Chapter 121 She Crossed the Line
Emily’s office manager, Michelle, had messaged to say that they had a new receptionist to replace Spenser. Emily entered the building to find a smiling young woman at the front desk.
“Thank you so much for stepping in on such short notice,” Emily said, introducing herself to the new employee.
“Thanks for giving me a job!” the young woman said. She had curly hair and braces, making her look like she was just out of high school. “I’ll let Michelle know you’re here. She wanted to know as soon as you got in.”
“Things are that bad, huh?”
“No… not really,” said the receptionist.
After chatting some more with her, Emily suddenly realized that not only Michelle but also every single employee of the company had come out to the vestibule to greet her.
“Welcome back!” they exclaimed.
Emily blushed, seeing all the attention directed at her. “Thanks… You didn’t have to. I was only gone a couple of days.”
Michelle came forward and gave Emily a hug. She was a short woman with pin-straight black hair, and normally not given to emotional displays. “I wanted to reassure you that everything is going okay,” she said, “Despite what Spenser did, our company is still running, and we all look up to you as a very competent and ethical leader. All of that nonsense with the emails is behind us.”
“Wow…” Emily looked at everyone’s faces, seeing that they were really excited to see her. “Thank you! This is so nice of you to do.”
“Also, we’ve got cookies!” Katie came forward to give her a hug too.
“Well now I feel officially welcome,” Emily said with a smile. “Lead me to the cookies.”
After having a fun tea and cookie break with all the staff, Emily got caught up on what happened. They met in Michelle’s office to discuss the damage.
It turned out the “compromising photo” of Emily was just a distraction. In the meantime, Spenser had emailed many of the retailers that carried Emily’s brads of clothing and offered them some truly hideous designs. Luckily, the rest of the staff were on top of it and contacted the retailers, saying they mistakenly sent out designs that were still in the beginning stages.
“How many clients did we lose?” Emily asked.
“None,” said Michelle. “They all trust that you know what you’re doing, and they’re waiting for the real designs.”
“Oh my God! You’re a lifesaver! I thought I might have to start from scratch…”
“It was Katie who first discovered the problem,” Michelle said. “That kid is probably going to be Prime Minister one day.”
Emily was incredibly relieved. She was glad she had given Katie access to the company’s email account because the teen had been so insistent on monitoring everything in case Spenser did something shady.
Now there was one more thing to do. Emily almost looked forward to it. She took a ride to Ruby’s shop, hoping the owner would be in. It was time to have a serious talk.
The familiar bell chimed as she entered, and she saw that not only Ruby but Spenser was there too. Apparently, he was an employee of Ruby’s boutique now, and he was in the middle of talking to a customer. He paused awkwardly when he saw Emily enter.
“I see your career as an amateur photographer and manipulator is over,” Emily remarked, going right up to him.
The customer he was with was as unnerved by this and hurried away.
“Do you mind?” Spenser said, “I was about to sell her that blouse.”
“I do mind, actually. You nearly ruined my relationship with my retailers. I’m not even talking about the stupid message you sent to my fiancé.”
Ruby came out from behind the counter. “You have to admit, it was a clever distraction. When I found out my good friend Spenser was working for your company, I just couldn’t resist… But I see you came out in one piece. I’m always impressed by that.”
“I don’t need your admiration, Ruby,” Emily said.
“What about that alliance you talked about earlier?” Ruby asked. “You’ve proven yourself very resilient, and I’m willing to join your company.”
“Are you?” Emily pretended to think about it for a moment. “It’s too late for that. You tried to mess with my personal life, Ruby. And by doing that, you crossed the line. I will never have anything to do with you again. I won’t play your games, even though I enjoy watching you lose. And if you or your associates ever try anything like that again, I will take you to court and sue your *ss. I didn’t want to play this card, but since you know who my fiancé is, you’re aware that we have practically unlimited funds with which to wage a legal battle.”
“You don’t scare me,” Ruby said, though it seemed like false bluster.
“Maybe this should scare you,” Emily replied, “You and your ideas are all mediocre. That’s why you can’t succeed. If you tried to work on yourself instead of ruining other people, you might have come up with something good, but that’s not how you operate, is it?”
Ruby tried to appear calm, but Emily thought that just for a moment she caught a look of recognition and misery in those big blue eyes.
It seemed she had truly gotten to the very heart of what Ruby was about. Satisfied, Emily turned around and walked out of the store.
