Chapter 483 A Fight Broke Out
Bill had not been himself ever since Natasha was involved in that situation. Therefore, Courtney gave him extended leave so that he could focus his attention on his wife and kids. As a result, she had to spend more time and energy in Citrus Apparel. Not only that, she had to visit the hospital often, so she lost a lot of weight lately.
On this day, Courtney was organizing the latest negotiation terms when it was almost time to get off work. Just then, Ruby Hill, Courtney’s new assistant, suddenly knocked on Courtney’s door and entered her office.
“Bad news, Miss Hunter. A fight broke out at the workshop.”
Upon hearing that, Courtney immediately rushed over there. The buzzy workshop was full of cheering and jeering from the crowd. At an open space near the quality inspection area, a group of people had gathered together, surrounding a dozen men who were wrestling one another at the center. The floor was scattered with clothes that had been torn into pieces and crumpled from all the stepping.
“Who’s the workshop manager? Please step forward!” Courtney roared. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to her, while the group of people who had been fighting gradually pulled back from each other reluctantly.
Then, a middle-aged man in his fifties slowly stepped out from the crowd. “I’m the manager of the workshop,” he said while raising his hand.
What surprised Courtney the most was that the manager of the workshop was actually the fiercest fighter among the crowd earlier. He had a burly build, but he seemed to have injured himself in the melee because he was limping as he walked up to Courtney.
Courtney’s expression sank when she saw that.
“Are you the workshop manager? I heard from Bill that you are a hardworking and responsible employee; you were even promoted to a manager thanks to his strong recommendation. I wonder if you are only willing to work for him, which might explain why you’ve lost the motivation to work while he is on leave.”
Guilt and helplessness crept onto his face when he heard her words. He let out a sigh as if he was having a hard time searching for the right words to explain his situation.
“It wasn’t Mr. Dale’s fault. They were the ones who took things too far!”
At that moment, a crisp voice was heard from the crowd. In fact, it sounded rather childish. Courtney looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a youthful-looking teenage boy stepping out from the group of men that had been involved in the fights earlier. He had a slender figure, and the bruises on his face undoubtedly revealed that he had been at a disadvantage in the melee earlier.
“Go back, Zeke!” Jerry bellowed at him, which successfully stopped the boy and made him return to the crowd.
Upon seeing that, Courtney realized that the situation probably wasn’t as simple as it seemed. She calmed down and waved at Zeke. “I believe in Billy’s judgment, so I’m giving you a chance to explain the situation right now. You mentioned that Mr. Dale was innocent. In that case, who was in the wrong?”
Zeke was hesitant. He had worked in Citrus Apparel for five years, but he never met Courtney before this. However, the current situation forced him to muster the courage to stand up for what he believed was right.
“It was them!” He turned around, extending his arm and pointing at the other group of people involved in the melee.
One of the men, who was being faced with the sudden accusation, snapped in displeasure, “Stop spewing nonsense, brat. Do you want to get beaten again?” He balled his fists, looking as though he was ready to throw himself into another fight.
An anguished Zeke retreated. Then, he bent over and picked up the pieces of fabric on the floor before walking up to Courtney.
“I’m one of the quality inspectors in the workshop. Meanwhile, this is the collar of the school uniforms they made today. The agreed work procedure is to sew a double-stitched hem to prevent the unraveling of fabric, but not only did they sew a single-stitched hem, they even skipped a few stitches. As you can see, the stitches are messy and the collars are obviously unusable. When I asked them to redo the work, they went rough and hit me.”
When Zeke showed her the so-called evidence, there were apparent bruises on both his arms.
Courtney took the fabric and examined it before she threw the collar that was covered in footprints into the trash can. She surveyed the place with cold eyes and questioned, “Who are those people?”
Zeke stood beside her and pointed them out.
Thereafter, Courtney brushed away the dust on her hands before she announced in a cold, determined voice, “Ruby, these few employees are fired. Get the finance department to settle their wages. They don’t need to come in tomorrow.”
“Who are you to fire us based on nothing but this brat’s side of the story? Are you Citrus Apparel’s boss who only knows how to bully honest people like us?”
The self-proclaimed honest woman was skinny with prominent cheekbones and sunken eyes, but she was loud and energetic when she spoke. Yet, she looked nothing like an honest, simple folk in Courtney’s impression especially when she shouted like a shrew.
When she saw the woman’s reaction, Courtney, who was going to leave the scene, turned back. She raised a brow at them with a thoughtful look on her face.
“Ah, I nearly forgot. Please remind the finance department to calculate our loss for the delay in work progress and facility downtime. Be sure to deduct the loss from their salaries.”
There was a commotion in the crowd, but she gazed at them and continued, “I know that the quality inspection department offends people easily, but if you guys are unhappy with them, please leave and find a job elsewhere. If something like this happens again, I won’t be as kind as today. I’m letting things slide without taking any legal action—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a high-pitched voice rang through the air. “You b*tch!”
All of a sudden, a plump woman, who had a dark complexion and spoke with an accent, suddenly appeared from behind the thin woman earlier and lunged at Courtney.
When she looked at the gleaming scissors in the woman’s hands quickly approaching her by the second, Courtney seemed to have lost the ability to react. At that moment, she began to suspect if she had said anything unforgivable.
A second before the scissors stabbed her, a lean figure suddenly dashed at Courtney and pushed her to the side. Meanwhile, Courtney was caught off guard and fell to the ground. She twisted her ankle in the process, which caused her ankle to swell up almost immediately.
The scene started to get out of control. The woman, whose first attack had failed, attempted to charge at Courtney once more, but Zeke threw himself at Courtney while Jerry snatched the scissors away from her. Amidst the chaos, the teenage boy groaned as cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
“Courtney!”
Courtney looked in the direction of the voice, only to see Angie running at her with large strides. There were a dozen young bodyguards who showed up together with her as they tried to keep the scene under control.
Amid the chaotic scene where the crowd was restless and most of them were targeting Courtney, the group of young bodyguards in uniform, who easily had the situation under control, resembled divine warriors that descended from the heavens. Needless to say, their sudden appearance was simply touching.
Angie, who seemed to be in shock, helped Courtney to her feet.
When she arrived at the scene, she witnessed a plump woman charging at Courtney in an attempt to stab her with the scissors in her hands. If Courtney hadn’t tripped and fallen, the consequences would’ve been petrifying.
“Let me take you to the hospital. I’ll tell Great-Aunt Alicia that you can’t come because you have to work overtime.”
At the mention of the hospital, Courtney suddenly recalled something. She turned around and saw Zeke’s blanched face. His light blue uniform was stained red whereas blood flowed out from his sleeve and coursed along his arm before dripping onto the floor. Meanwhile, Jerry was beside him as he searched for a clean piece of cloth to stop his bleeding. When Jerry tightened the cloth that was wrapped around Zeke’s shoulder, green veins appeared on the boy’s pale face.
“Thank you, Zeke.” Courtney was moved by his actions.
Zeke, who was grimacing in pain, growled through gritted teeth, “No worries. I’m fine.”
However, the grimace on his face made his words sound less convincing.
“Mr. Dale, the assistant is getting the car. Zeke should come along with me to the hospital. He is injured because of me, so I should take responsibility for this.”
