Chapter 538
Yvette was silent for a long time, words caught in her throat.
She’d been taking the FSA exam since graduation. Even after years at The Everhart Group, she gave it another shot just last year, only to fail—again, and miserably.
She’d already decided to give up. And now, sitting across from her, was this girl- couldn’t be more than twenty, looked even younger, fresh-faced like some high school kid, all youth and beauty. Yet she’d just tossed out that line as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
“Miss Yvette, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to work.”
Gwyneth Langford was convinced Yvette was going out of her way to make things difficult. She couldn’t think of anything she’d done to offend her. And even if she really was Hawthorne Everhart’s girlfriend, shouldn’t Hawthorne be the one to explain things? Or maybe Yvette should take it up with him directly?
What did any of this have to do with her?
“Wait.”
Yvette called out just as Gwyneth turned to leave.
Gwyneth looked back, her clear eyes making Yvette even angrier.
“You’re supposedly a concept artist, but now you say you passed the FSA? Who do you think you’re fooling? Anyone can buy a fake certificate these days.”
Suddenly, it all made sense to Yvette. HR had spoken to Hawthorne just last month about the company’s shortage of talent in that field. No wonder this girl had slipped in—she must’ve wowed Hawthorne with her credentials, which were probably bogus.
Gwyneth’s hand tightened at her side. A fake FSA certificate? Yvette had a lot of nerve, she’d give her that.
“Miss Yvette, what exactly do you want from me?”
She was completely baffled.
Yvette shoved aside the documents Gwyneth had just corrected, sat back down, and gave her a frosty glare.
“You’re new here, right? Maybe you don’t know the rules. No taking leave on your first day, no showing up late or leaving early within your first three months. Do it more than three times, and you’re out-no resignation letter needed.”
Gwyneth’s brow twitched.
“Alright, got it.”
She watched Yvette, thinking, I just want to stay as far away from Hawthorne as possible. Whatever his reasons-maybe he suspects I’m a threat to Leonie Everhart, maybe it’s something else—either way, everyone’s acting like I’m desperate to cling to this place, throwing me all these suspicious looks. “What did you say?”
Yvette had meant to put Gwyneth in her place, but Gwyneth’s calm reply had left her with nothing to say.
“If I’m not meeting Miss Yvette’s
and you want to fire me, I
won’t object. But for now, I’ve me work to do, so I’ll be going content
She couldn’t be bothered to waste words on a woman with rocks in her head.
Everyone in the company knew Gwyneth was Hawthorne’s hire; Yvette wouldn’t dare fire her on a whim.
She just wanted Gwyneth to understand that, whatever her connections, she still had to follow the rules around here.
No throwing your weight around just because you know Hawthorne.
Watching Gwyneth walk away, Yvette found herself, for the first time, at a complete loss for words.
But soon enough, the office gossips were whispering that Mr. Everhart’s two girlfriends had
clashed-naturally, the younger one had come out on top.
When Gwyneth got back to her desk, she found even more things piled up than before.
She could only force a sheepish smile and quietly stashed the extra junk under her desk for now.
Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon passed in peace, giving her enough time to finish her sketches.
When quitting time rolled around, she dutifully packed up her things and waited for Hawthorne to pick her up.
Leonie had asked her to swing by the Everhart estate when she had time-she wanted to take Gwyneth out to dinner.
Gwyneth wasn’t sure how Hawthorne would react when she brought it up later.
“Gwyn, heading out? Want to walk together?”
“Gwyn, we’re grabbing dinner after work-come join us!”
The folks from the game department were all warm and welcoming, but Gwyneth could only apologize.
“Sorry, I can’t tonight. Maybe next time.”
It wasn’t just because she’d
promised Leonie-she didn’t want to get too close to her coworkers. She didn’t want them asking questions she couldn’t answer. She knew enough about office politics to keep her distance. When the day came that Hawthorne was willing to let her go, she’d disappear without a trace.