Chapter 227

The moment she saw Penelope, Susan froze completely.
She watched as everyone in the conference room treated Penelope with the utmost respect, calling her ‘Mrs. Stapleton.’ And Penelope accepted the title so naturally, as if she truly was…
“I don’t think I need to introduce myself, do I?” Penelope said, taking a seat next to Susan. She turned to face her. “After all, we’re old classmates. We just saw each other yesterday.”
Susan forced a smile. “Penelope, I can’t believe you’re really Mrs. Stapleton. That’s… that’s wonderful. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Penelope replied with a smile.
“I think you might have misunderstood what I said yesterday. I was just joking.”
“What did you say yesterday?”
“I
Susan was about to speak but stopped herself, remembering they weren’t alone. Anything she said could be used as evidence of her attempt to leak company secrets.
“I didn’t say anything. Nothing at all. You’re overthinking it.”
Penelope shook her head and chuckled, then played a video on a screen. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ.net
It was footage from outside her house yesterday, showing Susan’s grand
declaration that if Penelope was the young mistress of Zenith Group, she would quit
her job.
“I was just… just kidding.”
“So your words are meaningless?”
Penelope didn’t press the point. She continued playing the video, which then showed Susan demanding that the Sullivan family pay the six hundred thousand, promising in return to give them the competitor’s design plans and base prices. The surveillance camera outside her house had captured it all-crystal clear video and audio, leaving no room for doubt.
Susan was dumbstruck. Her colleagues, hearing her words, were furious. The project they had all worked so hard on had been nearly sabotaged because of her.
“Susan, do you have any idea how much damage this could have caused the company?”
“You would have dragged down everyone on our team, you know that?”
“This isn’t just morally wrong, it’s illegal!”
Faced with her colleagues’
accusations, Susan still wanted to
argue but Penelope placed a printout of Mrs. Sullivan’s bank
transfer record on the conference table.
“Anything else you want to say?”
Susan gritted her teeth. She could claim the money was a loan from the Sullivans, but the video, the audio and the design files on he computer were darning evidence. Of course, she could still try to deny it, but Penelope was Mrs. Stapleton-she held Susan’s fate in her hands.
An overwhelming wave of regret washed over her. Why did she ever mess with Penelope? As her regret deepened, her thoughts turned to Rebecca. It was Rebecca who had instigated everything.
“I… I haven’t given the design files to the Stone Group yet she finally mumbled, her only remaining defense.
“You should thank me for stopping you in time. Otherwise, we’d be calling the police right now,” Penelope said with a faint smile.
“Give me another chance, for old times’ sake.”
“You’re fired,” Penelope said with a scoff. “And to protect the integrity of the industry, Zenith Group will be making your actions public.”
“No!”
“Don’t expect to find another job in this field.”
“Penelope!”
“Susan, I’m already letting you off easy. Compared to what you did to me back then, this is barely a third of what you deserve.”
If it weren’t for not wanting to disturb her dad, she had plenty of ways to make Susan kneel and beg for his forgiveness.
“Pack your things and get out of SoC Corp. immediately!”
Thinking back on what she had done to Penelope in the past, a shiver ran down Susan’s spine. She didn’t dare say another word, quickly getting up to leave.
But as she reached the door, Penelope called out to her. Susan turned to see Penelope press a finger to her lips in a hushing gesture.
“Don’t tell Rebecca and the Sullivans. I’m having fun, and I don’t want the game to end so soon. You understand, right?”
Game?
Susan swallowed hard. So Penelope had been playing them all along?