The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 211

Felice wanted nothing more than to walk away.

But after Rose's outburst, everyone from the surrounding offices was staring at her, waiting to see what she would do.

Felice took a deep breath, suppressing her irritation. "Rose says you slapped her twice. Is that true?"

Victoria's expression was calm. "I did."

At this, Rose perked up.

Felice's face tightened with irritation. "Then you're aware of the company policy? In that case—"

"The company policy states that, regardless of the reason, fighting between colleagues within the Design Institute is prohibited. If discovered, it results in termination," Victoria said, looking up at a smug Rose before turning her gaze to Felice. She spoke calmly.

"And if I remember correctly, when this rule was previously enforced, headquarters specifically clarified that 'termination' applies to both parties involved in a physical altercation, regardless of who started it. Is that right?"

"That's right. If there's proof that both parties were involved, the rule applies to both equally."

Felice didn't understand why Victoria was bringing this up. Victoria was completely unharmed, while both of Rose's cheeks were already beginning to swell from the slaps. It looked like a one-sided attack.

The clarification from headquarters didn't seem to apply here.

Victoria took out her phone, opened her gallery, and played a video.

She'd given Sunny a look earlier, signaling her to record.

The footage was a bit shaky, but it clearly showed who had been provoking Victoria, and who, after becoming enraged with humiliation, had lunged at her with a furious expression.

The color drained from Rose's face. She lunged forward to grab the phone, but Victoria, anticipating the move, sidestepped her easily.

Rose lunged at nothing, stumbling forward so hard she almost fell flat on her face.

Victoria paused the video and looked down at her. "Rose," she said lightly, "why are you so nervous you can barely stand?"

Rose looked panicked. Realizing she couldn't get the phone, she turned to Felice. "Ms. Donald, I didn't attack her! I... I just got emotional! I wasn't actually going to do anything to Victoria!"

Felice had been holding back her anger at Rose's constant provocations, but seeing this sudden change of face was the last straw. "Enough!" she snapped. "The video is right there. What is there to explain? You seemed pretty confident when you were accusing Victoria just a moment ago, didn't you?"

The blood drained from Rose's face.

She had just taken out a mortgage on a house. She couldn't afford to lose this job.

Suddenly, she caught sight of Genevieve approaching. Like a cornered animal seeing its rescuer, she rushed over and grabbed Genevieve's arm. "Director Vale, please, put in a good word for me with Ms. Donald! I... I was only doing what you said when I—"

"Rose!"

Genevieve cut her off sharply.

Normally, it would be simple: Felice was the director of the design department, and Genevieve, as deputy director, should not sit in a more prominent position than her.

However, Genevieve was a famous up-and-coming designer who had been brought in directly by headquarters. While her title was lower than Felice's, her standing with the higher-ups might not be.

"Ms. Vale." A man in a suit approached them. Felice recognized him immediately as the assistant to Mr. Blake, the head of Aurelian Central, who was seated at the head of the table reviewing some documents.

"Your seat is next to Mr. Blake," he said.

Genevieve couldn't hide her delight. Felice, however, looked like she'd been slapped, her face flushing with anger and humiliation.

"Of course."

Genevieve shot a subtle, triumphant glance at Felice, a small smirk playing on her lips as she followed the assistant to her seat at the head of the table.

Once everyone was seated.

Crack!

The middle-aged man at the head of the table slammed a folder down. His sharp gaze swept over everyone in the room.

"You've all seen the email. Now, I want an explanation!"