Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

When the women inside saw Elara, they couldn't help but panic. A chubby blonde woman said, pissed, "You can't just come in without knocking. That's rude."
Elara knew perfectly well what they were talking about just now. Judging by the voice, she guessed this woman was probably the one who just led the gossip against her.
Elara strode in and took a seat naturally. She turned to the arrogant woman and asked, "Are you Zoe Bennett?"
"I am," the woman sitting next to her said.
Elara turned her gaze toward the voice, thinking, 'Ah, so this is the woman they were all defending just now.' She continued to smile at the chubby woman and said, "And who are you?"
Zoe said, "She's Lauren Perez, a junior secretary."
Elara nodded, locking eyes with her. "Nice to meet you, Lauren."
Lauren held her head high, completely ignoring her.
Elara smiled and said, "What's that look on your face? Do you have a problem with me? Well, I guess I'll have to talk to Chris if you keep treating me like this."
Lauren said nonchalantly, "Go ahead."
Elara smirked. "You're way too aggressive. Being a secretary requires better interpersonal skills than that."
Lauren planted her hands on her hips and sneered. "You only got where you are because of your looks. You're no one to judge me."
Elara shot back. "I'm not judging you. I'm just giving you some tips."
Lauren glared at her and said, "You're not welcome here. Get out."
Elara had plenty of tricks up her sleeve to deal with such a kind of woman. She stared at the rest of them and turned to Zoe. "Really? Did I bother you guys?"
Zoe smiled, playing the peacemaker. "We have to work together. Let's not fight."
Elara turned to Lauren and shot back. "See? Not everyone is as hostile toward me as you are. Come on, don't stop. Weren't you all having such a lively chat just now?"
The room fell into silence.
She continued, "Please, keep going. I'd love to hear more about how much I bother you. And hey, if you're into my outfit, I can tell you where to shop.
"Lauren, have you forgotten what you just said about me? Well, if I make you that uncomfortable, maybe you should go complain to Mr. Hartley, but I can't promise he'll see things the way you do."
Justin, standing just outside the door, couldn't help but chuckle at the scene. He had just noticed Elara was here and followed over, worried she might get picked on, only to find she was a lot tougher than he had expected.
Seeing Lauren's face twisted with fury, Zoe hurried to mediate the conflict. "Elara, please don't be mad. Lauren can be a bit blunt with her words, but she didn't mean to offend you.
"We just think you're very pretty and have an amazing figure, so we're honestly a bit jealous. We don't mean any harm. If you don't mind, maybe we can chat more in the future and share skincare tips."
Elara wasn't interested at all. She said, "Mr. Hartley still has a lot of tasks for me to handle. I don't have time to stand around and chat with you."
After saying that, she played the recording on her phone.
"That woman clearly didn't come here for work. Her outfits are modest enough, but look at the way she carries herself. It's all for show."
"Totally. Jane Lambert is beautiful too, but all she cares about is her work. She got none of that scheming or attention-seeking stuff."
"Believe it or not, she's probably here just trying to seduce Mr. Hartley."
Elara stopped it and said, "I don't have time for your games. I've recorded everything you said. As legal professionals, you should know how important evidence is, so if you can't prove I seduced Mr. Hartley, I'll sue you for slander and defamation."
Lauren couldn't hold back. She glared at Elara and said, "You sneaky bitch! How dare you record this without our consent?"
Not wanting to escalate things, Zoe turned to Lauren and said in a mediating tone, "Lauren, just apologize to Elara."
Then she turned to Elara with an apologetic smile and said, "Elara, please don't take it seriously. We were completely out of line, and we all owe you an apology."
Elara simply sat back, waiting with calm composure for their apology.
Not wanting to escalate matters, those women stood there in awkward hesitation. One of them in a pink dress quickly mumbled a "Sorry" without meeting Elara's eyes and hurried out of the room.
The others followed suit, each mumbling a quick "Sorry" before scrambling back to their desk. In the end, only Lauren and Zoe remained silent.
Zoe said firmly, "Lauren, apologize to her."
"Sorry," Lauren muttered, her voice tight with reluctance.
Now Zoe was the last one who hadn't apologized. She said, "Elara, it's your first day here. Do you need me to show you around?"
Elara remained seated, fixing Zoe with a steady gaze. "You haven't apologized to me."
Zoe feigned surprise. "Why? I didn't say anything bad about you. I even defended you when they were talking behind your back."
Elara sneered. "Really? Didn't you say I was eager to get ahead the easy way?"
Elara's sneer sent a chill down Zoe's spine. As someone familiar with psychology, she knew exactly what she was up to. "Zoe, we both know what these words mean. Stop pretending to be nice."
Zoe was speechless, stammering, "Elara, you got me wrong. I was just—"
Elara said, "Alright, I'll send this recording to everyone in the company. Let's see what all the lawyers think about this. Do you think they're going to take your side?"
Just as Elara was about to leave, Zoe said, "Wait. I'm so sorry, Elara."
Elara stood with her back to the door. Seeing Zoe's expression, she was about to say something but was immediately cut off.
"Slap me if you want," Zoe said dramatically. Before Elara could react, she seized her hand and forced it into a loud slap across her own face.
Zoe's sudden, dramatic behavior immediately alerted Elara to the truth.
"Elara, why didn't you reply to my message? Mr. Foster from Aurevia Pharma is here. Go make him a cup of coffee." Adrian's voice was edged with impatience.
"Sure, Mr. Hartley. I'll be there right away," said Elara.
She glanced at Zoe whose face was still swollen and thought, 'She did that on purpose, didn't she? She wanted Mr. Hartley to think I was the one who hit her.'
Elara clicked her tongue, sneering. "Do you think Adrian would pay more attention to you just because of your face? Stop embarrassing yourself."
Elara strode out of the room and went straight to Adrian's office. As she entered, she scanned the room, only to find no sign of Connor Foster, just Adrian lounging on the couch with a cigarette in his hand.
Elara frowned and said, "Didn't you say Mr. Foster is here?"
Adrian chuckled, crossing his legs as he leaned back on the couch. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he said, "Elara, you're my secretary. You should know better than anyone whether I have an appointment now."
"Then why did you say that just now?" Elara asked, but moments later, she realized that Adrian lied. He had no appointments. "Mr. Hartley, did you just lie to get me out of that mess?" she said.