Chapter 25

Emily's POV
　　"Emily, it's work time! You can't eat cake and talk in the office!" Fiona looked at me seriously, as if I had made some fatal mistake.
　　My eyes went to Lilly, who shook her head at me where Fiona didn't see, signaling that my company didn't have this rule.
　　"But Ms. Cady, from what I understand, there is nothing in the company's rules and regulations that says I can't eat cake in the office area. And this cake is the afternoon tea that Mr. Vincent ordered for everyone. As I recall, Ms. Cady was the first to get it and eat it, so why shouldn't I?"
　　I retorted to Fiona, who was trying to provoke me. I didn't do anything wrong at all!
　　"Emily, I advise you not to use Mr. Vincent to threaten me! I am your direct supervisor! Mr. Vincent doesn't care about a trainee like you! So my words are your orders! You have to do whatever I say!"
　　Fiona was furious that I had contradicted her in front of all the project staff, so she was desperate to prove her authority in front of me.
　　"I don't care about the rules of other departments, but in the project department, you are only qualified to do other things if you finish your job! My work is done so I am entitled to afternoon tea. However, did you finish the job I gave you?"
　　I looked at the papers that Fiona was pointing at with her finger, the papers that were the unfinished remainder of my work, and Fiona's words made it impossible for me to refute her again.
　　I still had so many papers left to read, so I wasn't even entitled to afternoon tea according to Fiona's rules!
　　I felt angry and aggrieved. I knew that Fiona had arranged for me to have a very large amount of paperwork because she was getting back at me for showing up at Andre's office in the morning. It was an amount that no employee with a lot of work experience could accomplish in one morning!
　　I saw Lilly gesturing with her eyes that I should not be hostile to Fiona and that I should apologize to her. But I didn't want to apologize to Fiona at all. I hadn't done anything wrong!
　　Fiona didn't stop being angry at me for not talking. She looked down at me with her head held high and proud.
　　"Emily, your work efficiency is disappointing to me! I thought our company made an exception to hire a recent college graduate because you were good enough, but you are so bad at your job! Do you have a lover or family member in the company? I really can't imagine how you got through the interview."
　　"Did she just graduate from college?"
　　"Did the company change its hiring requirements? How did she get through the interview?"
　　"Look at her pretty face, guys. She didn't come in through formal means. I'm sure she's some director's lover or daughter."
　　"Oh my God! Does Mr. Vincent know about this? I remember he hates it when people use their positions to recruit their relatives or friends!"
　　Before Fiona finished her sentence, I could feel my colleagues strangely looking at me.
　　I was very familiar with the look of suspicion, suspicion, and disdain that my classmates had given me when my relationship with Andre had been posted on the Internet.
　　I couldn't think of anything to say to Fiona, because I hadn't gone through any interviews. Andre directly asked Lucy to send me the Offer so that I could qualify to come to work at the company.
　　I couldn't tell my colleagues about this fact, it would go against my principles. I had just made Andre promise to keep my relationship at the company as a normal subordinate. I couldn't and didn't want to break that promise. But I had to say something to contradict Fiona, and if I waited until tomorrow, the whole company would know that I hadn't come to the company through regular means, and everyone would look down on me for it. I can't let Fiona finish her bad plan!
　　"Excuse me, I need to interrupt your conversation."
　　Lucy, Andre's assistant, stood in front of the doorway. I had no idea when she had arrived and how long she had been here listening to my conversation with Fiona.
　　"Lucy? When did you get here, dear? Did Mr. Vincent send you to see me?"
　　Fiona suddenly put away her smug expression and became gentle. She came forward and greeted Lucy warmly. I felt very funny when I saw her ingratiating herself with Lucy.
　　Hadn't Fiona noticed that Lucy disliked her so much?
　　"Sorry, Fiona, Mr. Vincent doesn't need to see you. I just went downstairs to get my afternoon tea and heard you arguing here."
　　Lucy dodged Fiona's hug and walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, then faced Fiona and gently explained her reason for being here.
　　"Regarding Fiona's question about how Emily got into the company, I think I can answer that for her. Emily is an alumna of mine, and I knew her when I was studying for my master's degree in finance at university. She got the job at VA because of my recommendation. I thought Emily was good enough and capable enough to recommend her to Mr. Vincent."
　　Lucy's voice was so calm and her expression so natural and relaxed that there was no sign of lying.
　　I don't know what university Lucy graduated from. I didn't even know her before today, but she said it as if we had known each other for a long time.
　　"Mr. Vincent took my advice. So, Fiona. Do you have any questions? Or is there anything you don't like about Mr. Vincent's decision?"
　　Fiona's smile stopped on her face.
　　I could see that she didn't dare to contradict Lucy at all, because Lucy was Andre's assistant, with a higher rank than Fiona, and Andre trusted her a lot.
　　"I'm sorry, Lucy, Emily. I didn't know you were alumni, nor did I know that this was approved by Mr. Vincent. After all, we all knew about the company's previous hiring requirements, so it's hard not to make me think about the reasons behind it."
　　Fiona's words made me very uncomfortable as if I could only get into the company through informal means. She was deliberately dismissing my abilities!
　　"Fiona, you don't have to say those words to me. I hope you can remember what Mr. Vincent instructed you to do. If you are fired from the company, no one will plead Mr. Vincent for you."
　　I felt as if Lucy's words were a threat to Fiona. she was warning Fiona to watch her words and actions.
　　I looked at Lucy's back as she left, guessing that Andre had arranged for her to come and help me, and I was very touched.
　　"Emily, I didn't expect you to know Lucy! But now that she's gone, there's no one to protect you! Since Lucy said that you are very good at your job, you should finish reading these documents today. If you don't finish your work you are not allowed to leave work today!"
　　Fiona looked at Lucy as she got on the elevator and immediately looked at me with an angry gaze.
　　She believed Lucy's words, but she didn't take Lucy's warning to heart and continued to think about how to make things difficult for me.
　　I sighed and sat back down at my desk, reassuring myself that at least I wouldn't have any negative comments at work in the future because of Lucy's words.
　　"There's one more thing I forgot to mention. I hope we can all cooperate with Emily's work. After all, she's only an intern who just graduated from college. I'm worried that she needs everyone to answer questions about what she doesn't understand at work, so we'll leave work when she finishes."