Chapitre 8: Burning Her Hard Work
The meeting room was in chaos as no one had expected this outcome. None of the executives wanted Natalie to leave the company. They were not happy about Briena's appointment at the cost of losing Natalie. Their displeased gazes told Briena that if not for her, Natalie wouldn't have left. There was anger and blame in their eyes. Even Ivan stayed unusually quiet in his place, as if he was regretting his decision.
Seeing this, Briena was shaking with anger inside but tried her best to maintain her composure on the surface.
"I will talk to her," Briena assured the others and hurried out to follow Natalie, who headed towards her office to gather her things. Once Briena entered the office and closed the door behind her, she spoke. "How does it feel to be given up on what you have been working on for so long?"
Natalie continued to gather her belongings, placing them in a box. "Nothing new to me, and it should be nothing exciting for you either. After all, you must be used to snatching my used things and making them your own."
"You're right, but it's more fun this time," Briena said, a wicked smirk painting her lips. "Not just your man, but what you worked on so hard for the past years will be mine now. All this work you have done here will be in my name."
"Sure, you can have what I leave for you," Natalie replied. She then pulled out all the files from her cabinet and stacked them on the floor. "These are all the perfume formulas I've researched over the years. They even include the ones I've rejected."
"Good for you that you're giving them to me quietly," Briena smirked, her gaze triumphant.
Natalie ignored her and pulled out an expensive wine bottle, a gift from a client she had never dared drink due to its high cost. She treasured it as a showpiece in her office. Opening the cap, she poured all the wine onto the files, soaking them thoroughly. The smell of alcohol filled the air.
"Are you nuts?" Briena exclaimed, trying to stop her, but Natalie pushed her aside. She pulled out a lighter, and in one quick motion, set all the files on fire. Flames quickly engulfed the papers, the fire reflected in Natalie's determined eyes.
Seeing the commotion outside Natalie's office, Ivan dashed towards it, ignoring all the employees that were already gathered there, making a commotion..
The moment he entered the room, Briena immediately clung to his arm.
"Ivan! Look! She's setting us on fire!" Briena cried out, her voice terrified. Ivan's mouth fell open as he caught sight of the fire on Natalie's desk, growing steadily stronger with every passing second. Smoke began to fill the air.
They couldn't see the sadness in Natalie's eyes as she watched years of hard work burn to ashes, knowing she was the one who had done it. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, calming her emotions. It was heartbreaking to lose her life's work like this, but she would rather destroy it than to let it fall into Briena's dirty hands.
Besides, she was also confident in her own abilities. Unlike Briena, Natalie did not need help when it came to her perfume ideas. If she had achieved greatness once, she could do it again.
"What the hell did you do?" Ivan demanded, glaring at Natalie, who stood closer to the burning files, her expression solemn.
Natalie lifted her gaze from the flames to meet Ivan's angry stare. Her cold gaze was so intimidating that Ivan instinctively took a step back.
"Giving your fiancée an opportunity to work hard instead of relying on someone else's efforts." She turned to Briena, her lips curling into a mocking smile. "All the best, dear sister. I hope you will use this chance to show everyone how capable you truly are."
Briena looked at her angrily, realizing that all of Natalie's work was gone, and now she had nothing left to claim as her own. She knew how valuable Natalie's work was for her own rise, but now everything had turned to ashes, a scenario she had not anticipated. She needed to find a way out of this mess.
Natalie walked past the two to leave the office, but Ivan grabbed her hand.
"Let go," Natalie demanded, her expression cold.
Ivan tightened his grip, his gaze furious. "Do you really have to do this? You don't care about the company and even resort to risking everyone's lives by setting a fire in the office. What if…"
"What if what, Ivan?" Natalie interrupted, her voice icy. "What if your precious fiancée had to start from scratch, just like I did? What if everyone saw what she's truly capable of without my work to prop her up? You're right—I don't care about this company anymore. You made sure of that. This place can burn to ashes with you inside it. Now, let go of my hand."
Natalie withdrew her hand, stepping back to maintain distance from Ivan. Her face was filled with indifference and mockery. "That is my work, and I have the right to do whatever I want with it," she said, glancing up at the ceiling. "The fire safety in your office is not just for show, right?" Just as she finished speaking, the fire alarm rang and the sprinklers activated, drenching everyone in the office.
Natalie scoffed lightly and turned to leave, walking with her back straight and her head held high. Meanwhile, screams and shrieks of surprise filled the air, as everyone tried to protect themselves from getting wet, with limited success.
Ivan watched her leave, suddenly feeling nervous. Natalie's confident stride was terrifying, and he wondered briefly, if he was making a mistake by letting her go. Natalie had contributed a lot to his company, and there was no guarantee that Brienna could live up to her accomplishments.
But then again, it wasn't his fault. It was Natalie who lied to him, who made him look like a fool during his wedding. Just the very thought made his blood boil.
Meanwhile, Briena let go of Ivan and knelt on the floor in front of the burnt files, frantically searching for anything salvageable. But there was nothing left. 'Damn it. Damn it!'
Ivan looked at her, "What are you doing?"
Hesitant, she turned to look back at him, her lower lip wobbling with despair as tears began to form in the corner of her eyes. With her hair and clothes soaked from the sprinklers, she looked less like an heiress and more like a sad drowned rat.
"Ivan, she burned the work that belongs to the company," tears rolled down her eyes. "It... It all happened because of me. I couldn't stop her in time. I... I shouldn't have even come to the company. It only caused you trouble."
She expected Ivan to come to her and console her, but...
"That's her work and was not patented under company name," he informed, not having any will to blame Natalie for it and nor did he plan to console Briena. To him, this wasn't important. "We have you, a famous perfumer Aroma. You can create new ones, don't you? I wouldn't hire you otherwise.
Briena was taken aback by his indifference towards her tears and emotions, which made it clear to her that Ivan felt nothing for her. He was just using her to hurt Natalie. Her fists clenched tightly, turning her delicate knuckles red, the determination to make this man hers entirely flashed in her eyes.
Chapitre 9: Going To Look For Justin
Natalie returned to Mia's home, her clothes and hair drenched.
"My god, Nat, what happened?" Mia exclaimed to see Natalie like this. "Did they bully you?"
Natalie entered the home, shaking her head. "Bully me? They can dream on," she hung the car key on the hook before walking to her room. As she changed into a fresh pair of clothes, she explained everything to Mia, who had followed her inside and settled into a chair.
"You did well." Mia's voice was full of admiration. "Now you can work for me, right? You ditched your friend to work for that jerk Ivan, but now you have to work for me."
Though Mia came from a wealthy family, she was determined to build her own cosmetics company without relying on their help. Just like Natalie, she preferred to rely on her own abilities.
"Alright," Natalie agreed in a tired tone only to have Mia jump into excitement and hug her tightly.
"Let go," Natalie frowned, feeling slightly suffocated.
Mia let her go, her face brimming with happiness, "Since you've agreed to work with me, I have good news for you."
"Nothing can be good news unless I catch that jerk Aiden Hendrix and beat the crap out of him," Natalie commented lazily, slumping onto the bed, feeling exhausted due to tiring events from the morning.
"Well, that other jerk in your life seems to be in the city," Mia said, her voice serious. "Aiden Hendrix, I mean, Justin Harper, is in Imperial City."
"What?" Natalie suddenly felt a surge of energy course through her body as she jumped out of bed. "Tell me where he is. I'll go to him right away." She could not wait to solve the mystery of her marriage.
"Girl, calm down," Mia's voice was gentle. "He's not someone you can meet just because you want to. No one knows about his arrival in Imperial City. It's just that my father is close to James Harper, so he found out and happened to tell my brother, who will be handling business matters with the Harpers here. No one knows where he is at the moment."
"If he's that great of a businessman, then I'm sure he's the usual workaholic bastard and must have gone directly to his office to start working already," Natalie said, ready to leave. "I'll go to his office."
"Do you know where—?"
"Who doesn't know where Harper Group's headquarters is located?" Natalie didn't wait for a moment, grabbing her car keys and leaving the house.
Harper Group Headquarters was situated in the city center of massive iconic skyscrapers that showcased the extravagant wealth of the Harper group. Though their main business was established in the Bayford city, they were moving their base to Imperial city with a new Global CEO of Harper group ready to take over.
Natalie entered the headquarters building and approached the reception desk, where two perfectly dressed and elegant receptionists sat behind the massive desk.
"How can I help you, miss?" one of them asked, offering Natalie a pleasant, welcoming smile.
"I want to meet Mr. Justin Harper," Natalie stated directly, without any hesitation, as if it were her right to meet him.
The receptionist offered her a puzzled look. "Miss, you must be mistaken. Mr. Harper is not here."
"Then where can I find him?" Natalie asked.
The receptionist shook her head. "No, I mean…"
"Wait!" another receptionist interrupted. She whispered something to the first receptionist and showed her mobile screen, making the first one's expression change.
"Let me deal with her," she whispered, and the first receptionist agreed.
The second receptionist then proceeded, casting a judgmental gaze at Natalie. "Miss, may I know your name, please?"
Natalie somewhat guessed what was going on but remained unbothered. Considering how pathetic her life had been in the past, she was used to receiving such gazes from others and remaining unaffected by them.
"Natalie Ford," she answered.
The two receptionists exchanged glances. The second one began, a mocking smirk playing on her lips. "So, Miss, you are that infamous bride from the trending news who betrayed her groom. Natalie Ford?" Her voice was loud enough for a few people around to hear it clearly.
Everyone turned to look at Natalie, whispers buzzing around the reception area.
Unaffected, Natalie passed her a bored gaze. "Yes, I am that same Natalie Ford. If I have satisfied your curiosity, will you answer my question already?"
"Miss, Mr. Harper is not here," the first receptionist still replied politely, trying to resolve it quietly. But the second one chimed in, "Even if he were here, we wouldn't allow a woman like you to meet him. Who knows, the next thing you'd say is he's your husband."
"What if I did say it?" Natalie asked, her tone calm and composed, her clear eyes looking at the two with confidence, almost making them think she was telling the truth.
"Miss, there are plenty of corporate offices here, and you can try this on the rich heirs of other families, but Mr. Harper is simply out of your reach. If you're done, please leave quietly, or we'll have to call security," the second receptionist warned disdainfully.
Natalie felt a surge of annoyance. All she wanted was to meet Justin Harper once, but why did it feel like she was asking for something impossible? She felt like slapping her wedding certificate on the receptionist's face to shut her up, but she had forgotten to bring her bag with her.
"Miss, believe me, Mr. Harper is not here," the first receptionist said politely, assuming her role as a good receptionist.
Natalie could see she was not lying. "Alright, I will return again tomorrow," she said, and left.
—--
Meanwhile, in the presidential suite of one of the luxury hotels.
Justin was busy working when his assistant, Noah, brought him a coffee.
"How is the investigation going?" Justin asked, sensing Noah's presence as he entered the study.
"Our people are working on it. We will have every detail by tomorrow morning," Noah informed, placing the coffee mug on the desk.
Just then, Noah's phone rang, and he looked surprised by what he heard. Justin noticed the change in Noah's expression and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Mister Harper, today a woman came to the head office looking for you," Noah replied, seeming to have more to say.
Justin was surprised. "But no one knows I'm in the Imperial city. Who is the woman?"
"Her name is Natalie Ford," Noah answered, watching for Justin's reaction, which matched his own surprised one.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. They are sending me a video. We can see if it's the same Natalie Ford we are looking for."
Noah received an email and opened it on the tablet. He handed it to Justin while watching the screen himself. In the video, they saw the familiar face of the woman they were searching for. The video captured Natalie's entire conversation with the receptionists.
Justin's deep eyes fixed at her, observing her carefully. The way she spoke, and behaved, she was confident with what she was there for. Despite the receptionists mocking her about her latest scandal, she remained unfazed, solely focused on her task. She gave the impression of a woman who knew her worth and not the kind to allow others to bully her.
Now the question was, why was she looking for him and how did she know he was in the city? Surely, it could not be because he was actually her husband. But her reaching out first made his life easier; he didn't need to look for her now.
The corner of his lips rose when he heard the last line she said to the receptionist.
'I will return again tomorrow.'
Justin turned to Noah. "Tomorrow, bring her directly to me."
"Yes, Mr Harper."
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
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