Suddenly There Are Three (Bailey and Artemis) novel Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Bailey's lips twitched at Jessica's outburst. She sighed and lamented, “Ms. Tanner is Eve Lussohn's student, so she is perfectly qualified for the task. Why did you all have to drag me into this?”

Stephen smiled lightly and replied, “This is a great opportunity for you, Ms. Jefferson. As you know, Ms. Caridee is one of the Ten Acclaimed Socialites. If you produce a design to her satisfaction, you'll cement a career in this industry.”

Bailey scoffed in response.

She had her reasons for not caring for the opportunity.

Nonetheless, she replied half-heartedly to Stephen, “Fine. I'll try my best. If there's nothing else, I'm heading out.”

Stephen waved the phone in his hand at her and smiled. “Victoria texted me earlier, instructing me to personally escort you to the HR department after our conversation.”

Dread filled Bailey's soul. She could guess why Victoria was looking for her.

Bailey explained, “That, erm, nothing happened between Mr. Luther and me when I went to the CEO's office the other day. I swear. It's just a misunderstanding.”

“Your good friend Victoria is the one who has the misunderstanding.”

After leaving the director's office in the design department, Bailey turned down Stephen's offer to accompany her and headed to the HR department alone.

She walked past a few female employees gossiping in the pantry.

“Did you all hear? The designer sent from the Archulean branch to challenge Ms. Tanner is the heiress of the Jefferson family, Ms. Bailey. Sound familiar? She's the future Mrs. Luther's older sister.”

“Heiress? Please! How can she be considered an heiress? Mr. Jefferson kicked her out of the family ages ago for her sordid character. I have no idea how she caught Mr. Rhoudin's eye, and I can't believe she's shameless enough to challenge Ms. Tanner. What a joke!”

“Maybe she climbed into Mr. Rhoudin's bed to snag herself such a precious opportunity. I mean, didn't she do something similar to gain five million seven years ago?”

“Oh, you have a point. She must be skilled at seducing and pleasuring men. Her playbook must be pretty extensive.”

“Haha!”

The female employees' sneers echoed in the cramped pantry.

“You all seem pretty free.”

A cold and stern reprimand suddenly cut through their laughter, startling the female employees into silence.

Meanwhile, Bailey frowned at the interruption. She was enjoying her eavesdropping until Victoria showed up and abruptly cut the session short.

She turned and immediately spotted Victoria coming toward her, Artemis by her side.

Bailey found herself pitying the gossiping employees in the pantry.

Talking about me behind my back will hardly scathe me. The only goal they'll achieve is to attract trouble for themselves. Why subject themselves to such a disadvantageous activity?

When Victoria arrived at Bailey's side, she grabbed her friend's elbow and chided, “What's wrong with you, woman? Why are you still leisurely eavesdropping on them when they're b*tching about you? Are you truly so unbothered by their comments, or is there a screw loose in your brain?”

Bailey smiled at Victoria and pinched the latter's cheek, cajoling, “Aww, don't get upset. Women get wrinkles easily if they get angry. Plus, they're merely discussing the truth. How can I refute their claims?”

Scoffing, Victoria stared daggers at the pantry and shouted, “Is Luther Group paying you all tens of thousands a month so you can gossip in the office? Pack up your things and get your last paycheck from the finance department. You're all fired.”

The three female employees in the pantry blanched.

Luther Group was the only company in Hallsbay that paid its employees a handsome five-figure monthly salary. They had exhausted all their means to secure a position in the company and were the envy of their friends and families. If they were sacked, what other company in Hallsbay would pay them an annual salary in the millions?

“M-Ms. Saunders, we were wrong. We shouldn't have gossiped about malicious rumors. I hope you can forgive us on account of this being our first offense.”

“Yeah. We didn't cause any real harm. There's also the aspect of freedom of speech. You can't fire us for expressing our opinions.”

“We signed proper labor contracts when we joined the company. If the company unlawfully terminates its employee's labor contract over minor offenses, it is obligated to pay its employee three times the penalty stipulated in the contract.”

“Are you doubting Luther Group's abilities to fork out the penalty?” Artemis finally spoke, his deep and slow timber concealing his emotions.

Nonetheless, even if he did not seem enraged, his word choices clearly conveyed his displeasure.

“M-Mr. Luther...”

The female employees stuttered fearfully, their faces ashen.

Artemis glanced coldly at the group before pointing at Bailey and instructing, “Apologize to her.”

The employees immediately stared at Bailey. Their profuse apologies resounded in the small pantry.

Bailey shot Artemis a glance and realized his dark eyes were staring intently at her.

Metaphorical sparks flew when their gazes met.

Holding her gaze, Artemis declared, “Victoria, call the Ministry of Labor. Have these people's names placed on the employment blacklist.”

The apologies cut off abruptly as the female employees collapsed on the ground, shellshocked.

Being placed on the employment blacklist meant no proper company would hire them again.

Artemis was effectively cutting off their means of finding employment in Hallsbay.

Victoria was stunned by his order, though her gaze quickly turned thoughtful.

Artemis was harsh, but he hardly drove people into a corner.

Upper management employees had committed far more severe offenses in the past, yet Artemis had not put their names on the employment blacklist. In the most extreme cases, he fired the employees and forbade companies under Luther Group's umbrella from hiring the offender again.

Is he acting out of character for Bay? Has he really fallen for her?

Victoria shook herself out of her thoughts and turned to one of her subordinates. “Zoe, I'll leave the rest to you. After that, I want you to gather all the managers and supervisors in the HR department for a two o'clock meeting. No one is allowed to skip the meeting.”

“Yes, Ms. Saunders.”

Then, Victoria cleared her throat and addressed Artemis, “I'll send you to the lift lobby, Mr. Luther.”

Artemis ignored her offer and dragged Bailey by the elbow to a nearby office.

“Hey, Mr. Luther!” Victoria instinctively reached out to stop him, only to make contact with air.

All the employees in the nearby office were promptly ordered out of the room by Artemis.

One of the more gutsy employees asked, “What's Mr. Luther doing, Vic?”

Victoria stared daggers at the employee and warned, “If someone leaks news of this incident to the rest of the company, all of you can pack your bags and scram. Understood?”

Meanwhile, Bailey shrugged free of Artemis' grasp in the office.

“What's the meaning of this, Mr. Luther?”

Gone was Artemis' cool and collected demeanor earlier. Instead, his handsome features were tinged with fury.

He retorted furiously, “What happened to your feisty attitude? Why didn't you defend yourself against their malicious accusations?”

Bailey stared at him speechlessly.

Is he feeling upset on my behalf? Why is he doing that? Our relationship is purely professional; he has no right to dictate or comment on my personal life.

With that thought in mind, Bailey fired back, “Why should I? They were only telling the truth.”

Artemis' gaze chilled instantly as he questioned, “So it's also true that you crawled into Xavier's bed?”