Chapter 363
Seeing Eric's name pop up on her phone, Constance rolled her eyes and ignored it. She'd already told him to back off, but he just wouldn't take a hint, and it was really starting to get on her nerves.
She knew Eric was only chasing her because she was a Drake. If she wasn't, he'd have moved on to someone else ages ago.
Love at first sight? Yeah, right.
Constance shoved her phone away and focused on her lunch. She was halfway through her meal when Jennifer plopped down across from her.
"Constance, did you see Eric's message?" Jennifer's voice was loud enough to turn heads, including a few from the design department.
Suddenly, everyone was staring at Constance differently and started gossiping.
"What's the deal? Last time Jennifer helped Eric send flowers to Constance, and now she's grilling her about not replying to his message! Is he after Constance?"
"The Chambers family is a big deal in Thundertop. If Constance marries into that family, she'd be set for life."
"You're dreaming. The Chambers would never let an ordinary girl in. It's probably just a fling."
"Hey, Constance is pretty awesome. I heard she won a bunch of design awards abroad!"
"Design awards? Please, they don't hold a candle to the Chambers' power."
Hearing the gossip, Constance's irritation with Jennifer grew. She said bluntly, "Jennifer, tell Eric I can't stand guys who keep bothering me. If he messages me again, I'm blocking him."
If she didn't care about offending the Chambers family, she'd have deleted Eric's contact ages ago.
Jennifer looked like she was about to blow up but quickly composed herself. "Constance, Eric really likes you. Can't you give him a chance?"
Constance laughed bitterly, thinking, 'Oh, so liking me means having his sister publicly shame me for not replying? No thanks!'
She replied coolly, "Lots of people like me, Jennifer. If I gave everyone a chance, Eric would be waiting in line for years."
Jennifer's face darkened. She glared at Constance before putting on a wounded look. "Constance, are you being cold to Eric because of me? I know I messed up before. I don't want you to hate Eric because of me."
Constance kept eating, not even acknowledging Jennifer.
Jennifer was fuming inside but forced a smile. "Constance, if you still haven't forgiven me, I'll kneel and apologize, just don't be so cold to Eric."
And then, Jennifer actually knelt down in front of Constance.
Everyone around was stunned. 'Jennifer, the high-and-mighty daughter of the Chambers family, kneeling? Constance was being really harsh. It's just a message; she could've replied. Now she's making Jennifer kneel.'
Seeing the judgmental looks from everyone, Jennifer felt a twisted satisfaction. She thought she could push Constance into Eric's arms and ruin her reputation at the same time.
But Constance just shot her a cold look, grabbed her tray, and walked away.
As Constance neared the door, Jennifer snapped out of it and ran after her, blocking her at the elevator.
"Constance, what the hell? I've humbled myself, even knelt for you. What more do you want?" Jennifer screamed.
Seeing Jennifer's self-righteous stance, Constance raised an eyebrow. "Did I ask you to kneel? I just told you to tell Eric to back off. Do you really think kneeling in front of everyone will change my mind? Sorry, but I don't play by those rules. Maybe you should focus on your design sketches instead."
As she finished, the elevator doors opened.
Constance walked in without even glancing back at Jennifer, who stood there fuming.
Jennifer's hands clenched into fists at her sides. She wasn't going to let this slide.
By the afternoon, Constance and Jennifer were trending on Facebook.
#DesignerForcesColleagueToKneelInRestaurant
#WorkplaceBullying
The trending topics were plastered with photos of Jennifer kneeling in front of Constance, who looked completely indifferent. The internet exploded with criticism aimed at Constance.
The news quickly reached Luminary Ventures Group, and Grant called both Jennifer and Constance into his office.
"Explain what happened at lunch today," Grant demanded, his eyes cold as they landed on Jennifer.
Jennifer's eyes welled up with tears. "Grant, it all started because Eric sent Constance a message, but she didn't reply. He asked me to check if she disliked him. Constance ignored me, and I thought she was still mad about past stuff, so I knelt to ask for her forgiveness. I have no idea who took the photo and posted it online."
Grant frowned and turned to Constance. "Is that true?"
Constance nodded coolly. "Yeah, but I didn't ask her to kneel. That was all her."
Jennifer's face turned red with anger. "If you weren't still mad, you should've stopped me when I knelt. You didn't, and now you're acting all innocent?"
Constance sneered, "Why should I stop you? If you want to kneel, go ahead. What does that have to do with me? Do I have to pretend to care just because you decided to kneel? That's ridiculous!"
Constance wasn't about to play the saint. If Jennifer wanted to pull this stunt, she wasn't going to stop her.
"You!"
"Enough!" Grant cut in, his voice icy. "I get the picture. I'll inform PR. How they handle it is up to them. You two are not to respond in any way!"
Jennifer huffed, "Grant, you're just infatuated with her! That's why you always take her side!" With that, she stormed out.
Grant looked a bit embarrassed as he turned to Constance. "Constance, Jennifer's been spoiled by her family. Don't take it to heart."
Constance smiled and nodded. "Grant, don't worry. As long as she doesn't mess with me, I won't do anything to her."
The implication was clear: if Jennifer tried anything, Constance wouldn't hold back.
Grant sighed, "Alright, I understand. You can go back to work."
Constance said nothing more and left.
Luminary Ventures Group's PR team moved fast. Within an hour, they had Facebook remove the trending topics, and the rest of the discussions were quietly suppressed.
Just when everyone thought the drama was over, a new trending topic popped up, filled with evidence of Jennifer bullying colleagues and forcing out those she didn't like.
The netizens who had been sympathizing with Jennifer were now outraged. They thought they were defending a victim, only to find out she was the bully.
[How disgusting! She was the perpetrator all along, pretending to be a victim to gain sympathy!]
[From what she's done before, she's not the type to kneel in public. It looks like this kneeling was deliberate, just to force that female colleague out!]
[No wonder that girl looked so indifferent. She must have known Jennifer's true nature and didn't want to deal with her! Jennifer is just a clown!]
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