The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella) novel Chapter 14

When Ann was asked to see the vice president first thing in the morning, she never could have imagined it would be concerning Isabelle’s interview and subsequent rejection. After having the panel reject her the previous day, she had slept like a baby, happy that she had finally executed her revenge.

Keeping Isabelle out of the company almost made up for that time in college when she lost the scholarship to her. And, not only had she managed to cost her a job at the prestigious Larson Group, but also tarnished her reputation at the same time. She had been certain that once the word spread in the industry, Isabelle would have a hard time finding a job elsewhere.

So, she hadn’t foreseen what was currently happening–sitting opposite a righteous-looking Isabelle, under the strict scrutiny of the Larson Group’s vice president.

Why was Jason paying so much attention to Isabelle’s case, anyway? The man rejected hundreds of applicants daily and forgot about it. If he was acting as he usually did, he wouldn’t be questioning the panel’s decision to reject Isabelle. Ann and her colleagues were entrusted with the duty of rejecting applicants or approving them, and nobody had ever questioned their process before. So, why was Mr Del Mundo suddenly interfering?

“Ann?” the vice president urged when she remained silent for too long. “Is there a reason why you gave Ms Cruz the wrong examination paper?”

“It was a mistake,” she said, hoping to not make an issue of that. If the vice president knew that she had deliberately given a more advanced paper to Isabelle in an attempt to make her fail, she could even lose her job. “I did not realise it until she was through.”

Jason’s firm gaze on her didn’t relent. “Really? Because according to the records, you personally took the examination from the office. You specifically asked for a senior designer examination, even though yesterday, we weren’t interviewing any senior designers.”

She bit down on her bottom lip. He had checked that too? Did he know Isabelle personally or something? Bowing her head slightly, attempting to appear contrite, she said, “I must have not been paying attention. I apologise.”

“My assistant seems to remember you clearly making a request for a single senior paper while you were collecting the other papers meant for the other junior applicants. Do you still want to claim that it was a mistake?”

Ann’s gaze shifted to the assistant who was standing a little behind the vice president, tablet in hand. She knew it would be useless to argue against her. She had been working for Mr Del Mundo for many years and was known to be very efficient. The vice president would never take Ann’s words over hers…

Ann felt her insides squirm. She was smart enough to recognise that she had been backed into a corner. The vice president had already claimed that he would contact the college about the accusations that Isabelle stole a design. If he did, he would find out the truth. And, once he found out that she was lying, the rest of her lies would crumble…

She wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her pants. It was better to come clean right now, she decided. If she did, and apologised, she might still have a chance of keeping her job. But if she held onto her lies and the vice president’s office wasted their time and resources on the investigation only to discover her deception, she would have no chance of saving her job.

“Sir, I…” she swallowed, cast a sidelong glance at Isabelle, then refocused on the vice president. “I’m sorry, it was intentional, and I lied about everything else too.”

Jason straightened in his seat, his dark eyes digging into her. “Why did you do that?”

“I did not want her to join the company,” she admitted. “I hate her, and I didn’t want to work in the same place as her. That’s why I made up the rumours.”

“Let me get this clear, you are admitting that every accusation you made about Ms Cruz’s character was fabricated.”

She dropped her head in shame. “Yes.”

“Do you know how serious this is? Do you have any idea how many company guidelines you have violated?”

She lifted her head and clasped her hands in front of her, giving him a pleading glance. “I know, and I’m terribly sorry, sir. I… It was bad judgement on my part. I promise to not let my personal grudges affect my decision-making from now on. I truly regret my actions, sir.”

“Do you?” he demanded. “Just a few minutes ago, you were sitting here, lying to my face even after giving you a chance to come clean. You must know that we do not condone this sort of unprofessional behaviour at the Larson Group.”