ms. Blake forgive her, but she even asked President Morrison not to reprimand Bethan for this. Apparently, she didn’t want to cause any conflict or rifts between them because of the upcoming jewelry design contest.”
“Do you think President Morrison will chew her out after the competition is over?”
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