章 14: An Unfavorable Deal

Chloe woke up the next day at 8:00 AM. She took a glass of water that had already been served by her bedside. She went into her bathroom and tidied up. She packed her brushed hair into a ponytail and went down to the mansion gym. She had fifteen minutes of workouts and a stretch routine, plus five minutes of yoga exercise for calmness.

After exercising, she went back to her room and took a lukewarm shower. When she was done bathing, she engaged herself in her morning skincare beauty routine with the help of a maid.

A glass of lemon water; for hydration, was served to her when she came down to the dining room. And she had a breakfast of poached eggs, avocado, and gluten-free toast.

While she was having her breakfast, the butler came in and informed her that she had some visitors.

"Take them to the house office and keep them waiting there." She instructed the butler with an irked expression.

She slowly continued eating her food while she browsed through her phone without any sense of urgency.

Mr. Frost, Mr. Kyle, and Silvia were escorted to the mansion office and offered seats upon arrival.

"The young madam will be with you shortly," the butler politely bowed and left.

All three guests had been amazed from the very moment they drove into the mansion. The mansion had class and luxury written all over it. It was located in an elite and serene environment occupied by only the rich and mighty. It was massive in size. Even the house office; which they were only privileged to see, was tastefully furnished and decorated with rare artifacts.

Although the room was peaceful and well-ventilated, Silvia, as well as her companion was looking all tensed up and sweaty. They were unsure of their faith. They were kept waiting for almost an hour and a half. Even Mr. Kyle, who was always the grumpy one, saw that he was no match for the Robinsons.

They were on the verge of giving up their mission when the door suddenly opened. A well-built average looking man in his late fifties stepped in. His horrific glares at them were both scornful and frightening. He was escorted by Chloe and another man; who was carrying a briefcase and by all definition was a lawyer.

Mr. Robinson had been extremely furious the previous day. He was making plans to arrest all those involved in his daughter's embarrassment. But thanks to Chloe's and her mother's intervention, the previous day's incident did not escalate. Chloe had her own hidden agenda up her sleeves. Hence, she calmed her father down and prevented him from taking drastic measures.

She had pleaded with her father that she intended to handle the problem her way. She also promised to give up that right if things didn't go as planned.

"Mr. Robinson, we are truly..." Mr. Frost was saying when he was abruptly cut short with a swift upward wave of Mr. Robinson's hand; whose evil scowls were intimidating.

"The only reason you all are seated here is because my angel...," Mr. Robinson briefly touched Chloe and smiled, then his expression hardened again when he faced them. "My angel allowed it. Now!" he commanded in a fierce voice. "Do yourself a favor and listen attentively to what she has to say."

Chloe grinned slyly, as she saw the scared expressions on their faces.

"I'm not going to talk too much," she looked from one person to the other, "I'll go straight to the point." She spoke proudly and audaciously. "The incident of yesterday was the highest insult to my professional career. This will not be tolerated under any circumstances," she stressed, sneering at them.

"I have listened to Silvia's plea and I have reconsidered the consequence."

Silvia breathed in deeply as a sense of calmness replaced her drumming heart.

"I want the two ladies responsible for the harassment fired from your company." Chloe gave them a frosty look. "It's either this or the lawsuit and much more."

Mr. Robinson and Chloe stood up to leave when Chloe turned around and said, "you have the next ten minutes to decide and communicate through our lawyer, after which the deal is off." Then she left the office with her father holding her hands like a little child.

___

Ariella was rounding up her work for the day when she was summoned to Mr. Frost's office. Although she had been expecting this, she was apprehensive on her way to his office.

Ever since Silvia arrived late to work this morning, she had been unusually friendly toward Ariella. She requested files, documents, and other information that only Ariella had access to. She invited Ariella over to her office and together, they came up with multiple designs for the Fall. Although Ariella expected her to talk about yesterday's incident, she never brought it up. She only focused on work and more work.

Ariella was suspicious of her behavior but she couldn't read the invisible writings on the wall. She had waited for Mr. Frost all day to invite her into his office and inform her of the consequences of the previous day's incident. She had no idea of her stance, concerning the one hundred million dollar lawsuit charges against the company.

Earlier on, during Ariella's lunch break, she had discreetly spoken to an overwhelmed Denise about her conversation with Leon and how he had insisted on helping her. Denise was so thrilled and even commended her response to his request. But now Ariella was extremely anxious and wished she had agreed to Leon's first suggestion to solve the issue.

When Ariella entered the office, she was stunned to see Denise already seated. Mr. Kyle was also in the office too but was standing and looking out the window. He didn't even turn or respond when Ariella greeted him.

"Have a seat, Ella," Mr. Frost said calmly.

His countenance, voice, and behavior were the friendly Mr. Frost, Ella had always known. He was entirely different from the Bogeyman from yesterday.

Ella sat down beside Denise but was scared to look at her face. She was afraid of what she might discover.

Denise stood up and said, "Ella, I'll be waiting for you at our department office. She stormed out of Mr. Frost's office and slammed the door behind her.

This terrified Ella even more as she trembled in her seat.

"Ariella, it stings me so much that you got entangled in this whole situation," Mr. Frost looked concerned and crushed. "You are one of our finest designers, and it weakens me to see you go this way."

"Go!" Ella was perplexed. Her lips twitched and her hands quivered. "What do you mean, 'GO', sir?" She queried in apprehension, unable to wait for him to finish his speech.

"What he's trying to say is that your services will no longer be required in this company! All thanks to you and Denise's little drama with Miss Chloe." Mr. Kyle abruptly turned over to look at her. His hateful and burning eyes were as though, he was the one been fired.

"But...but I didn't do anything wrong," Ella bit her lips in frustration. Her eyes glimmered with burning tears. Her voice shook with resentment.

"Even when I was insulted and humiliated by Miss Chloe, I still did nothing." A tear escaped her eyes. "Is this what I get for being loyal and professional?"

"Enough of the pretense!" Mr. Kyle yelled. "Are you aware of the ridicule you two have made us go through this morning?" He scowled at Ella like a hungry lion. We were practically humiliated today," he sneered, breathing down his fury. Unable to stand Ella's face, he turned his attention back to the window.

Mr. Kyle was deeply hurt. Although, he concealed it, because of his pride. He knew Ella's worth in the company and was not ready to part with her. He wished there was a way he could have convinced the Robinsons, but they had not given him or Frost any choice. They knew their chances against the Robinsons and concluded they couldn't afford to engage in a lawsuit of that enormous amount. Hence, they were willing to sacrifice Ariella and Denise.

"Ella, if it were in my power, you would keep working for us with a milder consequence but at the moment our hands are tied,"

Ella's body quivered with indignation and rage poisoned her vein. Her eyes widened as she smothered her tears. Although her throat was clogged with emotions, she toughened up and glared at them. She wasn't going to give them the pleasure of watching her cry like a wimp. Her stomach crawled as she sneered at the two men before her.

"Ella," Mr. Frost shuddered at her current expression. "We are allowing you to resign on or before the close of work tomorrow. Failure to do so, and we will terminate your appointment with us."

"Would that be all?" Ella scowled at him. He was lucky that she was morally brought up. Otherwise, castration would be the least of his problems.

Mr. Frost felt uneasy with her stares. "That will be all, you can go."

"No need to wait till tomorrow!" Ella spoke between clenched jaws. A new sense of determination flooded her being and gave her unusual strength.

"I'll drop my resignation with your secretary before I leave today! But mark this," she stood up and pointed at him. She glared at him with every fiber of hatred she could muster. "You will witness my fame. And Karma would pay you a nice visit for what you have done to me."

With one final loud hiss, she stormed out of the office slamming the glass door heavily behind her so that it almost shattered.

So that was the reason why Silvia has been behaving in that manner since morning, Ella assembled her thoughts. She knew all along and she wanted to milk me before dumping me? Ella's anger knew no bounds, she walked quickly to her office and then something hit her, Denise. "Denise was also fired?" She thought out loud.

She entered her departmental office and saw the moody faces of everyone but ignored them.

Denise walked up to Ella and showed her a termination of appointment letter, given to her by Mr. Frost.

"Ella, I am so sorry I got you into this mess." Denise's eyes were moist and red. Ella could tell she had been crying. Her body shook with frustration and she bit her trembling little right finger and sniffed a bit.

"Denise! Put yourself together," Ella hugged and consoled her. "Just give me ten minutes to process and submit my letter of resignation. After that, we will take our things and leave this godforsaken company."

Denise was baffled by Ella's reaction but said nothing. She went over to her desk and gathered her stuff while she waited patiently for Ella.

After Ella had submitted her resignation letter to Mr. Frost's secretary, she went over to Silvia's office.

Silvia wasn't prepared to see Ella as she hid in her office while the commotion in the department went on. She was terrified when Ella barged into her office and she almost let out a scream.

"No need to be afraid Silvia, I just want to wish you the best before I leave," Ella scoffed at her panicked state. "Wasn't it written in the good book, that the evil man runs when no one pursues him? By the way, I'm aware that your parents are alive and Mr. Kyle is your uncle. Have a nice life with your bag of lies," Ella snouted and left her office.

As Ella and Denise left the company, the majority of the workers in the F&K fashion home were thrown into a state of shock and panic as the news of their dismissal spread.