Oh Fake 27
Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Clayton only heard the audio, but the rest of the crowd watched i viden, and if hit harder,
It showed Valeile walking up to Audrey first and even provoking Audrey. When Audrey didn’t take the ball, Valerie tried to thatch her bang
Audrey didn’t cven lift a hand, and Valerie flung herself out of the elevator like she was shooting a movie
Paul looked back with a smile. “Mr. Patel, would you like to take a good look at how your lady smeared one of Stride Commerce’s soon to be employees?”
Clayton’s arm tensed up, his muscles tight as wire, Inside, his thoughts were a mest. Valerie claimed I gave the bracelet to her? I only asked her to keep it
“Audrey even called the bracelet and I trashy? She used to love me. Why did she say something that cruel!
‘But now
Audrey?
makes sense. Audrey was so calm just now because she didn’t shove Valerie at all. Valerie is so kind and gentle, so why did she accuse
if she slandered Audrey just now, what about that time she said Audrey broke her fingers, or when she said Audrey cut her wrist with a knife? Were those
all fake too
Clayton shut his eyes for a moment, trying to stull the rising storm of doubt and rage back into its box
He blamed Audrey in his mind, ‘Even if Valerie lied, and I wrongly accused Audrey, did she have to blow it all up here? Can’t we talk at home? Did she
have to make a scene?
“brought Valerie here, and she screwing up meant the whole firm looks bad. Audrey just did this to spite me. She has no concern about how it will blow back on me. She is so selfish
“I’m sorry, Mr. Gibson. I was wrong.” Clayton’s voice came out stiff and
He didn’t turn around to look at Audrey. He could picture her expression, which should be smug as hell.
Paul took a slow sip of coffee his assistant had just handed over, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Mr. Patel, you’re apologizing to the wrong person.“”
Paul’s gaze flicked from Valerie, who stood with her head bowed, to Clayton, whose back was straight.
Clayton’s hand tightened on Valerie’s shoulder without thinking. He thought bitterly, ‘He wants me to apologize to Audrey? What the hell?‘
His lips moved, but no words came.
His grip was tight, and Valerie’s shoulder hurt a lot. She hadn’t expected Stride Commerce would go so far as to check the footage for a job candidate.
She wondered, “If there were no video, Clayton would we been on my side for sure. He might’ve even divorced Audrey, considering what she has done to
“But now that i was exposed, what if he changed his mind? What if he decided to stay married to Audrey? if that happened, how the hell can I replace her and marry Clay?”
“Clay.” Valerie’s voice broke with tears. “I’m sorry! I misunderstood Audrey. I really feel awful now”
“it’s alright. I’ll take you to the hospital,” Clayton said, shielding her like a knight.
Seeing them were about to leave, Audrey still didn’t move
“Vally already admitted she was wrong. Don’t take it too far,” Clayton warned, his jaw tight.
1/3
Chapter 27
“Oh you think that fires everything?” Audrey’s hyes were on cold as they locked onto his “You want me to spell out what you did Patterson’s hes, or should I let the room pless
Clayton’s face turned grim, and his gaze went lcy,
He made her suffer for a month in Ashwood, and he knew that He promised he would take it up to her. But publicly humiliating him and ruining his firm’s name and deal was way out of line.
“I’ll have Vally apologize to you in private when we get back,” he said, his eyes sweeping over the gathering crowd and landing on Audrey with a warning “She’s not well. She needs a doctor now.”
They moved left, and Audrey stepped left to block the path. “Oh, I see. I was supposed to apologize in public, but now that she’s in the wrong, why should we handle it in private?”
Clayton’s stare could’ve cut glass. He hated it when Audrey pot like this sharp and relentless.
Valerie put on a frail act and lifted her head with effort. “Audrey, I was just…”
Before she finished speaking, her eyes rolled, and she collapsed right into Clayton’s arms.
“Happy now?” Clayton snapped while picking up the briefcase, Ignoring the pain in his arm, he scooped Valerie up and carried her into the elevator
Audrey felt her eyes sting, but no tears came. She used to tell herself that Clayton only hurt her because Valerie fed him lies. She was sure if he knew the truth, he’d realize he was wrong.
But reality just smacked her in the face. Clayton knew Valerie was in the wrong. He knew she was taking it just to duck responsibility, and he still didn’t
call her out.
He did so because he didn’t want to apologize either. So he covered for Valerie and painted Audrey as the one who was aggressive and unreasonable.
Audrey had given up all hope in Clayton, and honestly, she even thought she’d lose her job too. After all, no one would want to hire a troublemaker who
was not easy to manage,
Audrey turned to Paul. “Mr. Gibson, thank you for clearing my name. I’m sorry for disrupting everyone.” She was about to bow to Paul but was stopped.
Paul said, “If someone tries to bully anyone in my company, that’s like slapping me in the face.”
Paul’s gaze landed on Audrey, a bit unreadable, between a smirk and something deeper. He added, “You were supposed to start work tomorrow. But given everything that’s happened, take three days off. Get your personal stuff sorted.”
“Three days off? That means they still wants to hire me?‘ thought Audrey.
Audrey broke into a smile and promised, “Thank you, Mr. Gibson. I’ll handle my business soon.”
Aher leaving Stride Comerce, Audrey received a call from Brooke. “Hey Audrey, are you free this morning?”
Audrey replied, “Mrs. Gomez, I was just about to call you. I found a job. I’m still good to tutor van today and tomorrow. After that I need to switch the lesson to evenings, after 7 pm, or if it’s easier, you can find him another tutor.”
“No, we’d really prefer you stay on. We’ll adjust to your schedule.” Brooke hesitated, like she had more to say.
Audrey took a wild guess. “Is it about the dress from yesterday? You want to return it, right?”
Brooke then asked, “Are you free now?”
“Yeah,” Audrey replied.
They agreed to meet up. When they sat down, Brooke fidgeted for a while before finally explaining everything
2/3
Chapter 27
31 May
Last night, she and her husband had a thuilling night, but this morning, she noticed some bleeding
She’d been a stay at home mother for so long.
et, and she didn’t really have fierials that could talk to about this kind of thing. Thus, she thought of Audrey,
hoping she’d come with her to the hospital.
Clayton helped Valerie sit in the car and threw her bag onto the passenger seat without a word.
“Mark, For
po grab us some water” Clayton said to the driver.
When they were alone, he turned to Valerie. “Do you actually need to go to the hospital?”
Valerie didn’t answer right away. She blinked like she was just coming to. She cradled her injured finger and sobbed. “Tm sorry, Clay it wasn’t Audrey’s fault. I just didn’t explain it clearly”
She was betting on one thing that Clayton didn’t see the video.
She added, “I wanted to help you guys make peace. When I reached out to stop
top her, I accidentally hurt my finger”
Clayton didn’t say anything. Thinking back now, he realized valerie had kept saying she hurt herself, and that it wasn’t Audrey’s fault
He was just too worried about Valerie to suspect Audrey. He muttered, “I should’ve made it clear before accusing anyone. His eyes landed on the braided chain bracelet still on her wrist. He reached out to take it off.
But Valerie was quicker. She grabbed his hand, her eyes wide with worry. “We came here to discuss a deal with Stride Commerce. Now that things got so messy, do you think they still want to work with us?”
Those words pulled Clayton’s thoughts back to the bigger picture. His brows furrowed deep, and he replied, “I’ll make a call.”
Clayton’s small firm only got the chance to have deals with Stride Commerce because of the help of a friend. That friend was tight with someone inside Stride Commerce.
Clayton asked his friend to ask about the situation for him. Soon, his friend called him back.
AD
Comment
