Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 60: Chapter 60

Adrian had had enough of the meeting. He snapped, "Meeting adjourned. All department bonuses for this month are canceled." With that, he rose from the sofa with barely contained fury, intent on finding some peace.
As he passed Elara, she reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his suit jacket. Putting on an ingratiating smile, she said, "Mr. Hartley, I'm sorry.
"I shouldn't have skipped work without asking for leave first. I just felt so unwell today. I had a fever, and my stomach was killing me."
Adrian stopped in his tracks. His deep eyes locked onto her with a crushing intensity, as if his gaze could grind her to dust. He spoke with biting sarcasm, "Ms. Langton, are you sure it was just this morning you started feeling unwell?"
Elara nodded frantically.
Adrian sneered, "Wasn't it because your ex-boyfriend is getting engaged that you drank yourself into a blackout last night and overslept this morning?"
Elara's smile froze on her face, the apology on the tip of her tongue stuck in her throat. She thought, 'How did he even know that?'
Adrian shook off her hand, took his suit jacket from the coat rack, put it on, and stormed out of the office without a backward glance.
Elara was about to chase after Adrian to explain, but Justin stopped her.
Justin leaned in and whispered to Elara, "Don't go to him, Elara. Adrian only gets angrier if you keep pushing. Just give him some space and let him cool off for now."
Elara hesitated, "But..."
Justin said, "Let's think this through. It's lunchtime. How about I treat you to some spaghetti at that restaurant across the street?"
Elara wasn't hungry, with so much on her mind, but she agreed anyway.
It was nearly two o'clock when they arrived at the restaurant. With few customers inside, they chose a window-side table and sat down.
After ordering, Justin grabbed some napkins and carefully wiped down the table in front of Elara several times, then gave his side a quick wipe. He asked, "Did you offend Adrian last night?"
Elara frowned and replied, "I didn't."
Justin said, "Really? Adrian was angry this morning. He tore into every department head who reported to him. Good thing you showed up when you did, or those guys would've missed lunch entirely."
Elara couldn't get it. She thought, 'I only left after he fell asleep last night, and nothing happened between us. Wasn't everything fine? Could it be about that compensation I brought up yesterday? Did that upset him?
'But that can't be right. When I brought up the compensation, he looked surprised but didn't get angry. What's more, he even agreed to it. Even if he wanted to back out, he wouldn't go so far as to fire me over this, would he?
'But other than that, what else could it be? Did that compensation deal cost me my job?'
Elara asked, "Wait, why do you say it was last night? Wasn't it just because I skipped work this morning?"
Justin popped open a bottle of soda and handed it to Elara. Then he explained, "The HR notice was posted at nine this morning. I got to the office pretty early, around 8:30.
"When I got there, Zoe was already sitting in the reception area. I saw her toss your mug straight into the trash."
Elara was speechless.
Justin continued, "If you didn't offend Adrian last night, how could the termination notice be ready by nine? And did you see Zoe today? She showed up in full glam makeup, with that overdrawn lipstick; she came prepared."
Elara muttered, "Nine this morning? That can't be right."
She quickly unlocked her phone, opened WhatsApp, and tapped into her chat with Adrian to check the exact timestamp of his message. It was 3:46 a.m.
She thought, 'Damn, so I got fired last night.'
Then she noticed the call log above it. It was a sixteen-minute call. She wondered, 'What the hell? Who used my phone to call Adrian last night? Could it have been Julian?'
Elara messaged in the group chat. She asked: [Julian, did you use my phone last night?]
Julian replied: [Nope.]
Elara asked: [What time did you leave last night?]
Julian said: [I left right after dropping you guys off, probably right after snapping those embarrassing shots of you.]
Elara glanced at the timestamp in the group chat. It was a little past 3 a.m. She thought, 'Julian didn't lie. If it was not him, who could have made that call? Was I so blackout drunk last night that I called Adrian myself?'
Elara rubbed her temples and let out a long, frustrated sigh. She muttered, "Drinking always gets me into trouble."
Spaghetti arrived, but Elara found she had no appetite left.
Justin asked, "What? Not to your taste?"
Elara shook her head and replied, "Had a bit too much to drink last night. My stomach's not feeling great. Can't eat right now."
But she still forced herself to take a couple of bites. She felt that since Justin was treating her, she couldn't just sit there and not eat anything.
With lunch over, Justin returned to work, leaving Elara with no choice but to retreat to her car to figure out her next move.
She thought, 'Just yesterday, I was still bragging to Ruby about how I was going to win Adrian over. And look at me now, not only did I fail to win him over, but I also managed to piss him off and even got myself fired.
'No way. I've got to find a way to apologize. Whether he forgives me or not, I at least need to show some sincerity. Seriously, what kind of secretary in their right mind gets blackout drunk and calls her boss just to curse him out?
'Only me. I must've ripped into him. Otherwise, he would not be this pissed.'
Elara had arranged Adrian's entire schedule for today. She knew Adrian was supposed to meet Joel from Luminex Tech at the tennis club this afternoon.
This meeting was scheduled at Joel's request. With the partnership between the two companies about to expire, Joel was eager to renew it. But Adrian had no intention of renewing the partnership.
Luminex Tech had grown rapidly in recent years, unscrupulously acquiring numerous small companies to expand its market share and constantly engaging in cutthroat competition. As a result, it faced a multitude of legal disputes every year, which had become a constant headache for everyone involved.
It was not that Anchor Law Firm couldn't handle these disputes; it was just that Adrian simply refused to keep cleaning up for such an unscrupulous company.
Luminex Tech would never dream of severing ties with Anchor Law Firm. After all, it was Adrian's law firm. And Adrian was the heir of the Hartley family, Veritasiton's wealthiest family.
Luminex Tech believed that having Anchor Law as their legal counsel was like having an invisible shield. No one would dare to challenge them.
Adrian had long wanted nothing more to do with Joel. But Joel happened to be Victor's uncle, and Victor was Adrian's friend.
Setting aside the question of continued cooperation for now, Joel asked Victor to put in a good word and arrange a meeting with Adrian. Adrian wasn't about to refuse his good friend.
Elara naturally knew all this. She pulled out her phone and called Ruby.
Elara asked, "Hey, Ruby, didn't you say last night that Victor's been all over you lately?"
Ruby answered, "Yeah, what's up?"
Elara said, "Perfect timing! Get over to the tennis club on Sunway Road. I need your help charming a guy."