Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 146: Incompetent Manager

Clara whirled around upon hearing voices from behind. She spotted a very beautiful woman who she didn’t recognize, but the man beside her was definitely very familiar.

David Hales.

Damn it, HR came faster than expected this time. And she hadn’t even managed to keep the whole situation under wraps.

Clara began to think quickly, looking from Rebecca then to Brian who was standing next to her.

These two people had acted on her provocation, though on Rebecca’s part it was an indirect provocation but it was definitely the opposite when it came to Brian. She had threatened the bastard and she was sure if he found himself falling down a pit, he would want to pull her down with him.

Though it would be his words against hers since he wouldn’t be able to prove that she threatened him, Clara hated even the slightest bit of a stain on her perfectly curated reputation.

She didn’t want anyone to look at her with even the smallest hint of suspicion, so she couldn’t afford Brian saying a word about her.

It was obvious whom she would save and whom she would let drown in this situation.

Before Mr Langton and the woman he was speaking to could fully come in, Clara discreetly whispered a few words to Brian.

"Stay quiet and accept whatever they say for now, I’ll make sure you don’t lose your job if you don’t mention my name otherwise you lose your job and your wife sees all the dirty things you do in the office, choose wisely."

Brian who didn’t want to be here in the first place stiffened as he heard every word she whispered to him.

The sweet perfume that lingered around her and her hypnotic voice working together to put him in a momentary trance but he broke out of it immediately, he wouldn’t even have the slightest illusions that Clara was a kind of woman he could lay his hands on. He’d known right from the start and that was why he preyed on other women and not the likes of Clara.

He’d always known the likes of her spelled nothing but trouble and he was proven right.

She had him wrapped around her little finger now, she could break him with a few words, ruin his whole life, Brian would never be able to do anything else unless she said so, he quickly prepared himself to quietly accept whatever would come for him now.

As long as all his other little escapades weren’t exposed, he would lick the ground Clara walked on if he had to.

Anne could see the determination shining in Rebecca’s eyes, it was evident she wasn’t going to change her mind from taking the fall from Clara’s actions.

Anne no longer bothered to convince her to speak up anymore, if she was willing to bring herself down because of someone else, it was her own choice.

"I won’t delete the video, I’ll keep it until you go back to HR and take back the report you made about me."

Anne hadn’t even wanted to make that video in the first place, it was Jasmine who decided to film it as the stalker confessed who’d sent him to spy on her.

Jasmine had tried to convince Anne to report him to the police but Anne had refused to at the time, she knew she would be using the video soon enough.

"That won’t be necessary." A male voice suddenly cut through the room, Anne looked at the middle aged man that suddenly entered the department. Next to him was an eye catching woman whose every step echoed a quiet grace that oozed from her aura.

When Anne’s gaze met hers, the unfamiliar woman gave her a soft smile.

"I have heard all that needs to be heard from everything being said. This team clearly thrives on petty gossip and internal schemes than handling the job meant for them." The man’s voice was equally as strict as his firm expression as his gaze scanned across every person in the room.

"Mr Hales, what’s happening here is simply an internal strife between employees which is nothing new. I assure you that we put our jobs at the utmost..."

"Your judgement clearly can’t be trusted Miss Hastings. This whole thing started with your team, if you were any capable as they praised you to be, such so called internal strifes wouldn’t be happening at all."

Mr Hales wasn’t one to be swayed by tender and outward appearances, hence Clara’s soft words and warmly sweet demeanor had no effect on him, so the moment she’d began to speak up in defence, he cut her off without listening further.

"An innocent young woman was not only framed but repeatedly suffered multiple cases of defamation spread across our online forum. If she wasn’t capable enough to defend herself another innocent victim would be kicked out of the premises. Which, if I remember correctly Miss Hastings, this isn’t the first time a similar situation is happening."

As Mr Hales’ firm gaze settled on Clara, she was unable to utter another word.

It seemed this man still kept a similar situation that had happened in the past in his memory until now.

What happened back then wasn’t the same case as Anne’s, that particular girl had been a new employee that refused to bow down to Clara’s rules in the office. No matter how sweet and kind Clara was to her, it always felt like the latter refused to fall for it.

Clara hated it when people saw through her, so she’d monopolized her employees to bully the girl into a corner until they accused her of something that reached HR, in the end she was dismissed from the company entirely.

But it seemed someone in HR had taken a liking to that girl and further investigated the whole matter bringing out the fact that she had indeed not done what she’d been accused of, but it was too late since she had already been dismissed, it couldn’t be taken back.

That issue died down as if it never happened, but this man was actually bringing it up again.

In any case, even after the investigations were done, nothing could be traced back to Clara.

She never openly told anyone to bully the girl, all her employees took action on their own after they received a tiny little shove in the right direction.

People’s minds were easy to control, one merely had to employ the right tactics.

"What happened to Elena back then...it still weighs on my heart. I tried my best to defend her back then, I did everything I could to make sure she didn’t suffer any injustice but in the end she was..."

Mr Hales’ expression didn’t change despite the soft pitiful looking lady seeming to be on the verge of tears.

"We’re not here discussing the past, we’re here discussing the present." Mr Hales coldly cut Clara off.

A well of hatred towards the man was suddenly dug in Clara’s heart. A slight vicious expression flashed in her eyes as she fixed a vengeful look on the man but that look was fleeting so no one present in the room noticed it.

Mr Hales fixed his gaze on Brian who had been the very person to enthusiastically rush into HR with a complaint that same morning.

"It appears your so called purity and devotion to your wife is after all questionable. You accused this young woman of attempting to seduce you in a way of bribe did you not?"

"Mr Hales, don’t be hasty to jump into conclusions sir. I never took back the fact that she indeed came to my office at a late hour to try to entice me. Whatever might be happening between her and her co-worker is no concern of mine. I still stand by my words."

Stella who was quiet the entire time felt the need to speak up now.

"If that is so would you mind presenting a stronger evidence that shows this young woman indeed tried to use her body to get something from you, other than this footage that shows nothing else but a young woman going into your office."

Being spoken to by a woman like that whose voice never shook, and whose eyes never broke contact made Brian’s self confidence waver for a bit.

He was suddenly at a loss for words before he thought of something and hurriedly said, "The time stamp on that footage..."

"Is not evidence enough of the dirty deed you’re accusing her of." Stella cut him off again, "Besides, this lady right here just admitted to being your accomplice. She just clearly said she instigated you into making these claims, do you have any evidence to prove yourself innocent of her claims?"

This was the question Brian couldn’t answer. Rebecca had thrown him under the bus.

He could only glare in her direction, looking like a man whose tongue had been chopped off.

"I believe everyone here owes this lovely lady an apology." Stella said, her eyes settling on Anne.

"Starting with the incompetent manager of this department who clearly cannot handle her own team." Stella never cared to offend people if she did not like them, and despite Clara’s endearing appearance, something about the latter rubbed her the wrong way.

Clara had never met anyone who’d speak to her so harshly before. The woman’s words caused Clara to send her a sharp glare, momentarily forgetting about her persona which she constantly tried to keep up in other people’s eyes.