Olivia froze completely. After exchanging a glance with Walter, embarrassment flooded her face and her ears turned so red they looked ready to bleed.
Walter set his cup down on the table with force, his expression darkening. “Are you questioning us?” he asked with displeasure.
“Yes, I am.” Audrey nodded. “If you two care about him so much, how could you not know what injury he had?”
Audrey leaned forward to pick up the snacks from the table and began eating them slowly. A mocking smile spread across her face. “Don’t tell me you never visited him in the hospital even once. Did you think I was clueless and easy to fool?”
Her bluntness made it even harder for Walter and Olivia to save face. As the elder, Walter couldn’t very well argue back with Audrey directly.
Olivia quickly jumped in to explain. “Of course we did! The Aldrin family loves Yann more than any other grandson. Maybe it’s been so many years that we can’t remember the details clearly, but we definitely visited him in the hospital.”
Audrey kept pressing. “Which hospital did you visit him at?”
Olivia was getting annoyed by the questioning and worried that saying too much would only make things worse, so she decided to change the subject entirely. “Let’s not dwell on the past. It makes us look like we’re keeping score of our good deeds.”
Olivia smiled at Walter before turning back to Audrey. “About this morning, I was wrong. I misunderstood you, and I apologize.”
She moved to sit beside Audrey, wanting to hold her hand while they talked to create an intimate atmosphere. But when she saw that Audrey’s hands were sticky from the snacks she was eating, she abandoned the idea.
Olivia continued, “Audrey, Darkshell International doesn’t just need talent. It needs loyalty. Given our family connection, who could be closer to us than
you?
“My department doesn’t handle any real power, which actually makes it perfect for observing employee loyalty from the ground up.
“This morning, I got the wrong idea and thought you had ulterior motives for getting close to Yann. Now that we’ve cleared the air, can we put this behind us?”
Audrey continued eating her snacks, completely unhurried. Only when Olivia finished speaking did she respond, “If you’re all so close to him, why didn’t anyone visit when he had his car accident? That doesn’t add up.”
The ingratiating smile on Olivia’s face nearly cracked. She thought, ‘Damn Audrey, why does she keep bringing up what happened seven years ago? Whether it was an arm or a leg that got hurt, everything’s fine now, so what’s the point of mentioning it?
‘What does she want–for Yann to have another accident so they can rush to the hospital and make up for ignoring him seven years ago? Gi
break.‘
ea
Neither woman responded to the other’s comments, each talking past the other entirely. “Audrey, I’ll go home and reflect for a few days, and you can dock a month of my salary as punishment. Then we can go back to normal,” Olivia said.
“And you need to stop being so impulsive in the future,” Walter added, offering Olivia a token scolding. Olivia nodded at everything he said and promised nothing like this would happen again.
After their little performance, both of them looked expectantly at Audrey.
She popped the remaining snacks into her mouth and shrugged. “Mr. Winifred made his decision in front of everyone. If he goes back on his word now, how will he maintain authority with the management team? Everyone will follow suit, and the reward and punishment system will become meaningless.”
“You-” Olivia started to say something about not pushing her luck, but before she could finish, a servant opened the front door, and Yann strode in
Winifred, you’re home.” The servant greeted.
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“Mm.” Yann headed straight for the living room.
Audrey jumped up immediately and fluttered into the man’s arms like a butterfly. “Ms. Aldrin and Mr. Aldrin are here,” she said.
Audrey really couldn’t figure out what relationship the Aldrin family had with Yann. Walter and Olivia were relatives from Logan’s grandmother’s side, not Yann’s grandmother’s family, so there was practically no blood connection at all. Yet here they were, trying to take advantage.
“Yann, welcome back,” Olivia said with a forced smile plastered across her face.
Walter slowly got to his feet, putting on the airs of an elder. “Have a seat.”
“Ms. Aldrin told me that when you had your car accident years ago, you injured your left hand really badly,” Audrey said, grabbing Yann’s left hand with a look of deep concern.
Olivia’s smile disappeared. ‘I really want to sew Audrey’s mouth shut. Why does she have to be such a pain?‘ she thought.
“It wasn’t my left hand,” Yann replied coldly, playing along with Audrey’s act.
“Are you sure? They said they were at the hospital taking care of you the whole time. How could they possibly get it wrong?” Audrey continued to stir the
pot.
“Taking care of me?” Yann let out a derisive snort.
Olivia’s face flushed with embarrassment as she awkwardly rubbed her hands together. “It was so long ago. I must have mixed it up.”
Audrey turned to look at her with a completely serious expression. “Mr. Aldrin is getting older, so it makes sense he might not remember clearly.
“But you’re so young. How can your memory already be failing? That’s not good at all. You should go home and get some brain supplements.”
Olivia felt her anger flare up inside her. If murder weren’t illegal, she’d want to stab Audrey right now. She had only mentioned visiting the hospital once, never claimed she’d been there constantly taking care of him.
‘How did everything get so twisted when it came out of Audrey’s mouth?‘ Olivia thought. ‘What a manipulative bitch. When she’s alone, she’s fierce as hell, but in front of Yann she puts on this helpless act.‘
Walter’s face turned pale with anger. His cold eyes swept over Audrey before settling on Yann. “I went home today and Olivia told me everything. I admit she was wrong about some things,” he said.
Audrey knew the “but” was coming. She looped her arm through Yann’s and tilted her head to look at him.
When Yann reached for her hand, he found it sticky, but there wasn’t a trace of disgust in his eyes. He bent down to pull a wet wipe fro carefully cleaned each of her fingers one by one.
table and
Walter’s momentum was completely thrown off by this sudden display of affection, and his brows furrowed in irritation. Only after Yann finished cleaning Audrey’s hand and interlaced their fingers did Walter continue speaking.
“You knew Audrey was wearing recording equipment. You should have handled this behind closed doors. I wouldn’t have cared how you disciplined her then, but exposing her publicly like that? Where does that leave Olivia’s dignity?” Walter said sternly.
“If we’d handled it behind closed doors, the executives would have assumed my wife was stealing. Where would that leave her dignity?” Yann’s expression remained neutral, but his words were ice–cold.
‘So Olivia’s reputation matters, but Audrey’s doesn’t?‘ Yann thought. ‘If Olivia has the nerve to make public accusations, she should be prepared to face the consequences. If she cared so much about her image, she shouldn’t provoke Audrey in the first place.”
Walter clenched his fists in frustration. ‘If the executives had misunderstood Audrey, she could have just stayed away from the company and the problem would be solved. But now that Olivia’s been caught making false accusations, how can she maintain her position there?‘ he thought.
Still, Walter bit back these words, reminding himself that today was about making peace, not debating who was more important to whom. “Yes, Olivia
08:39 Mon, 16 Jun
Chapter 287
acted without thinking this through. She needs to reflect on this for a few days, and then afterwards-”
78%
“Afterwards, she should learn from this mistake and not repeat it at other companies,” Yann interrupted Walter, completely cutting off any chance of Olivia getting her job back. He turned to Audrey. “Hardy invited us to the gaming center. Want to go?”
Audrey ignored Olivia’s anxious expression and tugged playfully at Yann’s hand. “Can you teach me how to play games? Everyone says I’m terrible and that I drag the team down.”
Yann brushed his finger across her cheek, his eyes soft with affection. “Sure.”
Audrey smiled at Walter, “We won’t keep you two for dinner then. We’re eating out anyway.” She turned to Olivia with an innocent smile. “Ms. Aldrin, since you came to apologize personally, I won’t hold a grudge. I hope you find a new job soon.”
Go screw yourself, you piece of shit, Olivia thought furiously.
