The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep - Chapter 77: Chapter 77

However, Keith only managed to pull together a gentle smile and said, "Go on up. Don't overthink it."
Serena didn't say another word and turned to leave. Keith watched her back until her figure completely vanished into the stairwell.
He lowered his head, looking at his own hands, suddenly feeling ridiculous. Leaning against the car door, he realized he seemed to have completely fallen for Serena.
Morning sunlight seeped through the gaps in the curtains into the room. Serena opened her tired eyes. Her head still felt heavy, so she got up and walked into the bathroom to splash water on her face. The cold water helped her regain some clarity.
After a simple breakfast, Serena took the subway to work. Arriving at the office, she tried her best to hide her exhaustion. She forced a cheerful greeting to her colleagues and quickly walked to her desk.
Shortly after sitting down, the internal phone rang. Max said, "Serena, come to my office."
"Okay." Serena hurried to Max's office.
She knocked gently and entered only when allowed. As soon as Serena came in, Max snapped, "Serena, how dare you?"
Max slammed his desk, making Serena jump. She was confused.
Pointing at her, Max said, "You leaked the company's new product ideas to competitors. Do you know how much loss you've caused the company?"
Serena was deeply puzzled. She had never leaked product ideas to competitors. "Mr. Davidson, could there be a mistake? I've never done such a thing," she said.
Max retorted, "The evidence is conclusive. Are you still denying it? Did you think no one would notice your little tricks?"
Hearing Max say the evidence was conclusive, Serena furrowed her brows, suspecting she was being framed.
"I've never done this. Someone must be framing me. I really didn't—" Serena tried to explain, but Max cut her off roughly. He waved his hand in disgust and said, "Enough. There's both human and material evidence. Stop denying it."
Serena replied, "Fine. Since you say the evidence is conclusive, please show it to me. I won't admit to something I didn't do until I see the evidence. If someone is framing me, I will definitely get to the bottom of it."
She would never confess to something she hadn't done.
Max snorted. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the internal line. "Ask Stacey to come to my office."
Soon, the office door knocked, and Stacey walked in triumphantly. "Mr. Davidson, did you call me?" Stacey glanced at Serena.
"Stacey, show Serena the evidence," Max said, pointing at Serena with disgust.
Stacey nodded, took out several printed documents from her folder, and handed them to Serena. "Ms. Gray, these are the proofs that you leaked company secrets to competitors. Take a good look," she said.
Serena took the documents and browsed through them quickly, her expression growing tenser. She clenched the papers so tightly that they almost crumpled. These so-called evidence were all carefully forged by Stacey to frame her.
Serena said, "These are fake. I've never seen these before. How can you say I did this?"
Stacey smiled contemptuously, looking at Serena with confidence.
"Ms. Gray, just confess. Besides, I have a witness here," Stacey said.
She clapped her hands, and a man walked in. He was wearing a suit and looked very shrewd and capable.
Stacey pointed to the man and said, "This is an employee of the competing company, Mr. Charles Smith. He can testify that you gave him the creative plan."
Charles walked up to Max and bowed respectfully. "Hello, this is the creative plan given to me by Ms. Gray. It's exactly the same as the new product your company is developing."
He took a document out of his briefcase and handed it to Max. Max took the document, flipped through it carefully, and then threw it in front of Serena in a rage. "Serena, what else do you have to say?"
Serena picked up the document and looked at it. The content was indeed the new product creative plan she had recently submitted, but she had never leaked it to anyone.
She couldn't understand why the plan, which she had only handed to Max yesterday, was now in the hands of an employee from the competing company.
She had no opportunity to contact employees of that company at all. Serena looked at the man calling himself Charles, then glanced at Stacey standing by with a triumphant expression.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to calm down. She placed the document on the desk and looked up to meet the sharp gazes of Max and Stacey.
Serena said, "Mr. Davidson, I want to confront this so-called witness. If I did this, I wouldn't deny it. But if not, I hope the company will clear my name."
However, Max sneered at Serena's words. "Serena, at this point, you still want to confront him? Do you think making a scene will benefit you?"
Max spoke rapidly, even aggressively. "You handled this plan. That's how you do things? By passing the buck when it goes wrong? Stealing company secrets and not admitting it will only make your reputation worse."
Stacey stood by, not even bothering to hide the schadenfreude in her eyes.
Serena held back her boiling anger. If she was charged with leaking secrets like this, her career would be completely ruined. Even if there was only a glimmer of hope, she had to defend herself.
She said, "Mr. Davidson, I really didn't do this. Give me time, and I will—"
"Shut up!" Max slammed the desk, interrupting her abruptly.
Serena stood there, her clenched fingers trembling slightly. The company had unilaterally judged her guilty without giving her a chance to explain.
She pointed at Charles and asked, "Sir, you said I gave you the document. Then tell me, when did I give it to you? Where did I give it to you?"
She stepped forward and stared into Charles' eyes, saying, "How did you contact me? Please explain all the details clearly."
Charles was intimidated by Serena's momentum and stammered, unable to say a word.