Cherished By Seven Sisters by Melvin Houle

Cordelia had a sinking feeling the moment she saw Zachary. She uttered coldly, “You’re no longer an

employee of this company, so please leave.” “Are you in such a hurry to kick me out because you’re

afraid I’ll expose the despicable things you’ve done, Ms. Youngblood?” he asked with a sneer. Cordelia

raised her eyebrows at that. “I’ve always been open and transparent. Your baseless accusations don’t

scare me. It’s just that what you have to say has nothing to do with today’s press conference, so please

be on your way.” “You’ll know whether or not it’s related after I’ve finished talking,” Zachary responded,

continuing to smirk. “Mr. Lawson, could you elaborate on what happened?” asked a reporter. Instantly,

all the cameras swung toward him. No one was paying attention to Cordelia Group’s new products any

longer. “Of course. I’ve come here to rip away Cordelia’s façade and give you all a look at her true self

so you can see how ugly she is inside.” He cleared his throat before continuing, “My name is Zachary

Lawson. I was Cordelia Group’s HR manager and had worked diligently at the company for over ten

years. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Cordelia Group wouldn’t be enjoying the success it

has today without my contributions. I couldn’t be happier when I heard the company was going public

soon, thinking my hard work over the years was finally paying off. However, this woman here called

Cordelia Youngblood turned her back on me. Wanting to advance her toy boy’s career, she kicked me,

a long-time employee who had worked hard and made valuable contributions, out of the company. Do

you think that’s fair?” After his loud lament, the reporters began discussing among themselves. The

way they looked at Cordelia changed entirely. Never judge a book by its cover, indeed. This woman is

beautiful, but who would’ve expected her to be such a snake? And yet, such a company as hers

harbors hopes of going public? More like going to the grave! Cordelia’s expression turned grim. “That’s

all utter nonsense, Zachary. You colluded with Allure Group first. You should be grateful that I didn’t

take any action to pursue criminal liability. Instead, you come here and make unfounded accusations.

Don’t you have any shame?” “I colluded with Allure Group? Cordelia, one must have proof to back

one’s claims.” “You admitted to it in my office the other day, remember? Now, you’re asking me for

proof?” “What a joke!” Zachary exclaimed. Then he pointed at the reporters and said, “You be the

judge. Do you believe what she said? If you had betrayed the company you work for, would you come

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forth on your own accord and admit to it? Do you think I’m that foolish?” Everyone shook their heads.

Only a fool will admit they’re colluding with another company. What she said was a slapdash statement.

Here, Zachary gestured toward Simon and declared indignantly, “However, the person who has

suffered unfairly the most is Simon Hall. He used to work as Cordelia’s driver and was the first person

to find out about her young beau. However, look at how badly he got beaten up just because he tried to

give a few words of advice!” The cameras turned to focus on Simon immediately. He played along

flawlessly and took out a medical report. Gritting his teeth, he said, “This is the diagnosis from the

hospital. I have a comminuted fracture in my right wrist and torn ligaments in both knees.” Like the

effects of a bomb exploding in deep waters, an uproar rippled through the audience. “That’s

outrageous! Absolutely lawless!” “How can such a wicked woman still dare to stand on that stage and

hold a press conference? Hurry and get down from there!” “Cordelia, you have to give us a proper

explanation! You must give these two men the justice they deserve!” The general opinion shifted

drastically as all the reporters fumed with righteous indignation. Cordelia’s face paled slightly, and her

voice trembled as she said, “Zachary, you claim I wanted to advance my lover’s career and that I had

someone beat up Simon. Well, where’s the evidence? Please show me the evidence!” The only thing I

can do now is to demand that he present his evidence. Zachary merely snorted coldly without saying

anything. Just then, a middle-aged man seated in the front row rose to his feet. “I have something to

say.” The man was Tobias Jackman, Cordelia Group’s current HR manager. When Zachary held that

position, he had been the deputy HR manager. “I can prove that Zachary is telling the truth.” Everyone

had thought he wanted to defend Cordelia, but to their surprise, he sided with Zachary. That

immediately caused a stir in the crowd. Cordelia’s slight figure trembled as she asked, “Tobias, what

are you saying?” “You don’t understand what I’m saying? The whole company knows you planned to let

that toy boy of yours take over my current position. You only offered it to me after being pressured.” He

removed his employee ID as he spoke. In a harsh tone, he added, “I don’t need such shameful

handouts.” A shudder ran through Cordelia’s b*dy. However, before she could recover her composure,

someone pushed open the doors to the conference room again. This time, it was Kane and Gavin.

“Well said, Mr. Jackman. It isn’t worth your effort to work for a woman like Cordelia. You should leave

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Cordelia Group. You’re always welcome to join the Sheldon family.” Kane’s appearance was enough to

send the reporters into a frenzy. They knew that the Sheldon family was Cordelia Group’s largest

distributor. On top of that, Kane was Cordelia’s ardent pursuer. They could not help but wonder what he

was doing there. Oh, right! He must be enraged that Cordelia has a toy boy. Sure enough, Kane took

the microphone one of the reporters handed him and said, “I’d like to announce that I’ll be severing ties

with Cordelia Group from now on.” Then, he turned to Gavin. “Didn’t you have something to say? You

can say it now.” With that, he passed the microphone to Gavin. A trace of resentment flashed in

Gavin’s eyes. Cordelia, Mr. Kane promised to pay off my gambling debts for me, so please don’t blame

me for what I’m about to do. You were the one who acted cruelly in the first place. “I’m Gavin Wahl.

Like Cordelia, I grew up at Sunshine Children’s Home, so I know what she’s like. She liked bullying

others since she was little, and I was one of them.” He proceeded to distort the truth, blaming Cordelia

for everything he had done at the orphanage. “But I won’t talk about the past anymore. Let’s take a

recent event, for example. The previous director of the orphanage was seriously ill and needed a large

sum of money for treatment. I approached Cordelia numerous times, getting to my knees and begging

her to lend me the money. However, not only did she refuse, but she even called me a scoundrel and

told me to get lost…” A prolonged silence ensued after he finished talking, and a tense atmosphere

shrouded the entire conference room. That sort of tension was the type that signaled an imminent

explosive outburst of anger. After a lengthy period of tense silence, the crowd’s rage hit the ceiling.

“Cordelia Youngblood, you low-life scum!” “An ungrateful woman like you doesn’t deserve to live! Hurry

up and drop dead!” “As a woman, I feel ashamed of you. You’re a shameless b*tch!” “I hope you go to

hell soon!” Cordelia’s b*dy shook violently when she heard the barrage of harsh remarks and censure,

and tears streamed down her face. “It’s not like that. I didn’t do those things he said…” She kept

shaking her head vehemently, and her angry tears soaked the front of her clothes. However, nob*dy

was interested in hearing her explanation. The others had already decided she was a vicious woman

devoid of gratitude and shame and that she deserved to drown in a sea of condemnation. Angelina

gave a mirthless laugh as she took off her employee ID and threw it onto the floor. “You’ve concealed

your true colors very well. In all these years I’ve known you, I never once saw you for who you really

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are. I feel ashamed to have worked with someone like you.” “Angelina, not you too…” No matter how

strong Cordelia was, the shock of so many consecutive bombshells was still too much for her to bear.

Everything went black around her, and she finally fainted. Right before she hit the floor, a figure rushed

onto the stage and caught her fragile b*dy. “None of you here right now should even think of washing

your hands off of what happened today!”

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