:21 Thu, Nov 21
Chapter 194
Laura walked over with a bright smile, asking Isabella, “Wow, M Stout, which Prince Charming is pursuing you now? Her eyes sparkled with excitement. No one had ever given her such a big bouquet of flowers before. I’m so envious.
Isabella playfully tapped her forehead and chuckled mysteriously, “It’s a secret.”
She looked around the bouquet but couldn’t find a card.
Right then. Isabella’s phone rang with a new text message.
Samuel: [Got it?
Just those three words made Isabella smile slightly. She thought What got into him today to be so flashy
Isabella placed the bouquet on her desk before replying to Samuel.
Isabella: [Yes, they are beautiful.]
In the CEO’s office at the Howerton Group, Samuel received the message. As soon as he did, the slight worry he had vanished instantly.
He gave a small grin as he typed out a reply.
Samuel: [Okay.]
Seeing his brief response, Isabella raised an eyebrow. She thought, “Who sends flowers and then acts so indifferent?” Ivana watched Isabella’s blissful expression, and it made her grind her teeth in jealousy even more.
a Right then, she wished she could lunge forward and tear that wretched woman’s face apart.
Suppressing her anger, she stepped closer, frowning at Isabella. Bella, it’s work time right now. You’re breaking the department’s rules. If everyone starts sending flowers here, it won’t be good, will it?”
Ivana’s eyes were fixed on the flowers at Isabella’s workstation, and everyone quickly got what she meant.
Even Laura could tell Ivana was looking to stir up trouble.
She bit her lip tightly, looking worriedly at Isabella.
But Isabella showed no fear and coldly asked, “So, what trick are you trying to pull?”
Ivana’s face was full of difficulty, and after a slight sigh, as if she was reluctant, she continued, “I don’t want to, but rules are rules. Even though I hate to do it, I’ll have to dock your pay for a month to set an example.”
“What, a month?!” Laura shouted loudly, raising her voice.
She thought, Isn’t Ivana just trying to take advantage?
What company fines an employee a month’s salary just for getting flowers?”
Jenny let out a mocking laugh, picked up a coffee cup from the shelf, took a light sip, and sarcastically said, “What, the manager doesn’t have the right to punish an intern anymore!”
She used the manager’s authority to suppress. Anyone else would probably be hopping mad by now.
Chapter 104
That’s a whole moniles salary, after all.
Intern salaries were already low, and now Isabella’s getting a whree month’s pay deducted.
Laura cursed quietly to herself, “Is this woman really so heartles
Isabella was really annoyed by Ivana. She looked at her coldly at said, “So you’re going to take away my pay for a whole month) Fine.”
Everyone stared at Isabella in shock. They couldn’t believe her decision.
Anyone could see the punishment was unfair, yet she just accepted it like that.
Laura looked at Isabella with concern and quickly said, “Ms. Stout, don’t act out of anger. Now that you’re living on your own, you need money for everything.”
She had thought Isabella was still living at the Stout residence, but heard just now from Ivana that she had moved out.
Now, Isabella’s staying on her own, and with just an intern’s salary, she would have a challenging time.
Isabella gave her a reassuring look and softly said, “Don’t worry
She felt somewhat moved by what Laura was worried about.
Ivana’s eyes flashed with a bit of smugness, but she quickly pretended to look troubled and said urgently to Isabella, “Since you agree, let’s go with that.”
She thought, ‘Let’s just finalize this to avoid any more unexpected changes.
Jenny smirked at Isabella, “You tried to play it cool, and now you’ve lost your whole pay.”
She thought, ‘Isabella is such a clown. No matter how tough she seems, when Ivana says punishment, it’s punishment indeed.
Isabella looked at Ivana coldly and said, “The money’s been docked. Can I collect as many bouquets as I want this month
now?”
She couldn’t care less about that salary.
Ivana just wanted to make her uncomfortable. She decided to make Ivana even more uncomfortable.
Sure enough, Ivana’s expression froze, as she looked at Isabella and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
She thought, ‘Is this jerk deliberately trying to go against me?‘
She instinctively glanced at the others in the design department, feeling like their eyes were filled with mocking laughter.
“Isabella has company shares, right? She probably doesn’t care about this money.”
“Yeah, salary’s nothing to Isabella,”
Ivana’s face grew darker as she glared at Isabella.
But she calmly said, “I mean it literally. Can’t you understand that? Did you not finish elementary school?”
Behind Ivana, her hand clenched into a tight fis
She thought, ‘Damn jerk! She is clearly trying to make me look bad on purpose!
hu, Nov z
Chapter 194
Tm Ivana gritted her teeth, ggling to control her rising anger, and looked at Isabella with a face full of frustration, “Bella, I’m just following the rules. Are you trying to endsarrass me on pure
“You’re a shareholder of the company too. Isn’t this unreasonable How can you lead by example like this?”
Isabella chuckled softly, “As a manager for so long, you should know that accepting flowers isn’t something you get penalized for. You act like we’re close, yet you continue to do things against me. Do you think everyone here is blind, or are you just not thinking straight?”
Ivana’s expression darkened. She thought, “This dan bitch!
But with so many people watching, she could only shake her heild helplessly. “Bella, I know you want my position, but it’s a crucial time right now. You don’t have the experience and this tight ruin the entire Stout Group.
“Can’t I give it to you once you’ve gained some experience? You don’t have to treat me like this.”
Tears were already running down Ivana’s face. She covered her face and ran away crying, as if she were the one being mistreated by Isabella.
Laura frowned, “Why has Ms. Ivana Stout changed so much?”
Isabella snorted coldly but didn’t say anything.
Jenny felt a bit unwilling; despite everything, she still couldn’t make Isabella lose face.
She walked up to Isabella and said in a low voice, “Ill dock a month’s pay each time you take flowers. You can try it.”
She thought. ‘How dare she challenge Ms. Ivana Stout’s authority like that in public? I’d like to see how long Isabella can hold back her anger.‘
But Isabella couldn’t care less. She curled her lips into a cold smirk and said, “Sure, but I can also choose to report you to the labor board.”
She gave an inch, and these people took a mile. They really thought she’s just a doormat.
She thought, ‘Is the labor law just for show? Do they really think I’m still going to do charity? Too naïve.”
Jenny’s face turned red with anger because of Isabella, pointing a finger at her, “You, you-!”
The words were at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t say them.
Jenny finally squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth, “Just wait, one day you’ll leave some weakness in my hands.”
With that threat, she walked straight into the manager’s office.
Laura covered her mouth, unable to hold back her laughter, and looked at Isabella, “Wow, Ms. Stout, I thought you were going to keep giving them money.”
Isabella thought, ‘Even if I’m not short of money, that’s not how I use it
Jenny just wanted to deliberately annoy Isabella.
Isabella chuckled softly without saying anything. She picked up the roses on the table, gently brought them to her nose, a sniffed–they were quite fragrant.
When Ivana was back in her office, she slammed her hand on the desk in frustration, remembering Isabella’s smug expression just moments ago. Grinding her teeth, she muttered angrily under her breath, “That woman, laughing just because she got some flowers from a guy. Pathetic!”
09:21 Thu, Nov 21 GBB
