Chapter 16

Tiffany repeated, "I don't want any compensation. I just want you to apologize to me in front of everybody." Ivy was clearly the one at fault in this incident. With the surveillance footage as evidence, it was impossible for her to deny the fact that she was in the wrong. "Mr. Zander!" Ivy tried to plead with Alex. But Alex did not even look at her. "Ivy, give Tiffany an official apology, and we'll consider this matter closed." Seeing how Alex didn't want to help her, Ivy was left with no choice. Alex opened the door to the meeting room and led the two women out before he addressed everyone. "Everyone, pause your work for a second. I have investigated what happened just now. Ivy was the one who bumped into Tiffany by accident. "Now that the situation is resolved, Ivy wishes to apologize to Tiffany in front of everyone. You will all bear witness to it. Once it's over, never mention this topic ever again. Everyone looked at Ivy and Tiffany. They hadn't expected such a sudden turn of events. Eventually, Ivy apologized to Tiffany in front of their colleagues. But this had only deepened the rift between the two of them. Tiffany did not care about that. She had been used to being alone since she was young. After she had gone to college, she had gotten to know Brianna. It had taken her a while to get used to having Brianna around. When Brianna and William had started dating, Tiffany was alone once again. Perhaps it was because she had been too hurt by Brianna and William that you're now guarded around anybody. After all, this was how the world worked. She would never know if someone was a good or bad person. At the hospital, Vincent looked at Tiffany, who was in the corner of his phone screen. He frowned. When Alex had been dealing with the matter just now, he had replayed the surveillance footage of the lounge area as well. Vincent had seen the live footage of Ivy apologizing to Tiffany publicly. Tiffany was in the right, but Ivy was behaving arrogantly. At that moment, Ivy was surrounded by a few women as they chatted. Meanwhile, Tiffany sat in the corner quietly. She was like an injured little animal, licking her wounds while huddling by the corner all alone. Vincent would not consider himself an empathetic man. But he could not seem to be cruel toward Tiffany. "Vincent." Kelly's voice pulled him back to reality. He looked up. Staring at Kelly, he wore an unreadable expression. "What did you call me?" "Vincent… Can I call you Vincent?" Kelly asked carefully. She then explained, "I just thought that I might have to call you by your first name when we start dating normally afterward. If you don't like it, should I still refer to you as Mr. Lewis?" Vincent was silent for a moment. "Let's keep things as they were. Nobody other than my grandma has ever called me that." "Alright…" Kelly lowered her gaze, clearly disappointed. Vincent put his phone away and got up. "Did you need me for something?" "I…" Kelly glanced at the cup on the table. "I wanted some water. Could you please get me some?" She never would have dared to do that before all of this. But things had changed. Her relationship with Vincent was different now. Kelly looked at Vincent expectantly. Vincent hadn't expected her to embrace her new role so quickly. Stunned for a few moments, he poured her a glass of water. He watched as she finished the cup of water. Only then did he say, "I'll head back to the company now. Do you need me to send someone over to take care of you?" "It's alright. It was just an allergic reaction to alcohol. It's nothing serious." "Okay." … Kelly did not show up at the company for a few consecutive days. Vincent was busy with work. He was gone most of the time as well. On the fourth day, Kelly finally returned. Ivy was the first to walk up to her and hug her. "My, god, what happened to you? It's so serious that you had to take four days of medical leave!" Kelly brushed her off vaguely. Ivy then realized that she was dressed differently than usual. "Why did you come to the office in this outfit?" The company policy mandated everyone to dress formally. Kelly would usually follow the dress code strictly. But today, she wore a dark green dress, heavy makeup, and jewelry. She looked like a totally different person. Kelly smiled. "I came today to resign." "Resign?" Everyone was shocked. Ivy pulled Kelly to the side and bombarded her with questions. But Kelly merely gave her short answers. Ivy still could not believe it. "You're joking, right?" "No. I have gone through the resignation procedures. Since we have all worked together for many years, I'll treat everyone to dinner tonight. I've sent the location to the group chat." Kelly then walked to Tiffany's desk. "Tiffany, you'll be free tonight, won't you? Why don't you join us for dinner?" Ivy and a few other colleagues shot her an unfriendly look. Tiffany turned her down. "It's okay. You guys should go ahead. I have something else to do tonight." But Kelly seemed intent on urging her. "Come on, I'm leaving the company soon. Won't you join the dinner for my sake? Even Mr. Lewis will be joining us." Kelly had no choice but to nod and agree. "Mr. Lewis is joining too? Really?" Ivy and the rest surrounded Kelly again. They started asking her questions. "Mr. Lewis would rarely attend employee events. Did you invite him, Kelly? Did Mr. Lewis say he's joining?" "That's right, it's difficult to invite him to events. He didn't even attend Mr. Zander's birthday party last time." Kelly smiled. "I've confirmed this with Mr. Lewis already." "Damn, Kelly is amazing." "Kelly is so good at this. If she had continued working here, maybe she could have even gotten promoted to Mr. Zander's ranking. Isn't it a shame for you to leave just like that?" "It is." Kelly chuckled. "But we have to give certain things up to gain other things in life. No matter how hard I work, I would still end up marrying someone and giving birth to children." "Does that mean you're getting married soon?" "But I don't recall you ever having a boyfriend before. How could this be happening so fast?" "I do have a boyfriend. But things weren't stable before this. Now that he wants to settle down, I want to only do my best to cooperate with him." Kelly was all smiles as her eyes shone. Everyone congratulated her. It was too noisy in the office. Tiffany did not seem to fit in such a lively atmosphere. She got up and went to the bathroom. Sitting in one of the stalls, she soon heard footsteps approaching outside. Then, there was the sound of the door closing. Ivy's voice rang out. "Kelly, was everything you said true? You have a boyfriend? You're resigning to get married to him?" "Yeah, it's all true." Kelly nodded. She admitted it graciously. "That's unbelievable. I told you all my secrets, but you wouldn't even tell me that you have a boyfriend," Ivy chided. She could not hide her gossipy side. "Tell me, who's your boyfriend? Is it James, the guy you got to know from the project last year? Or is it Mr. Longman, with whom you had a meal last month?" "It's not them…" "Who was it, then?" "I can't tell you yet. But you'll find out in the future…" Everyone knew that Kelly was tight-lipped. She wouldn't say anything she didn't want to share. Seeing that she wouldn't get an answer, Ivy gave up. "When are you planning to have the wedding then?" "Soon. If everything goes well, it will happen by the end of this year." Hearing those words, Tiffany imagined the scene of Kelly and Vincent getting married. She felt sad once again. She waited to leave after they had gone out. To her surprise, her phone suddenly rang just then.