Chapter 453 Very Suspicious
When Amelia returned to the office, Rory approached her. “Mr. Moore came by earlier, Amelia. It seems that the client wants the design by tomorrow noon. We’ll have to work overtime tonight.”
Amelia furrowed her eyebrows. “Can I take it back home to finish it?”
“Sure. Do you want to take the drafts back with you?”
“I do. Tony’s currently in his mischievous phase, and he’s not terribly close with his dad. If I return too late, I’m afraid he’ll throw a tantrum.”
Rory failed to stifle her laughter. “Looks like you’ve learned how to joke, Amelia.” When she smiled, a faint dimple appeared on her right cheek. It made her look cuter. “You promised me you’ll let me see Tony this weekend, Amelia. No take-backs, okay?”
Amelia nodded.
Rory’s smile became wider as anticipation flashed across her eyes. She couldn’t shake away the image of a tall and imposing figure in her mind.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Amelia asked because her friend’s cheek was getting red and she looked as though she was daydreaming.
Rory snapped out of it and shook her head. “I’m fine, Amelia. I’ll be going to the washroom.”
“Go ahead, then.”
She turned around and left. However, after taking five steps away, she glanced back at Amelia, whose back was facing her, with jealousy, dropping the lovable facade she had put up in front of Amelia.
Entering a washroom cubicle, she heard someone talking in front of the sinks.
“Say, that new gal in the design department seems to have a pretty close relationship with Rory. Who do you think she is?” one of the women asked.
“Based on her appearance, I’m thinking she’s either the daughter of a rich family or the wife of a wealthy man. Rory’s the type of person who’ll only approach and flatter rich people. If that new gal wasn’t wealthy in some way, Rory wouldn’t have bothered to put up with her at all. What a shameless woman.”
“That’s true. Still, Rory’s quite the schemer, don’t you think? Even though she’s from a village and she has just graduated, she’s already cozying up with Mr. Moore. Only a fool will believe her when she said she had nothing to do with him. Do you believe it? I sure don’t.”
Before the other woman could reply, the door to a washroom cubicle was slammed open.
Both of the women were shocked as they watched the person inside walk out.
Rory crossed her arms and sneered, “Why did you stop? Come on, go ahead. You know, talking bad about someone behind their backs will earn you a ticket to hell. You two are white-collar employees in a prestigious company, not middle-aged women buying groceries in a wet market. If there’s something you don’t like about me, say it to my face, not behind my back.”
One of them looked guilty while the other refuted, “Am I wrong, Rory? Many people in our department know you have an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Moore. I’m impressed you’re willing to get on with him when he’s as fat as a pig!”
A vicious look flashed across Rory’s eyes. “Apologize to me right now! I recorded your conversation earlier. I can bring you two to court and sue you two for slander. Article 246 of our country’s law stipulates that anyone who publicly humiliates another person with violence, fabricated facts to slander another person, or other methods shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, penal servitude, or deprivation of political rights if the consequences of the humiliation are severe to the person’s personal life. Both of you are respectable people. It’ll be a shame if you’re brought to court.”
The two women were understandably upset to hear that.
“Apologize to me right now or I’ll show you how a person from the countryside isn’t a softie you can walk all over,” Rory demanded coldly.
“We’re sorry,” they apologized unwillingly.
“I can’t hear you. Speak louder.”
“You’re going too far, Rory.”
Rory mocked, “Didn’t you say I flatter rich people? So what if I do? I can show you what those flattering will get me. Don’t pretend you’re better than me.”
“You’re the most unreasonable person I have ever seen!” The two women wanted to leave right away, but they stopped when Rory spoke again. “If you don’t apologize to me properly now, I’ll sue you both for slander and force you to do it in front of a crowd. Didn’t you say I have no shame? Well, I’m showing you how shameless I am right now.”
With no other choice, both of them apologized to her.
“Remember, if you aren’t more powerful than the person you’re talking bad about, don’t do it behind their backs. Not everyone’s going to be as nice as me. Also, I know you two are just jealous that I’m more capable, which is why you’re saying I’m mooching off rich people. Guess what? You two won’t be able to do that even if you try.” Rory then left pridefully in her high heels.
The two women stared at each other in bewilderment.
After returning to the design department, Rory looked around, but she couldn’t find Amelia. She asked a random colleague about her location.
“She was summoned by Mr. Moore,” that person answered casually. Pity was present in his eyes as he reminded, “You need to be careful, Rory. I think Amelia’s going to be Mr. Moore’s new favorite. If that happens, I’m afraid you won’t be able to keep your position.”
Rory smiled disingenuously. “Only a dirty man would think so low of another person.”
Her colleague smiled awkwardly as she returned to her seat with a dark expression.
“This is what you get by saying unnecessary things,” another employee whispered to that guy. “You already know that Rory’s as feisty as a firecracker. I’m telling you, you really shouldn’t get on her bad side. Don’t say anything stupid from now on or you’ll get yourself in trouble.”
He indignantly refuted, “I’m just telling the truth! She’s only relying on her attractiveness to get what she wants. I hate that she pretends she’s better than us.”
Rory heard all their whispering, but she pretended not to notice.
Inside the manager’s office, as Amelia stared at the smiling fat man, her lips twitched. “Is there something you want from me, Mr. Moore?”
“An important client has asked for the designs to be delivered to them on the day after tomorrow, Amelia. You should know that the others in the design department will have to stay back to work overtime to meet the goal. I called you because I want you to know that if you have other stuff you need to take care of at home, you can leave early. You don’t need to mind your colleagues in the department. I can hand over your portion of the job to someone else.” He spoke with a jolly smile.
Amelia was pretty certain that the attitude he was giving her wasn’t one between a superior and his subordinate, but one that was between a youngster and their elder. The way he spoke to her was careful and soft, which made her feel quite uncomfortable.
Silence filled the air for a short while before she spoke up. “There’s no need to speak to me like that, Mr. Moore. I’m a newcomer, so if the job needs the people in this department to work overtime, I’ll do it. There’s no need for you to give me an out. I believe other people will feel uncomfortable if I only get such a treatment.”
“If they dare to speak badly about you, I’ll fire them immediately! There’s no need to worry about what they think!”
At that point, Amelia was pretty sure something else was going on.
She looked at him, confused, and asked, “Did someone say something about me to you, Mr. Moore?”
That promptly caused him to withdraw his expression and replaced it with a more normal smile. “I’m giving you this special treatment because you’re new, and I thought you might need some time to adjust to your new job. Don’t overthink it, okay? If you want to work overtime, it’s fine with me. However, if your husband doesn’t agree to it, you don’t need to force yourself to do it.”
“I’ve written on my resume that I’m divorced, Mr. Moore. I’m currently single,” Amelia reminded.
The manager was stumped. He quickly thought about what he should say. “You should head back to work now. If you’re getting too tired from drawing, you can head back home and rest. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”
Amelia was still highly suspicious about what he was trying to do, but she didn’t question it. If she had to guess, it was probably because Oscar had relayed some orders when he visited the company. She wasn’t mad that he was being a busybody. The problem was that if he used his status to make sure no one bullied her, it would only give her a harder time integrating into her new workplace.
“I’m just a newcomer in this company, Mr. Moore. Regardless of who I am, I hope you can treat me the same way you treat my colleagues. There’s no need to give me special treatment.” Amelia turned around and left after she finished.
The manager’s lips couldn’t help but curve upward. Smart people really are easier to talk to.
Amelia was so busy designing the blueprints that she didn’t realize it was already seven in the evening when she looked at the clock. If it hadn’t been for Oscar calling her, she would’ve continued to work.
“Hey, Oscar.” She answered the call. “Sorry, I’m currently rushing to complete a blueprint. I didn’t pay attention to the time… Huh? You’re working overtime too? Is Tony still in the Clinton residence? Oh, so Mom’s saying to let him sleep with her tonight? Sure. I just hope Tony won’t cause any trouble. Then come and pick me up after your work’s done. I might need to work until ten.”
After she chatted with him for a bit longer and hung up, a cup of coffee showed up on her desk.
She raised her head and saw that it was from Rory.
“Thank you.” She swept her gaze across the office and noticed there were only a few who were still working there. “Where are the others?”
“They all went back. We’re supposed to work overtime, but those guys are used to being lazy. The moment it was time to get off work, they grabbed their unfinished blueprint and left. It can’t be helped since that’s how things have always worked here. Overtime work doesn’t come often too, so it’s hard for them to change their habits,” Rory casually explained. “Seems like you’re pretty hard-working when you’re in the zone. Have a cup of coffee to keep yourself going. I assume the call was from Oscar? He treats you so nice that it makes me want to fall in love.”
Amelia picked up the cup and took a sip. The thick aroma of the coffee gushed into her nose and mouth, lifting her spirit instantly. She praised with widened eyes, “Your coffee brewing skill is excellent, Rory. I love this so much.”
The reason she didn’t mention Oscar was that she didn’t want her personal life to be known in the office. He was also a topic she didn’t want to talk much about in front of other people because their relationship was precious to her. She didn’t want anyone else to take that away from her. It was her way of protecting that relationship.
“I took some time out in the past to learn it. I can brew coffee more often for you if you like.” Rory smiled while trying to hide the emotions in her eyes.
“Thank you.”
She chatted with Amelia for a little longer before she returned to her seat.
Amelia glanced at her with narrowed eyes. The way she asks about Oscar is definitely beyond how people usually ask about their colleague’s personal life. It seems like those rumors about her have some truth to them. I need to be on guard against her. As long as she doesn’t show her greedy side to me, I don’t mind treating her as a younger sister. In fact, I do want to treat her nicely.
