Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 91: Chapter 91
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Elara nodded awkwardly.
Adrian turned to Joseph and said coldly, "I brought my girlfriend here, and your daughter just couldn't stand her. She went so far as to bully Elara like this. So, Joseph, how do you think we should handle this?"
Joseph saw Nancy making things difficult for Elara, but he had always doted on her, so he let her have her way. To his surprise, his own son stepped up to defend Elara now.
Even as his father, he'd often have to make an appointment just to see his son. But today, he actually showed up voluntarily here—all for some girl from an ordinary family. This couldn't mean anything good.
Joseph said, "Nancy told me Elara and Alex seem to be getting a little too close."
Adrian scoffed mockingly. "Oh really? Care to explain it further?"
Sadie chimed in, "Nancy said Elara called Alex at night, declaring to seduce you and marry into the Hartley family—all to take revenge and humiliate us."
Adrian cut in sharply, "Got any proof?"
Sadie retorted confidently, "Of course. We've even got the recording."
Adrian frowned slightly and turned to Elara.
Elara quickly explained, "I didn't. They completely fabricated that recording."
Adrian shot Sadie a sharp look. "Where's the recording?"
"On Alex's phone," Sadie shot back.
Adrian turned to Alex with a cold stare. "Play the recording."
Zoe nervously stepped forward to intervene. "Mr. Hartley, the recording contains rather harsh content. Maybe we should just skip it?"
Adrian said coldly, "Well, just how harsh can it be? I'm quite curious."
Nancy, her guilt showing, blurted out, "Adrian, anyway, Elara was harassing Alex at night. She even declared to seduce you and humiliate our family. I heard it with my own ears."
Adrian cut them off impatiently. "Unless I hear it with my own ears, it doesn't count as proof. Alex, where's the recording?"
Reluctantly, Alex pulled his phone from his suit pocket and tapped play on the recording.
"Alex, you bastard! How dare you just get engaged..."
Halfway through the recording, Adrian's face turned icy. He fixed Zoe with a cold, piercing stare and demanded, "You leaked this, didn't you?"
Zoe looked horrified, her face completely drained of color, and she couldn't even think of a plausible excuse. "N-no, I-I didn't..."
"This recording was only in my cloud storage. Who else but you could have leaked it?" Adrian asked.
Adrian recognized this recording right away. It was from that night when Elara, drunk, had misdialed and called him.
As for how the recording got leaked, there was only one explanation: his senior secretary, Zoe, had abused her work access to secretly send files from Adrian's cloud storage to Nancy.
Adrian's phone was set to automatically upload files to cloud storage for work. He'd recorded the call, but after reconciling with Elara, he deleted the local copy.
Now that the recording had resurfaced, it could only be from the cloud backup, and only his senior secretary and executive assistant knew the password to that account.
Adrian had zero tolerance for stalling. As he saw Zoe hem and haw, unable to get a word out, his patience snapped. "Justin, call the police," he ordered coldly.
Hearing this, Zoe's brother, Jonas, quickly stepped forward and stopped Justin, who was already pulling out his phone to call the police. "Adrian, wait. Don't call the cops yet. There must be some misunderstanding here," he said, trying to calm things down.
Adrian scoffed, "Misunderstanding? I gave her the chance to explain. Look at her. Cat got her tongue, or is she just admitting her guilt by staying silent?"
Jonas turned to Zoe, who was pale-faced, and demanded, "Was it you who leaked Adrian's private files?"
Zoe lowered her head in silence, her face a picture of feigned innocence—anyone unfamiliar with her might have thought she was truly being wronged.
But Jonas knew his sister all too well; ever since childhood, this had been her go-to act whenever she'd done something wrong. With no other choice, he reluctantly pleaded, "Adrian, for my sake, please let my sister off this time."
Adrian looked up at Jonas sharply. "You know exactly what she's done."
"I get it. How about this—just fire her, and I'll give my share of this year's profits to Elara as compensation."
Zoe shook her head stubbornly. "Jonas, I don't want to leave Anchor Law Firm."
Jonas slapped Zoe hard across the face. Her cheek flared red.
He barked, "Shut up. You actually dared to scheme against your own boss? And you still have the nerve to stay at Anchor Law Firm? All these years I've spent raising you—what a complete waste!"
Although Jonas's act was a little extreme, it was a calculated move.
This way, Adrian would find it hard to pursue further charges against Zoe, at least sparing her from being taken into custody. After all, as long-time business partners, Adrian had to show some respect for their years of working together.
Adrian turned to look at Elara beside him and said, "Alright, I'll fire her and give you 300 thousand dollars as compensation. How does that sound?"
Elara was completely baffled. 'Cloud storage? Private files? Firing Zoe? 300 thousand dollars? What on earth is going on?' she thought.
Adrian prompted Elara. "Well? Speak up. If you still feel that's not enough, I can have her come up on stage and apologize to you in front of everyone, too."
Elara snapped back to reality, deciding to ask about it later. She flashed Adrian a playful smile and said, "Sure, that sounds sincere."
Adrian said coldly, "You heard me. Unless you want me to call the police, get up there and apologize to my girlfriend properly."
Jonas dragged Zoe onto the stage and forced her to apologize. Mortified, Zoe kept her head down the whole time, her voice barely above a whisper.
Elara's mood improved slightly, but it was still far from enough. She pointed at Lauren, who was desperately trying to blend into the background, and said to Adrian with a playful pout, "Adrian, fire her too, will you?"
Lauren's heart pounded with panic as she pleaded, "Mr. Hartley, I was just trying to help you teach her a lesson. Didn't you hear her in the recording? She only got close to you to get back at Alex. Please, don't fire me."
Adrian couldn't be bothered to listen any longer. "Justin, ask Chris to fire her."
It was Justin's first time seeing Adrian handle things like this, but he couldn't help feeling a bit satisfied. "Got it. I'll notify Chris right away," he responded promptly.
Lauren protested, "Mr. Hartley, I've been at Anchor Law Firm for five years—worked my butt off for this company. And now you're just firing me, just like that?"
"Work your butt off?" Adrian scoffed. "As Zoe's accomplice, consider yourself lucky I'm not calling the police."
Lauren's face twisted with fury. "Elara, you bitch! You'll pay for this."
Elara, still looking disheveled, finally managed a smile and shot back, "I don't care, you damn bitch."
As Lauren stormed off in anger, Adrian turned to Elara and asked coolly, "Anyone else you want me to deal with?"
"Nancy," Elara said firmly.
Adrian arched a brow. "What do you want her to do to make you feel better?"
Hearing this, Elara felt instantly excited. She said, "I want her to come up on stage and apologize to me and my friends, and swear she'll never cause us any trouble again."
Adrian teased, "Just like that? You're not even going to push her down, drench her in wine, and make her roll in broken glass?"
Elara paused, weighing her options. 'Sure, getting back at her would feel good, but she's still Adrian's sister. Going too far just wouldn't be right,' she thought.
Then she said firmly, "No need. I just need an apology, some respect, and to reclaim the dignity I just lost."
Adrian turned to Nancy. "Did you hear that? My girlfriend wants you to go up and apologize."
Even though he had a fiancée, Elara was still his girlfriend now. No one could bully his woman.
Nancy was supposed to be the belle of the ball tonight, the undisputed center of attention. She'd never humble herself by apologizing in front of everyone. She snapped defiantly, "No way. I'm not doing it."
"Oh? Then should I tell Alex about how you and Neil schemed to get Dylan's evidence before?"
Alex was standing right there, yet Adrian just laid it all out bluntly, not holding back at all.
Alex's face darkened instantly. He turned sharply to Nancy. "Nancy, what's that supposed to mean? Are you helping the Heaton family get their hands on something from my dad?"
Nancy didn't know how to explain it.
Adrian scoffed, "So you didn't know? My sister only wants to chain you to her side—couldn't care less if your dad lives or dies. She..."
"I'll apologize," Nancy hastily cut Adrian off, her voice tense. "Stop talking."
Nancy avoided Alex's accusing gaze, turned and walked onto the stage, and took the microphone from Zoe, who had just stepped down. The once-triumphant look on Nancy's face vanished, replaced by utter dejection. Watching this, Elara couldn't help but feel completely satisfied.
Adrian pressed on, "Sweetheart, has anyone else been picking on you?"
Elara met Adrian's deep gaze and said, "I don't dare say it."
"Who else, sweetheart? Just name them," Adrian urged.
"Sadie," Elara said.
Adrian turned to Joseph and said coldly, "I brought my girlfriend here, and your daughter just couldn't stand her. She went so far as to bully Elara like this. So, Joseph, how do you think we should handle this?"
Joseph saw Nancy making things difficult for Elara, but he had always doted on her, so he let her have her way. To his surprise, his own son stepped up to defend Elara now.
Even as his father, he'd often have to make an appointment just to see his son. But today, he actually showed up voluntarily here—all for some girl from an ordinary family. This couldn't mean anything good.
Joseph said, "Nancy told me Elara and Alex seem to be getting a little too close."
Adrian scoffed mockingly. "Oh really? Care to explain it further?"
Sadie chimed in, "Nancy said Elara called Alex at night, declaring to seduce you and marry into the Hartley family—all to take revenge and humiliate us."
Adrian cut in sharply, "Got any proof?"
Sadie retorted confidently, "Of course. We've even got the recording."
Adrian frowned slightly and turned to Elara.
Elara quickly explained, "I didn't. They completely fabricated that recording."
Adrian shot Sadie a sharp look. "Where's the recording?"
"On Alex's phone," Sadie shot back.
Adrian turned to Alex with a cold stare. "Play the recording."
Zoe nervously stepped forward to intervene. "Mr. Hartley, the recording contains rather harsh content. Maybe we should just skip it?"
Adrian said coldly, "Well, just how harsh can it be? I'm quite curious."
Nancy, her guilt showing, blurted out, "Adrian, anyway, Elara was harassing Alex at night. She even declared to seduce you and humiliate our family. I heard it with my own ears."
Adrian cut them off impatiently. "Unless I hear it with my own ears, it doesn't count as proof. Alex, where's the recording?"
Reluctantly, Alex pulled his phone from his suit pocket and tapped play on the recording.
"Alex, you bastard! How dare you just get engaged..."
Halfway through the recording, Adrian's face turned icy. He fixed Zoe with a cold, piercing stare and demanded, "You leaked this, didn't you?"
Zoe looked horrified, her face completely drained of color, and she couldn't even think of a plausible excuse. "N-no, I-I didn't..."
"This recording was only in my cloud storage. Who else but you could have leaked it?" Adrian asked.
Adrian recognized this recording right away. It was from that night when Elara, drunk, had misdialed and called him.
As for how the recording got leaked, there was only one explanation: his senior secretary, Zoe, had abused her work access to secretly send files from Adrian's cloud storage to Nancy.
Adrian's phone was set to automatically upload files to cloud storage for work. He'd recorded the call, but after reconciling with Elara, he deleted the local copy.
Now that the recording had resurfaced, it could only be from the cloud backup, and only his senior secretary and executive assistant knew the password to that account.
Adrian had zero tolerance for stalling. As he saw Zoe hem and haw, unable to get a word out, his patience snapped. "Justin, call the police," he ordered coldly.
Hearing this, Zoe's brother, Jonas, quickly stepped forward and stopped Justin, who was already pulling out his phone to call the police. "Adrian, wait. Don't call the cops yet. There must be some misunderstanding here," he said, trying to calm things down.
Adrian scoffed, "Misunderstanding? I gave her the chance to explain. Look at her. Cat got her tongue, or is she just admitting her guilt by staying silent?"
Jonas turned to Zoe, who was pale-faced, and demanded, "Was it you who leaked Adrian's private files?"
Zoe lowered her head in silence, her face a picture of feigned innocence—anyone unfamiliar with her might have thought she was truly being wronged.
But Jonas knew his sister all too well; ever since childhood, this had been her go-to act whenever she'd done something wrong. With no other choice, he reluctantly pleaded, "Adrian, for my sake, please let my sister off this time."
Adrian looked up at Jonas sharply. "You know exactly what she's done."
"I get it. How about this—just fire her, and I'll give my share of this year's profits to Elara as compensation."
Zoe shook her head stubbornly. "Jonas, I don't want to leave Anchor Law Firm."
Jonas slapped Zoe hard across the face. Her cheek flared red.
He barked, "Shut up. You actually dared to scheme against your own boss? And you still have the nerve to stay at Anchor Law Firm? All these years I've spent raising you—what a complete waste!"
Although Jonas's act was a little extreme, it was a calculated move.
This way, Adrian would find it hard to pursue further charges against Zoe, at least sparing her from being taken into custody. After all, as long-time business partners, Adrian had to show some respect for their years of working together.
Adrian turned to look at Elara beside him and said, "Alright, I'll fire her and give you 300 thousand dollars as compensation. How does that sound?"
Elara was completely baffled. 'Cloud storage? Private files? Firing Zoe? 300 thousand dollars? What on earth is going on?' she thought.
Adrian prompted Elara. "Well? Speak up. If you still feel that's not enough, I can have her come up on stage and apologize to you in front of everyone, too."
Elara snapped back to reality, deciding to ask about it later. She flashed Adrian a playful smile and said, "Sure, that sounds sincere."
Adrian said coldly, "You heard me. Unless you want me to call the police, get up there and apologize to my girlfriend properly."
Jonas dragged Zoe onto the stage and forced her to apologize. Mortified, Zoe kept her head down the whole time, her voice barely above a whisper.
Elara's mood improved slightly, but it was still far from enough. She pointed at Lauren, who was desperately trying to blend into the background, and said to Adrian with a playful pout, "Adrian, fire her too, will you?"
Lauren's heart pounded with panic as she pleaded, "Mr. Hartley, I was just trying to help you teach her a lesson. Didn't you hear her in the recording? She only got close to you to get back at Alex. Please, don't fire me."
Adrian couldn't be bothered to listen any longer. "Justin, ask Chris to fire her."
It was Justin's first time seeing Adrian handle things like this, but he couldn't help feeling a bit satisfied. "Got it. I'll notify Chris right away," he responded promptly.
Lauren protested, "Mr. Hartley, I've been at Anchor Law Firm for five years—worked my butt off for this company. And now you're just firing me, just like that?"
"Work your butt off?" Adrian scoffed. "As Zoe's accomplice, consider yourself lucky I'm not calling the police."
Lauren's face twisted with fury. "Elara, you bitch! You'll pay for this."
Elara, still looking disheveled, finally managed a smile and shot back, "I don't care, you damn bitch."
As Lauren stormed off in anger, Adrian turned to Elara and asked coolly, "Anyone else you want me to deal with?"
"Nancy," Elara said firmly.
Adrian arched a brow. "What do you want her to do to make you feel better?"
Hearing this, Elara felt instantly excited. She said, "I want her to come up on stage and apologize to me and my friends, and swear she'll never cause us any trouble again."
Adrian teased, "Just like that? You're not even going to push her down, drench her in wine, and make her roll in broken glass?"
Elara paused, weighing her options. 'Sure, getting back at her would feel good, but she's still Adrian's sister. Going too far just wouldn't be right,' she thought.
Then she said firmly, "No need. I just need an apology, some respect, and to reclaim the dignity I just lost."
Adrian turned to Nancy. "Did you hear that? My girlfriend wants you to go up and apologize."
Even though he had a fiancée, Elara was still his girlfriend now. No one could bully his woman.
Nancy was supposed to be the belle of the ball tonight, the undisputed center of attention. She'd never humble herself by apologizing in front of everyone. She snapped defiantly, "No way. I'm not doing it."
"Oh? Then should I tell Alex about how you and Neil schemed to get Dylan's evidence before?"
Alex was standing right there, yet Adrian just laid it all out bluntly, not holding back at all.
Alex's face darkened instantly. He turned sharply to Nancy. "Nancy, what's that supposed to mean? Are you helping the Heaton family get their hands on something from my dad?"
Nancy didn't know how to explain it.
Adrian scoffed, "So you didn't know? My sister only wants to chain you to her side—couldn't care less if your dad lives or dies. She..."
"I'll apologize," Nancy hastily cut Adrian off, her voice tense. "Stop talking."
Nancy avoided Alex's accusing gaze, turned and walked onto the stage, and took the microphone from Zoe, who had just stepped down. The once-triumphant look on Nancy's face vanished, replaced by utter dejection. Watching this, Elara couldn't help but feel completely satisfied.
Adrian pressed on, "Sweetheart, has anyone else been picking on you?"
Elara met Adrian's deep gaze and said, "I don't dare say it."
"Who else, sweetheart? Just name them," Adrian urged.
"Sadie," Elara said.
End of Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary Chapter 91. Continue reading Chapter 92 or return to Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary book page.