As soon as Kelly heard that, her expression twisted into disbelief, then she turned and glared at her secretary.
As Cameron knew she was in the wrong, she could not argue anything except for making a feeble denial. "Vice President Parker, I-I didn't say it directly. I merely—"
There would be no rumors had Cameron not said anything vague, so she was indeed the rumor's source.
Eventually, Cameron turned to Kendall, knowing that the matter was escalating in a terrible direction. "Miss Parker, the Vice President had nothing to do with this; it was all my doing. Please don't blame her." Seeing that she could no longer deny anything, Cameron quickly shouldered all the blame; she knew that even though her boss was the vice president, Kendall was President Parker's biological daughter. No matter what the truth was, Kelly would be the one being wronged. If Cameron chose not to take the blame, her boss would definitely suffer.
Kelly took a deep breath, and when she looked at Cameron again, her eyes were stern and cold. "I told you long ago that you must be honest in your conduct; don't spread rumors. Harm set, harm get, don't you know? Yet, you threw my advice out of the window."
Cameron lowered her head and apologized, "I'm sorry, Vice President Parker."
"You shouldn't apologize to me. The person you should apologize to is Miss Parker. You must immediately apologize to her and send a mass email to everyone in the company to explain the matter clearly and apologize again in the email." Kelly made a decision in that instant to solve the situation.
Cameron sensed that Kelly was giving her an out, so she wasted no time as she hurriedly and solemnly apologized to Kendall, "Miss Parker, I'm truly sorry for my behavior. I was jealous that you could sign such a big deal as a rookie. It was all my fault to smear you like that on purpose. I'm sorry for the trouble that I have caused; I will send a mass email to explain it clearly to everyone and once again apologize to you in the email. Please forgive me." Cameron was no longer looking down at Kendall. Instead, she submitted to humiliation meekly and almost kneeled. Cameron did not forget what Kendall warned her in the elevator that day. If Kendall chose to sue her for slander, she would definitely lose.
After Cameron had apologized, Kelly looked at her sister and said gently, "Kelly, it was because of my lax discipline that Miss Sanders did this. I'll make sure to teach her a good lesson later. She knows it was her fault and won't repeat that mistake. Can you forgive her this time for my sake and end this matter?"
"She slandered me with her mouth and then apologized to me with that same mouth. Do you think she can learn the lesson just by that?" Kendall replied coldly. "Just apologizing verbally and sending mass emails are clearly not enough. Such consequences are too trivial, and you people will never learn the lesson, not to mention that I can't rid my anger whenever I lay my eyes on her. Furthermore, what Cameron said is known to everyone in the company; even if she tries to explain it, my honor has been ruined by such baseless claims."
When Cameron heard Kendall's words, she immediately turned pale. Before spreading the rumor, Karen had already reminded her of Kendall's identity. Kendall's patron was the god of the Orapolis's business world, Master Dylan. If Master Dylan were angry, the business community would have a big shakeup.
Although everyone still did not know what Master Dylan's true feelings were for his wife, the fact that he was willing to officially announce their marriage already showed that he valued Kendall. Who knew what would be waiting for Cameron if she told him about this? Cameron dared not to think about it any further.
When Cameron was spreading the rumors, all she needed was her lips. So, she did that without thinking of the consequences of her actions. Needless to say, she was being utterly irresponsible. Everything she said was a wild exaggeration, and her sole purpose was to smear the object of her hatred as much as possible, which surely vented the anger in her heart. But what about the consequences? If the party, who was being smeared, decided to investigate the matter seriously, those who helped spread the rumor would be sentenced to prison. Kendall was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Coleman Family; if she really wanted to sue and send Cameron to prison, she could easily do that with a snap of her fingers.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. It's all my fault, and I promise that I'll not spread rumors in the future. But, please, just forgive me this time." Cameron, who was afraid of being sued by Kendall, could no longer care about anything. As she desperately begged for Kendall's forgiveness, she didn't even hesitate to slap her own face.
Everyone quietly gathered around to see how Cameron's hard slaps were landing on her own face one after another. Cameron even used such great strength that her face quickly became red and swollen. It was shocking to see, and at the same time, everyone learned a lesson—never spread baseless rumors and look for trouble, especially not someone who had patrons like Kendall. Unfortunately, what Cameron did was simply court death and ruin all the excellent prospects she could have had in her future.
Kelly watched her secretary slapping herself under everyone's gaze, and she could not help but feel embarrassed as well. Cameron was her most trusted secretary, and for her secretary to be humiliated that way, Kelly was not in any better position.
"Kendall," Kelly called out to Kendall gently. "Miss Sanders truly knows she did something wrong. Look at her. She's punishing herself now. I dare say that she will always remember the mistakes she made today and will never repeat them again in the future. So you should forgive her."
Before Kendall could reply, her and Kelly's phones rang simultaneously. It was Jessie, who called Kendall. As soon as Kendall picked up the phone, Jessie said, "Miss Parker, President Parker has asked for you." Apparently, the matter had reached the President's ears. At the same time, Kelly also received a call from Adam. Similarly, Adam asked his eldest daughter to bring Cameron upstairs to meet him.
Kendall and Kelly had different expressions after they hung up the phone. Kendall made a recording in the bathroom, and she had nothing to worry about with that as proof. As for Kelly, she was contemplating whether or not she should give up on Cameron.
"Why are you all still here? Go to work. Now." Kelly yelled sternly, and the onlookers quickly left. Finally, she glared at the women from the HR department but did not utter a word. Nonetheless, they knew they were in a deep sh*t.
"Where's Karen?" Kelly asked around coldly. "Someone fetch her and ask her to meet the President." As soon as she gave those instructions, she didn't stop for a second as she left.
A few minutes later, everyone was in the President's office.
Adam's face took on a ghastly expression when he heard the recording. He glanced at Kelly, and even though he said nothing, Kelly could still see the disappointment in her father's eyes. Although it was not Kelly who instructed Cameron to spread rumors, she acted emotionally after Kendall successfully signed the contract with Prestige Electronics, which made Cameron hold injustice for her and caused today's disaster.
Her adoptive parents had raised Kelly as the successor of the Parker Family. So naturally, she believed that she had the ability to manage the business, and she had sealed countless transactions. But just because she lost once, she acted out of rage and wholly humiliated herself. The fact that she could not hold her composure made Adam disappointed in her.
Cameron and Karen lowered their heads as they dared not look at Adam. Suffice to say, they genuinely regretted their actions.
"Kendall, no matter what you decide to do, I will support you," Adam looked at his biological daughter and told her gently.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Kendall's Sacrifice