Chapter 80

At the Victoria Grand Hotel, Abigail stood beside Sebastian in the glass elevator, looking down at the city below. As they ascended, Cobridge’s skyline glittered into view.

The elevator stopped at the top floor. When Abigail stepped out with Sebastian, she realized it was direct access to a private suite. This elevator was exclusively his.

“Here’s the keycard,” Sebastian held out a gilded red card in the doorway. “I rarely stay here. If your home is unbearable, come here anytime.”

“Thank you, Mr. Robinson,” Abigail murmured, accepting the card.

“Jeremiah is getting you clothes. Staff will deliver them.” Sebastian turned to leave, then paused, smiling. “Ms. Gibson, you’ll manage alone, right?”

Abigail’s cheeks warmed, but she nodded. “I’m not that hopeless.” True, she had never stayed anywhere this luxurious, but technology was the easiest thing for her to figure out.

With a faint smile, Sebastian stepped back into the elevator.

In the suite, Abigail hesitated at the bedroom threshold. She thought, ‘Has he slept here? Are these his sheets or hotel linens?’

Shaking her head, she pulled open the curtains. The city lights sprawled below, instantly dwarfing her worries. Tonight, for the first time in years, she could sleep undisturbed.

Early the next morning, Abigail headed to the company. By the time her colleagues trickled in, the office buzzed with yesterday’s scandal.

The story about her and Timothy had spread widely across the entire Halden Group. Although the upper management had issued a warning, people’s enthusiasm for gossiping hadn’t faded at all.

In various chat groups, videos were circulating of her being grabbed by the hair and drenched in juice by Timothy’s wife.

Timothy arrived unusually early.

Leon spotted Abigail and knocked on her desk. “You owe me. I covered your workload yesterday. Come with me. We need to go over everything with Mr. Newman.”

“Alright,” Abigail said, getting up immediately.

In Timothy’s office, Leon cut straight to it. “Mr. Newman, I traced it. The culprits are Claudia and Daniella from the Design Department.”

Timothy nodded, meeting Abigail’s gaze. “This smear hurt us and the company. I’m not letting it slide. What about you?”

“Whatever you decide,” Abigail replied calmly. She wouldn’t let Daniella off.

The three of them walked out of the office together. Everyone in the R&D watched them leave with confused expressions.

At the Design Department, Claudia was laughing madly, coffee in hand, gossiping with Daniella when Timothy stormed in with Leon and Abigail.

Claudia followed Abigail’s gaze to her chest. Her cup hit the floor, dark liquid splattering across her pristine white designer dress.

Timothy didn’t even bother with pleasantries. His voice was sharp and furious. “Ms. Harper, the R&D and the Design Department stay in our lanes. So explain why you photoshopped evidence and led my wife to accuse me of having an affair with my subordinate?”

Claudia gaped at her stained dress before registering what he had said. She snapped back, “You psychotic! I doctored images? When the hell did I ever do that? Prove it!”

“I’m the manager of R&D!” Timothy’s roar drew the staff of the Design Department to the break room. “I can trace every device on the company’s private intranet.”

Daniella’s face drained of color. She forced a smile at Abigail. “Abby, this must be a misunderstanding. Can’t we handle this privately? There’s no need to make a scene.”

Timothy sneered, “Privately? You sent fake photos to my wife and spread lies behind my back. You deleted it, but do you think that saves you?”

He yanked Daniella into the center of the crowd and jabbed a finger at her. “Memorize this face, people!

“This woman made up stories about her sister being my mistress just to get her kicked out of Halden Group, and she had the nerve to drag me into it.”

“Exactly,” Leon chimed in. “Smiling to your face while backstabbing you. Tsk, who’s next on her hit list?”

Abigail watched, impassive, as Daniella squirmed in Timothy’s grip like a cornered chick.

“Abby… please… This must be some kind of misunderstanding…” Daniella stammered, barely able to keep her footing. She had always been the center of attention, praised and protected. Never before had she faced such public scorn like this.