Chapter 7 Goodbye, Adrian

"Violet, who said you could come in!" Adrian flew into a rage when he saw Violet. "Get out!"

Quinn shyly buried her face in Adrian's arms, seeking shelter.

Adrian held Quinn protectively, staring at Violet. His gaze made her scalp tingle, and she said quietly, "Sorry."

With a "bang," she immediately shut the door to the CEO's office.

In her haste to close the door, the hot coffee in her hand spilled out, scalding the back of Violet's hand until it turned bright red.

She hurried back to the break room and dumped the hot coffee into the trash can.

Violet walked to the sink and ran cold water over the back of her hand that had been burned red by the coffee.

Her expression was numb, though her eyes were slightly red. Her heart felt like a sharp knife had carved out a piece of it.

Violet drank three cups of ice-cold soda in the break room before slowly coming back to her senses.

When she returned to the secretary's office, she ran straight into Roman.

Roman was angry because he had just gone to the CEO's office to deliver documents.

Adrian was fuming, and unlucky Roman had walked right into the line of fire and caught some grief.

And all of this was Violet's fault.

At that moment, the secretary's office happened to be empty.

As soon as Roman saw Violet, he picked a fight. "You can't even deliver a cup of coffee without making Mr. Hart unhappy. Violet, you're so useless. What's the point of the company keeping you? If it weren't for old Mr. Hart giving the nod back then, do you really think you could have gotten into Hart Group?"

Yes, she was able to enter Hart Group because of old Mr. Hart's wishes.

In the entire Hart family, he was the only one who liked Violet.

Violet and Adrian's secret marriage was also arranged by him.

Roman was an ordinary working person who had studied hard for ten years, finally got into a famous university, and completed his bachelor's and master's degrees.

He was bitter that he had racked his brains and competed through layer after layer to get to his position as secretary, while Violet, this useless person with connections, could easily share an office with him.

To Roman, this was a huge humiliation!

The more Roman talked, the angrier he got. "Look around the entire secretary's office—everyone graduated from top schools, and the lowest degree is a master's. But you, with just a bachelor's degree, no education, no ability, all connections!"

"I don't know what tricks you used to force Mr. Hart to marry you, but so what if you're married? Mr. Hart still doesn't care about you."

"If you ask me, you're not even worthy of carrying Ms. Mitchell's shoes—"

"Bang!" Violet slammed the documents in her hand onto the desk.

Roman paused, not expecting the usually soft Violet to explode like this.

Normally, you could insult Violet a hundred times and she would just take it all.

Violet's face was cold as she raised her voice. "Roman, what kind of person I am, whether I'm worthy or not—that's not for you to judge."

"Do you think you're so noble?" Violet walked around the desk, approaching Roman step by step.

After six years of holding back, her emotions had been building up layer by layer. She had reached her breaking point and was about to explode.

Roman was pierced by Violet's sharp gaze and was momentarily speechless.

Violet stood in front of Roman, a contemptuous smile in her eyes. "How can a noble person be having an affair with his own sister-in-law? You're stealing from your own brother—does he know? Where are your morals and principles?"

She directly exposed Roman's secret.

Once, Violet had left documents in the office and came back late at night to get them, only to discover Roman and his sister-in-law having an affair in the office.

She hadn't exposed them but had kept it to herself.

Violet hadn't wanted to use such scandals to attack anyone, but Roman had been too aggressive.

"You..." Roman choked on his words, stammering for a long time before weakly saying, "Violet, you're talking nonsense!"

Violet's eyes were sharp, making Roman feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. "Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, you know very well."

"A master's graduate from a top university—so what? Behind the scenes, you're just a rat in the gutter."

"Roman, you look down on me, but I've never looked up to you either. As colleagues, I never wanted things to get this ugly. But if you won't take what's offered, then I can expose your dirty little secrets on the company intranet."

Her words were like pearls, hitting the mark.

Roman's face turned pale, his legs went weak, and he collapsed powerlessly into his office chair.

He was so angry he couldn't say a word.

Being held by the handle was like having a rope around his throat—he couldn't breathe.

The secretary position at Hart Group paid a million a year.

Roman knew what mattered more.

Violet saw that Roman's arrogance had completely deflated.

"Roman, our working relationship ends here."

With that, Violet picked up her bag from the desk and walked out gracefully.

Walking out of Hart Group, Violet stood on the street across from it, looking up at this commercial building that had trapped her for six whole years.

Hart Group was located in the heart of the city, standing majestically like a domineering lion, towering into the clouds, standing between heaven and earth.

Violet took a deep breath and spoke quietly.

"Goodbye, Hart Group."

"Goodbye, Adrian."

With that, she turned around and walked forward with big strides, never looking back.

Getting in her car, Violet called Sebastian to tell him she had completed the handover and could start work anytime.

Sebastian couldn't wait and asked Violet to report to the company in a week.

Violet agreed right away.

After hanging up, Violet drove back to the Reed family's old house.

The Reeds had once been a wealthy and prominent family, but as times changed, Reed Corporation hadn't kept up, and in recent years had suffered considerable economic setbacks, leading to poor management.

Violet had long heard that the Reeds had been losing money in recent years, but she didn't know it had gotten so serious.

On this trip home, Violet found her mother and uncle worrying about Reed Corporation's cash flow problems.

Her uncle Henry Reed, who served as CEO of Reed Corporation, had come to her mother Rachel for help.

"Sister, the company's projects can't move forward. Most of the funds are tied up in projects and can't be freed up, causing a break in the cash flow. I'm worried the company won't last much longer." Henry looked worried.

Though Rachel was at a loss, she had already mortgaged all her properties.

She pressed a check into Henry's hand. "Henry, I don't understand anything about the company and can't help much. This is just a small token."

It was all her savings.

"Sister." Tears welled up in Henry's eyes. "I..."

Violet sat to the side, watching her uncle and mother's helplessness. For the first time, she felt her own powerlessness.

Given her current situation, she couldn't help the Reeds at all.

She had wasted six years, revolving around one man. It was truly ridiculous.

Henry wiped his moist eyes and turned his pleading gaze to Violet.

"Violet, Hart Group recently has an RTU project looking for partners. Our Reed Corporation is interested too, but the competition is really fierce."

"After all, we're related to the Hart family by marriage. Could you please reach out and pull some strings with Hart Group?"

Violet knew her uncle's character well. If it weren't absolutely necessary, he would never humble himself and beg like this.

But asking Violet to approach Adrian—she didn't know how to answer.