"Miss Parker, are you here to see the Vice President? She hasn't arrived yet." Cameron stood up and spoke to Kendall with a smile on her face for the first time.
As Kendall was approaching Cameron, she stared at Cameron coldly and finally stood in front of the desk without replying to Cameron. As Cameron did not receive a response, her smile became a little stiff, but she still asked politely, "Is there anything that I can help you with since the Vice President is not here yet?"
"I came for you," Kendall replied coldly. As soon as Cameron heard that, she couldn't help but look away as her eyes gleamed with a guilty conscience. Kendall turned and ordered the women behind her, "Come closer. You can't confront her standing that far away."
At that moment, Cameron inexplicably remembered what Kendall had warned her solemnly in the elevator, and she panicked. She wondered if Karen had spread whatever she told Karen. Damn you, Karen. I told you to keep whatever I said a secret and don't spread them around. They aren't the truth but merely my specious arguments for defending against injustice. I know that made you misunderstand that Kendall was able to sign the contract by selling her charm, but what else can I do?
"What's wrong? How are they related to me? If I remember correctly, they are from the human resources department, right?"
Kendall ignored Cameron the whole time, but she continued giving the women gossiping about her a cold-eyed glare. Finally, they had no choice but to walk toward Cameron slowly under Kendall's icy gaze. Other people started rubbernecking and gathering around Cameron's desk as they sensed commotion on Cameron's side.
Ever since Kendall joined the company, she had always been on everyone's radar; initially, it was because of her identity as the President's biological daughter. Everyone wanted to know if there would be any drama between the biological and adopted daughters. Then, she became the Coleman Family's daughter-in-law, and more and more people started paying attention to her.
Kelly was more popular in the company than Kendall, but Kendall had patrons. Many were gossiping and assuming that Kendall would eventually succeed the Parker Corporation. This was regardless of whether Kendall's ability was not as good as Kelly's; after all, Kendall was the true successor of the Parker Family and the eldest daughter-in-law of the Colemans. Not to mention that President Parker would definitely want his assets to be kept in the family, but Master Dylan would also not stand watching his wife's rightful property stolen by Kelly.
So, in everyone's eyes, the fact that Kendall came looking for trouble was actually a way of her fighting against Kelly.
"Cameron, I heard them bad-mouthing me in the bathroom just now, and coincidentally, what they said replicated what you said to my face in the elevator before. That day, I warned you that if I ever hear anyone defame or slander me, I will not hesitate to take action against you. Do you recall this matter?" Kendall questioned Cameron; her tone sounded as severe as it could be.
Cameron sensed that the matter had gotten out of her hand, and she did not wait for another second to confront those women. Therefore, she panicked and hurriedly defended herself. "Miss Parker, trust me, please. I never spread any rumor that you and Mr. Dawson were having an affair. Though he was drunk that night, and you indeed helped him book a room, you merely asked the waiter to take him back to the room. You didn't follow him at all!''
Finally, as though she had the hellhounds chasing after her, she hastily continued, ''They didn't believe that you could seal the deal all by yourself, so they made up the story to destroy your reputation, smear your image, and deny your ability. It has nothing to do with me. I swear I didn't spread rumors about you and Mr. Dawson."
Well, when Karen asked Cameron whether or not Kendall slept with Leonel so that she could get the deal, Cameron did not say anything—basically, Cameron acquiesced to Karen's statement.
"Oh no, no, no. That was not the truth! You said Miss Parker slept with Mr. Dawson to get the deal, and Karen can attest to that."
"That's right! That was what you said."
"You're Vice President Parker's secretary, and you followed her to discuss business with Mr. Dawson that day, so you were a witness. Only you know what transpired that night; we wouldn't have known. If it weren't you who spread the rumor, who else did? The Vice President herself?"
The truth was, Kelly also wanted to slander Kendall, but she would not do that; had she used such an inferior method, everyone would think that she was useless, even worse than a rookie. Her adoptive parents would be utterly furious with her as well.
"Miss P-Parker, I didn't mean it when I said that. I-I really—" Under Kendall's frosty stare, Cameron's voice gradually became weaker and weaker as she turned as meek as a mouse. The onlookers finally figured out why the rumor about Kendall was snowballing recently. Apparently, Cameron had been bad-mouthing Kendall behind the scenes.
They all knew what Leonel's weakness was and did not believe that Leonel was willing to sign the contract just because Kendall won the drinking game. Furthermore, it was only after Leonel agreed to cooperate with the Parker Family that it was revealed that Kendall was married to Dylan, and that fact terrified Leonel. So, everyone was wondering why Leonel was so frightened if he had nothing to do with Kendall; he obviously had a guilty conscience. But, of course, through word of mouth, the rumor changed its tune.
"What are you all doing here? Don't you have to work?" Kelly arrived, saw everyone gathering in front of her office, and asked sternly. When everyone realized it was the Vice President, they quickly returned to their seats, pretending to be working hard.
Well, they need not be at the scene where the drama was unfolding any longer. That was because the truth between Kendall and Leonel finally saw the light of the day. The fact that Kendall dared to cause such a commotion and even requested the women from the human resources department to confront Cameron, who in turn paled and panicked, was the best answer for those who were kept in the dark.
The reason why Cameron would say those specious things about Kendall was because she wanted to right the wrong on behalf of Kelly. Did anyone really think that Cameron did not think of the consequences when she spread the rumors—she knew well that gossips were fearful. Everyone in the Parker Corporation knew Cameron was highly loyal to Kelly. When she discovered that Kelly was not President Parker's biological daughter, she was outraged. She disparaged Kendall, saying that Kendall was a country bumpkin and not worthy of being compared with Kelly.
Kelly frowned slightly as she saw those women from the human resources department still standing there. "Why are you still here?" Instead of replying, the women glanced at Kendall timidly.
By then, Kelly turned and pretended that she had just found out that Kendall was there; Kelly's face softened, and her tone was gentler while she put on the air of an elder sister and said, "Oh, you're here too, Kelly. What're you doing here and not in front of your desk?" Kelly glanced at her secretary again and saw Cameron's pale face; she looked scared and was panicking.
At that instant, Kelly knew what was going on. As she tried to make the matter die down as soon as possible, she asked, "Kendall, did my secretary offend you that you came all the way looking for trouble? Let this matter go for my sake, all right? Don't come and cause trouble early in the morning. Anyways, there is a meeting at 9.00AM, and President Parker wants you to join that meeting. So, quickly meet up with Jessie, and she will let you know the meeting's agenda."
Kendall turned and looked Kelly in her eyes. "Just in time, Vice President. Your secretary has been going behind my back, smearing my reputation that I used my beauty to have an affair with Mr. Dawson, which was why I was able to seal the deal. Did you instruct your secretary to do this? Now, I dare say that most of the people in the company are gossiping about my so-called affair. So congratulations, you have achieved your purpose of discrediting me."
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