Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Audrey had only stepped in for Tiffany once, when Tiffany’s family had a sudden emergency.
She filled in for a dinner meeting with Paul, and by pure chance, ran into Yann again.
She had barely excused herself to the restroom when Yann left the table. The deal didn’t go through.
In the end, she didn’t steal credit. If anything, she helped cover for Tiffany. So why was she the one getting blamed?
“Audrey, come here for a second,” Edana called from the manager’s office doorway.
Audrey walked over and asked quietly, “Edana, is Tiffany’s family doing better now?”
“Doing better?“.
“You said there was an emergency the day I joined. She took the afternoon off for it, remember?”
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Edana looked confused for a moment, and then realization flickered in her eyes. She gave a small smile instead of answering directly. “Mr. Gibson wants to see you.”
“Oh.”
Audrey paused at the door, just about to knock when Edana leaned in and whispered, “Ms. Dobbin might be coming back. She holds a grudge, sure, but she’s good at what she does, and Mr. Gibson doesn’t mind turning a blind eye if someone gets results.”
The implication couldn’t be clearer.
Mia had left because of Audrey’s hire. Now that she was willing to return, Audrey was expected to offer an olive branch. Paul needed Mia’s skills, which meant Audrey might have to swallow her pride.
Audrey nodded to show she understood.
She knocked.
Paul’s familiar laugh came from inside. “Come in!”
“Mr. Gibson, you asked for me?” she said as she entered.
Paul glanced at Edana. “Bring in two coffees, please.”
“Right away, Mr. Gibson.” Edana closed the door behind her.
Mia was already seated in the chair across from Paul, her posture straight and cold. She didn’t even turn around, offering Audrey nothing but the back of
her head.
Audrey kept her tone even. “Was there something you needed me for, Mr. Gibson?”
Paul waved her off with a casual smile. “In a minute.”
The door opened again. Tiffany entered with two coffees. She walked past Audrey and placed a cup in front of Paul. “Sir, enjoy.”
Paul tapped the desk lightly with his fingers.
Audrey shot Tiffany a brief glance but stayed’silent.
Tiffany made her way toward Mia with the second coffee but suddenly tripped. She stumbled forward with a sharp cry. “Ah!”
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Chapter 78
Mia sprang to her feet.
Coffee splashed across her front. She grabbed some tissues from the table and furiously wiped at her clothes. “Audrey! You did that on purpose!”
Audrey had stepped back the second she saw the cup tip. The entire spill landed on Mia instead. She clasped her hands calmly in front of her and looked at Mia and then at the pale, wide–eyed Tiffany.
Paul took a leisurely sip from his coffee, watching the scene with amusement, eyes flicking from Audrey to Mia and back again.
Mia hesitated for a second, caught off guard by his reaction, and then turned to Tiffany for backup.
“It was Audrey who tripped me. I lost my balance because she stuck her foot out!” Tiffany, trembling, tried to deflect. “If you had a problem with Ms. Dobbin, you should’ve said it to her face. We don’t do sneaky games in the secretary department.”
Audrey smiled politely at Mia. “What issue could I possibly have with Ms. Dobbin? She’s the one who threatened to resign over my hiring, remember?”
The smile she wore was picture–perfect, but it made Mia’s back prickle with cold.
Baldwin Biotech had handed Derek over to the police but kept the matter quiet to avoid scandal.
Mia was racing the clock to get back into Stride Commerce before the full fallout hit.
She had hoped Audrey would say something polite, maybe even apologetic, something like, “I was new then, and I didn’t really get how things worked. I hope you won’t hold it against me.”
But Audrey’s first words reminded everyone exactly why Mia had walked out in the first place. Trying to have Tiffany rattle her had backfired spectacularly.
Audrey tilted her head toward Tiffany. “You said I tripped you. Do you have proof? Because if not, that’s slander.”
“I…” Tiffany’s hands were visibly shaking. “There’s no footage under the manager’s desk. There’s no camera there!”
“Oh, you don’t have evidence,” Audrey said, smiling wider. “But I do.”
Audrey calmly reached for her necklace, the look in her eyes enough to make Tiffany flinch. “This necklace contains a micro camera.
“It caught everything, your ‘accidental‘ stumble, and an hour ago, when you called me to the hallway and told me to meet Ms. Dobbin in the garage. You said ‘Go or don’t! Then when I didn’t show up, you came back to push me again.”
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She turned toward Paul with a faint smile. “Your office has a screen. We can play it back if you’d like. That way everyone can see what the meeting was really about.”
Audrey unfastened the necklace and placed it on the desk.
Tiffany went pale. Her throat bobbed as she tried to speak.
“Mr. Gibson! Ms. Dobbin messaged me. I didn’t know what they were going to talk about. I tripped on the desk leg, it wasn’t Audrey! She had nothing to
do with it!”
Paul raised an eyebrow over his coffee. “So it had nothing to do with Audrey?”
“Nothing!” Tiffany nodded frantically.
He turned to Mia, still smiling. “And what were you hoping to discuss with her during work hours, exactly?”
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Mia had no answer. She’d wanted to butter Audrey up, maybe steer the narrative in her favor before anyone else caught wind of what had happened at Baldwin. Now, it looked like she was trying to fish for internal company info.
Cornered, Mia’s eyes flicked to the necklace. She grasped at the only straw she had left. “Mr. Gibson, company policy prohibits any recording devices,
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especially in sensitive departments like this one. Audrey could’ve recorded confidential data. She could be corporate espionage!”
Paul leaned back slowly, coffee still in hand, that same amused look playing on his face. He nodded toward Audrey with a tilt of his chin. “Audrey?”
n’s just a necklace,” Audrey said calmly, pushing it toward Mia. “You’re welcome to check it.”
Tiffany looked stricken.
Mia picked up the pendant and inspected it from every angle. It was cheap, with a fake gemstone, and clearly just jewelry. She had been played perfectly.
Mia cast a furious glance at Tiffany. ‘You idiot jumped the gun. You should’ve let her play the footage first. If she really had anything, that’s when you admit fault. You panicked and blew it.‘
Tiffany peeked at her, shoulders hunched. ‘I’m so done.‘ She didn’t say it aloud, but it was written all over her face.
The room fell silent, until Paul began clapping slowly, smiling broader than before. “Quick thinking. Calm under pressure. Audrey, you’re the kind of talent I’d be a fool not to protect.”
“Thank you, Mr. Gibson,” Audrey replied simply.
Paul gestured toward the door. “You’re free to go.”
As she stepped out of the office, her phone rang.
Carson’s voice came through, breathless and excited. “Audrey! The results are in!”
