Chapter 475 Provoking Me for No Reason
A pale Ishara sobbed, "Why do you have to be so aggressive, Winnie? I've seen Melanie and her assistant coming and going from your office as they please. I thought... I thought I could do the same..."
She cast a weak glance at Lawrence.
Winnie scoffed. “Pity play?” she thought.
"Manager Nelson, do I need to enlighten you, a manager who understands nothing? Melanie and her assistant report directly to me. You, on the other hand, are competing with me; as a rival, you should be avoiding conflicts of interest! Mr. Rodriguez, it seems your girlfriend is clueless about the rules. Perhaps you should teach her before she comes out and bothers others, wasting their time!"
Lawrence saw her wrath directed at him. They were at work; she was being insubordinate. Her words cut like a knife. Did she really think he'd stand for that?!
A chill settled in his chest. "Winnie, that's uncalled for.
Why would you humiliate her like that? She’s new here; of course, she's not familiar with the company's rules. She thought she knew you well enough to step into your office, and now you're making a fuss about it?
Just because you're angry, you pushed her to the ground. Now her ankle's torn open. How do you account for that?"
Does she even know how anxious his mother is? His mother's life is slowly slipping away, and she’s oblivious!
Lawrence R was overwhelmed by a wave of exhaustion, his eyes shadowed with a chill.
"I'm telling you again, I didn't push her. Go check the surveillance!"
With a knowing sneer, Winnie looked at Ishara's ankle with icy gaze and fury, saying, "A minor burn scar that is purposefully left untreated, though it is not nearly as severe as Melanie's." You really do know how to act the unfortunate sibling, don’t you? This morning, although you deliberately stumbled, but it was unnecessary because Mr. Rodriguez treasures even your most little whim!"
Her vulgar words turned Lawrence's handsome face to steel.
"Lawrence, Winnie says I deliberately didn't seek treatment—that’s totally false, I swear I'm wronged..." Ishara felt a bitter laugh rise in her heart as she quickly turned to Lawrence R in tears.
Lawrence's fists clenched, ice in his grip. "Winnie, there's a reason she's not treating it. And you? You'll never understand!
Don't let me catch you bothering her or letting her get hurt again, or else..."
"Or else what, Mr. Rodriguez?" Winnie asked, clutching her palm, her face expressionless.
"Lawrence, let it be. I don't want you to ruin your friendship with Winnie over me. Although everyone misunderstood and thought that I plagiarized her work, I'm really hurt. I know my limits, but I didn't want to be ridiculed like this...
Winnie thinks I barged into her office uninvited. I apologize for that, Winnie. I'm sorry, and I won't dare to do it again. I won't bother you with my naive plans, not when you clearly dislike me. Why should I demean myself..."
Ishara bowed low with a tearful apology aimed at Winnie, then weakly rose from the chair.
"Ishara!" Lawrence R's face stern, without a thought for propriety, he immediately scooped her up and dashed out of the office, his large frame brushing past Winnie once more.
Winnie watched with numb eyes, her face devoid of any expression.
The colleagues outside the office who had been enjoying the spectacle couldn't help but feel a little pity for Ishara, tail between her legs and apologizing.
In contrast, Winnie stood impenetrable, a powerhouse.
Some colleagues couldn't help but sympathize.
"Manager Nelson may not be the most talented, but she's Mr. Rodriguez's girlfriend. The Assistant Manager really didn't give her any respect."
"Yeah, you're right. Melanie, an assistant manager, coming at the boss like that was wrong. Just yesterday at the meeting, didn't they poke fun at Manager Nelson for only knowing how to make coffee? Today, Melanie took her own jab, claiming Manager Nelson lacked talent and plagiarized her work. But that project plan, wasn't it clearly explained that it belonged to Manager Nelson..."
Ishara's assistant surreptitiously recorded the gossip, casting a satisfied glance at Melanie before leaving.
Melanie, hearing the subjective gossip of her colleagues, turned pale.
Winnie, though, remained indifferent, closed her office door behind her.
Melanie realized her mistake, her face filled with regret!
"Sis Winnie, this was all Ishara's doing, a deliberate ploy of plagiarism! She brought everyone in on purpose, even Mr. Rodriguez. Then she plays the victim, acting all innocent, casting us as the villains! How could I forget? It's the same act she's pulled since we were kids. I'm such a fool."
Jannie was also seething, walking to the desk to see the hidden breakfast, "She purposely tucked her breakfast away in the corner, stood blocking the table, setting everything up so we wouldn't notice! Even the cover of her project plan, it's just like the one you made! That Manager Nelson is too sly!"
Melanie clenched her fists, "It's my fault for jumping to conclusions. Scold me, Winnie. Yesterday, when I saw her so calm, I thought she was boldly planning on stealing your project, relying on Lawrence R.’s backing."
Winnie clasped her hands in front of her and narrowed her eyes, "So everything she did yesterday was just for your curiosity. She knew you were snooping around on her. By slacking off, she wanted you to mistakenly believe she was plotting to steal."
Melanie sighed, "I fell for it! And now you've been caught in the crossfire!"
"But what's her angle with this morning's charade? To play the plagiarist just to get Lawrence R. to chew you out and have doubts about you?"
Winnie chuckled coldly, her eyes piercing, "That's one objective. The other must have something to do with tomorrow's competition."
"She's faking her own injury, hoping to gain sympathy from Lawrence R., right? If she can't come up with a plan, she must think she can win him over with pity, expecting Lawrence R. to give her an unfair advantage. That would make Lawrence R. a tyrant, a fool."
Winnie's cool gaze was contemplative; she too wondered if Lawrence R. would play the fool for Ishara's sake.
Ring, ring...
The office phone broke the silence.
Winnie answered, her expression as frosty as a deep winter.
Lawrence R.: "Come to my office. Don't make me come to fetch you."
She clenched her fist for a long time, then stood up, took a deep breath, and crossed the spacious work area to enter his office.
His secretary, sent by SYNERGY Corp, closed the door behind them.
Lawrence Rodriguez sat behind his desk like an emperor surveying his dominion, leaning lazily in his chair with a gaze that was cool and complex.
"Sit on the couch."
Under his roof now, Winnie sat on the couch devoid of expression, as though just going through the motions of living.
Lawrence retrieved a first-aid kit, his tone icy, "Turn around."
Winnie stared at the kit numbly, then looked up at his face, those eyes that had become impenetrable, inspiring both loathing and a piercing pain in her heart.
Her eyebrows arched like drawn swords, "What now, you rushed back to play the savior for your new flame, then turning around to patch things up with an old love? Haven’t you disgusted me enough, Lawrence Rodriguez?"
Stung by her words, his large hand shot out, capturing her chin in a firm grip, his voice low and annoyed, "Are you looking for trouble with that mouth of yours? I wouldn't mind putting a stop to it!"
"You..." She had no other words but disgust and contempt.
She chose not to speak, not to physically fight; she stood no chance.
She tried to restrain her emotions. However, the sight of the iodine in his hand, coupled with the memory of him barging in and pushing her aside without hesitation to protect Ishara, sent a sharp pain across her unattended wound.
Even if the wound were treated, what of the shattered pieces within it? Could they ever heal?
Suddenly, Winnie's eyes flushed with anger as she stood up: "It was for your darling that you pushed me. Why the pretense? If you have nothing else to lecture me about, Mr. Rodriguez, I'll be on my way."
Lawrence grabbed her—
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