Chapter 17 Claire Is Set Up

Claire’s POV:

"Ms. Scott has fainted!"

I was startled and rushed over to assist. Ms. Scott lay on the ground, eyes wide open, struggling to breathe.

"What's going on?" someone shouted, "Ms. Scott is allergic to peanuts! Why is there peanut butter in this cake?"

Sarah approached as well; her voice shrill with alarm. "Who prepared these pastries? I've reminded everyone a thousand times that Ms. Scott can't have peanuts. How could such a mistake happen?"

I caught my breath, raised my eyes to meet Sarah's malevolent gaze, and I began to realize then that I had been set up by her.

"It was you; you were in charge of this task! How did you mess this up?" Sarah reprimanded me harshly. I bit my lip silently, saying nothing.

"Stop arguing!" implored Ms. Scott's assistant, frantic with worry, "Please, call an ambulance! If this continues, it could be fatal!"

Chaos erupted on the scene. Collecting myself, I pushed through the crowd to get to Ms. Scott's side and calmly observed her face, then took a small medicine bottle out of my bag.

"Quick, give this to Ms. Scott!" I urged.

"What is this?"

"My brother is allergic to peanuts as well, so I always carry this medication with me!"

I placed a pill into Ms. Scott's mouth and pressed firmly on the top of her lip, to help her swallow. Before the ambulance arrived, Ms. Scott's wheezing began to subside, her breathing slowly steadied and the rash on her skin faded significantly.

She slowly opened her eyes, looked at me, and laboriously whispered two words, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead, relieved.

The ambulance arrived, and everyone busily helped Ms. Scott into the vehicle, and the venue gradually calmed down.

However, it wasn't long before the director summoned Sarah and me to the office with a grim expression. I remained silent as Sarah animatedly recounted the entire incident.

"Well I," Sarah said with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face, "I reminded you so many times. Didn't you remember? You were the one who went to pick up the cupcakes. Did you want to kill Ms. Scott?"

"Why would I want to harm her with no reason?" I asked calmly, giving her a measured look. "The only thing I don't understand is, why would the pastries I prepared be switched out?"

"What... what do you mean by that?"

"Director, look." I had taken a piece, of the pastry Ms. Scott had eaten, when I left the venue. "This pastry used a paper cup, not the ones I had prepared."

The director frowned deeply. "What do you mean?"

"The pastries used for the tea break, were all purchased from the bakery across the street. To differentiate between those with and without peanut butter, I specifically requested that the ones without peanut butter be put in aluminum cups. But the piece Ms. Scott ate was in a paper cup."

"When I took a look around the venue just now, none of the pastries had aluminum cups. So, I can only surmise that someone must have switched them!"

Sarah's face turned white, and she shouted in a mixture of anger and panic: "How dare you accuse me?"

"Accuse you?" I chuckled lightly. "Sarah, I merely stated that someone switched them out; I never said it was you. Why are you so nervous?"

"You..." Sarah glared at me furiously, her fists clenched.

"I made sure to make it clear which of the pastries were different," I articulated clearly. "If the director does not believe me, he can inquire with the bakery staff or check the surveillance footage!”

“I know that I’m new here, but I should not be accused of something when there is no cause for it. I demand a thorough investigation into this matter!" I knew, as I spoke, that everyone could already see what was truly going on.

The director's expression was solemn. He knew that the one in the wrong was Sarah, and thankfully, Ms. Scott was fine. There was no need to offend the shareholder's niece, over a newcomer.

"I've got the gist of it," the director told me. "You can step out now; I need to speak with Sarah."

I nodded and quietly withdrew. Just as Sarah was about to say something, she was sternly cut off by the director.

"Enough! Do you think this is honorable? Had she not had medication earlier, a real incident could have occurred. Could you have borne the responsibility?"

I saw Sarah turn pale with anger. "Don't think that just because your uncle is a shareholder, you can do whatever you please in this company! I can tolerate you only so much, but if you go too far, I won't hold back! You better watch yourself!"

Instead of gaining an advantage, Sarah was warned by the director, which made her hate me even more, and she would find ways to trouble me whenever she could.

It was through Sarah’s relentless efforts, that after a month, I had not signed a single order and because of this I became the negative example at the regular meetings.