He Never Noticed Me Until I Loved Someone Else novel Chapter 19

Faced with Chloe's hostile interrogation, Stella didn't lose her temper.

Instead, she replied with complete sincerity, "As you said, Director Huxley, I failed to follow company protocol, so I will accept the standard penalty dictated by HR—one day of unexcused absence equals three days of docked pay."

Stella spoke calmly and respectfully, though the broken skin on her lower lip made her look surprisingly defiant.

Chloe's temper flared. "You think docking your pay is enough? You completely ignored my direct orders, sabotaged the tasks Mr. Fuller specifically assigned to you, and made me look like an idiot in the meeting! How are you going to pay for that!"

*I finished the notes,* Stella thought. *Even if I wasn't there to hand you the flash drive, Mr. Fuller had the master copy, didn't he? Why didn't he just forward it to you?*

Stella instinctively glanced at Jarrod.

But Jarrod stood there looking like a completely detached bystander, watching her with cold, apathetic eyes, not showing the slightest intention of stepping in to help.

Stella pulled her gaze back and lowered her head, apologizing again. "I am truly sorry. It was entirely my fault. From now on, I will complete every task assigned by you and Mr. Fuller on time and to perfection. Please give me another chance, Director Huxley."

Seeing how incredibly indifferent Jarrod was to Stella, Chloe finally felt a wave of smug satisfaction.

"Sign this penalty notice first!"

Chloe slapped a write-up form down on Stella's desk.

Glancing at the fine written on the paper, it was blatantly way over the standard "three days' pay" rule.

But if this was what it took to make the issue go away, she would just take the financial hit.

Stella didn't say a word as she signed her name at the bottom of the form.

Once Chloe snatched it back, she slammed a massive event proposal down onto Stella's desk.

"Mr. Fuller just finalized an exclusive offline preview launch with the board. It's happening next Tuesday. We're inviting all the major media outlets, KOLs, and core VIP players to test the game live. I will personally handle the PR and media statements. Your team is in charge of executing the entire live event from the ground up!"

Forcing down the suffocating wave of frustration, Stella took a deep breath.

Corporate hierarchy was a nightmare, and to make matters worse, Chloe wasn't just the Deputy Director—she was the big boss's beloved girlfriend.

Stella couldn't afford to cross her.

Snatching up the proposal, Stella speed-read through the details and immediately dragged her team into the conference room to divide the workload.

When the team heard the news, everyone looked at each other in absolute horror.

They had exactly one week to pull off a massive live launch event from scratch, while still managing their regular daily workload. When were they supposed to sleep?!

"This is all because Stella pissed off Director Huxley, and now she's taking it out on all of us. We're just collateral damage," one coworker grumbled.

"Oh, so you conveniently forgot all the times Stella stayed late to help you finish your tasks when you screwed up?" Cassidy snapped back.