Chapter 47:
Zoey laughed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Why should I be afraid? She’s been found. I’m relieved! My innocence is proven.”
Ann Maxwell, unable to hold her anger any longer, finally exploded. She threw her bag down on the table, the force of it echoing in the room. “Is Ms. Frost really that important?” She was sick of Evan’s relentless concern for Olivia.
Evan turned to her, his expression severe and unwavering. “Do you know why she came to the factory and why she disappeared?”
Ann Maxwell huffed, visibly frustrated. “It’s ridiculous! I’m the General Manager of the branch office. A secretary who’s only been here for three days—why should I care about her?!” Her voice trembled with frustration. “You, however, the President of a major corporation, are making such a fuss over a secretary. People will think she’s your wife!”
Evan’s gaze hardened, his voice cutting through her words. “Ann Maxwell, if you put half the effort you put into undermining me into your work, you wouldn’t be so incredibly stupid.”
The words hit Ann Maxwell like a slap to the face. Her eyes welled with tears, the sting of humiliation sharp. “I am stupid!” she yelled, her voice cracking. “I don’t want this job anymore. I’m resigning!” She picked up her phone and called Steve, putting the call on speakerphone.
Ann Maxwell relayed the entire story to Steve, painting Evan as an incompetent leader and Olivia as a manipulative troublemaker. Zoey, ever the opportunist, joined in, announcing his resignation as well. The others, sensing the shifting power dynamic, followed suit.
Ann Maxwell, suddenly realizing how she had been played, looked around the room anxiously. She saw Evan sitting there, calm, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
“Evan, what do you have to say?” Steve asked, his voice betraying a touch of exasperation.
Evan’s voice was steady, his eyes sharp as he addressed his father. “Father, haven’t you noticed that the events unfolding before you reveal the true faces of those involved in this inspection?” He didn’t mince words, exposing Ann Maxwell and Zoey for what they were.
Ann Maxwell retorted, her frustration boiling over. “It’s you! You’ve lost your mind over a woman! Why are you protecting her so much? Why do you care about her? Do you like her? She’s married!”
“Ann Maxwell!” Evan’s roar shattered the tension in the room. His voice was like a thunderclap. “Is your brain only filled with romance? You don’t want to know why she was at the factory or why she disappeared. You only care whether I like her.”
“I do care about her!” Ann Maxwell screamed back, her voice shaking with emotion. “I really do! Because she discovered problems you’ve missed for two years! She was investigating the accounting irregularities for me!”
The revelation hit Ann Maxwell like a ton of bricks. She froze, her mind racing, but she could barely process what Evan had just said. The disappointment in his eyes was like a knife twisting in her heart, the realization sinking in.
Zoey, sensing an opening, chimed in. “Just because she said there was a problem, doesn’t mean there was one! Just because she found something, doesn’t mean she’s right! Why didn’t she inform the company? Why didn’t she tell Ann? She just wanted to impress the President!”
Before Ann Maxwell could respond, a weak voice came from the doorway.
“Because we have a traitor like you in the company!”
