Chapter 6

[That guarantee agreement you wrote is garbage! We just sent it over and got a furious call back!]

[Stay home tomorrow and reflect on what you did!]

[Wait for my notice before coming back to work.]

Serena put away her phone. When she looked up, her face had returned to a bright smile. "Thank you, Ms. Morris!"

"You wrote it well yourself. It has nothing to do with me. Keep up the good work."

...

That evening, Serena had just showered and was about to get a good night's sleep when someone knocked on her door.

She opened it to find Wendy's cold face staring back at her.

"Ms. Wright," she said, startled but making herself look obedient. "Do you need me to prepare a late-night snack?"

Wendy didn't answer. She grabbed Serena's jaw.

Hard. Serena's skin was fair, so her chin immediately reddened. The pain brought tears to her eyes.

"Didn't I warn you? Except at night, you're not to appear in front of Zayn. Did you ignore everything I said?"

Was it because she'd shown up at Sinclair Group today that Wendy was upset?

No, she hadn't been this angry then.

It must have been because things hadn't gone well between her and Zayn, so she was taking it out on Serena.

Her thoughts raced, but her face showed nothing except more tears. "Ms. Wright, I really was just running errands..."

"I don't care what you were doing. You are absolutely not allowed to appear in front of him during the day!"

Wendy wanted to scratch her face raw, but thinking of her own scheme, she held back.

She shoved Serena away. "Stop crying. If you want out of this life, get pregnant already. Now hurry up, change your clothes, and get to the master bedroom."

With that, she stormed off.

Serena rubbed her jaw, tears streaming down her face, but her expression was ice cold.

Get pregnant?

Before that happened, she'd expose Wendy's lover first.

...

When Serena pushed open the master bedroom door, she was immediately pulled into a heated embrace. Her heart instantly panicked.

She hadn't had time to light the incense. Would he stop halfway?

And just now, when the door opened, had the hallway light illuminated her face?

"Why so distracted?" Zayn's slightly hoarse voice sounded by her ear as he nipped her earlobe in light punishment. "Upset I mentioned your friend?"

Her mind was a mess. She couldn't keep up.

"I'm not..."

That soft voice mixed with the scent of iris unleashed the desire he'd been suppressing for a day and a night.

He lifted her by the hips, his breathing growing urgent, though he still offered an explanation.

"That Serena has ulterior motives. Don't let her keep hanging around the house. You're too innocent. You'll get taken advantage of."

She almost laughed out loud.

Who had ulterior motives?

His fiancée was sending another woman into his bed to cover up the fact that she was pregnant with someone else's child, and he was worried about people being deceived?

He deserved to be betrayed. Deserved to raise someone else's kid.

Before Serena could finish venting her resentment internally, he'd pressed her against the wall, giving her no chance to think.

By the time she climbed out of bed with an aching back and weak legs, she could only think what a bastard Zayn was.

Insulting her while cheating. How disgusting.

When the truth came out, she wanted to see if that ice-cold face of his could stay composed.

...

The next day, after Zayn and Wendy both left, Serena also got ready and went to Wright Group.

"Experience really does matter. That guarantee agreement got sent back four or five times, right? Ms. White stepped in and solved it immediately!"

"Ms. White, you're my hero. I should've asked you from the start. You have no idea how much I was pulling my hair out before."

"..."

Various compliments reached her ears. Serena's lips curved into a mocking smile.

No wonder they didn't want her to come in.

She schooled her expression and walked naturally to her desk, asking aloud, "What's everyone talking about? You all seem so happy this morning."

Plenty of people in the legal department knew she'd gotten in through connections, relying on the handsome, wealthy Justin. Naturally, that caused resentment among many employees.

Especially the female ones.

"Of course we're celebrating Ms. White landing a major project. Everyone's happy for her."

"Why bother telling her? Someone like her wouldn't understand the joy of achieving something through hard work."

"True. She just has to act cute and she gets whatever she wants."

The sarcastic tones dripped with contempt for her.

Serena calmly looked toward Isla, her expression somewhere between a smile and not. "Ms. White landed a project? That's worth celebrating. Which project was it?"

"Ms. White, tell her! Let her know just how capable you are."

"Exactly. People in our legal department have real skills. This isn't a place where you get by on connections."

The livelier the crowd got, the calmer Serena's expression became, and the worse Isla's face looked.

It took her a long moment to squeeze out a response. "Why are you here?"

"How could I miss celebrating Ms. White's success?"

Serena didn't mention the guarantee agreement once, but every word reminded Isla that she'd stolen credit.

"Everyone, back to work."

Isla had been at the company for several years. She immediately calmed down, stood up, and said to Serena, "You. Come with me."

In the emergency stairwell, the two stood facing each other.

Serena's smile remained, but her eyes held neither the usual timidity nor confident brilliance. Just coldness.

The smile didn't reach her eyes. Instead, it carried a chilling frost.

"What do you want?"

Already guilty, Isla was frightened by Serena's gaze before she'd even said anything.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Serena blinked, her smile deepening. "First day of work, you give me that kind of assignment, deliberately making things difficult. Now I've completed it, but you've taken credit. And you want me to stay home and reflect..."

She paused, narrowing her eyes. "I'm guessing you won't tell anyone that you're the one who told me to stay home. After I'm absent for a few days, you'll have grounds to fire me. And no one will ever know you stole credit."

Having her scheme laid bare so nakedly, Isla's face went through a rainbow of colors.

Finally, she gritted out, "Who knows where you got that guarantee agreement from? Maybe you had someone else write it!"

"Even if I did have someone else write it, that's still my ability."

Serena was completely unfazed by her desperate struggle. "Either way, I have plenty of ways to prove you didn't write it. When that happens, getting fired will be the least of your problems, right? Once your reputation's ruined, I doubt any company will dare hire you. Tsk tsk tsk. So young and already unemployable. You probably won't get another chance in this lifetime."

Those casual words fell like thunder, making Isla's heart feel like it was being squeezed, yet she had no ability to fight back.

Serena repeated her initial question, though her voice had become incredibly dry. "What exactly do you want?"

"Don't be nervous. It's just one project. I can give it to you."

Serena's smile was radiant, but her eyes were calculating.

"Do what I say. Otherwise, the consequences won't be something you can handle."