Love's New Bloom by Simone Hastings

Chapter 12

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Chapter 12 Social Ostracization

On the second day of work, Erin was swamped at the office. She was at every designer’s beck and

call. Erin and her friends who had been transferred to the design department were currently being

ostracized by others in the department.

However, Dana, Milly, and Ella were lucky. All three of them had been assigned an assistant position to

head designers, so even though there were people in the department who did not like them, no one

dared to actually order them around.

Erin’s case was different. She finally got some time to take a break and walked into the break room to

get herself a glass of water. Dana also happened to be walking out of the break room and pulled Erin to

the stairwell.

After she shut the door, she asked, “Erin, did your husband come to pick you up after work yesterday?”

Erin froze. She had not told them about her divorce, nor did she want to tell them that for now. After all,

there was nothing glorious about having a cheating husband.

“No, my best friend came to get me.”

Dana nodded.

“That’s good then. Did you know when I went to get coffee in the break room just now, I heard people

gossiping about you? They said that they saw you in an expensive car like a gold digger and that your

transfer to the design department was because you know one of the higher-ups. They also said much

worse things but I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Ah, just let them gossip. I am innocent! Though, with our design experience, we really aren’t qualified

to be a part of Frost Corporation. I don’t know which idiot decided to let us join the team. I’m not

surprised that the designers here don’t like us.”

Erin had an idea of her capabilities and where they would get her, but Dana clearly did not agree with

her. She was immediately unhappy.

“Erin, how can you put yourself down like that? The four of us entered the company because we are

capable and not because we had relations with the higher-ups! How can you look down on yourself like

that!”

Seeing that Dana was upset, Erin decided that she should just stop trying to tell her the truth. She gave

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a light laugh.

“Yeah. Let’s just get back to work so they can’t say that we’re slacking off.”

Dana was just about to leave when she suddenly stopped.

“Erin, I know that the issue of position assignments in this company has been making you worry. The

three of us were actually going to talk to you about it yesterday night, but you left early. Our boss is so

generous, he gave all of us a bonus before we left. Did your friend pass you your bonus?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“That’s great, let’s go back now. Why don’t the four of us go for a meal after work?” Dana suggested.

Erin shook her head, “Not today Dana, I have something to take care of tonight.”

The two women returned to their seats, and Erin only had time to catch a quick breath before another

pile of work was passed over to her table. She took a deep breath and got back to work.

At this point, the assistant to the director of design, Mr. Jones, walked over and said, “Erin, go to the

director’s office now.”

Once she left, the designers started gossiping.

“The director is back from overseas? Why does he want to see her the minute he got back?”

“Do you think that the higher-up that she knows is the director?”

“Nonsense, why would the director be acquainted with her!”

“Right, after all, in this company, besides the elusive president, the director is the hardest to encounter.”

…

Erin walked to the office and knocked lightly on the door.

“Come in.”

She opened the door and saw a handsome young man sitting in front of a nearby desk. He had straight

eyebrows and bright eyes as well as a defined nose bridge. The line of his lips made him look frosty

and distant.

“Sit.” Caleb Grant raised his head to look at her. This woman had been personally arranged to enter

this company by the president’s head secretary, Kyle. What was her relationship with him?

Erin said, “Thank you.”

Caleb said, “I took a look at your files as well as the files of your three colleagues. With your

experience, to be able to enter Frost Corporation would only be because of connections! I don’t care

how the four of you got in, but since you girls are in my department, you should know that we don’t

keep slackers around. If you aren’t able to keep up with the work, I will not hesitate to fire you. Do you

understand?”

To be called out so explicitly made Erin’s face burn. She also could not believe that she got into Frost

Corporations, but having the director decide that she’d gotten in due to her connections made her feel

wronged.

However, she wasn’t sure if the other three girls actually had relied on connections to get here and if

she was able to do the same because of that. So, she decided that she would just stay silent on this

matter.

“I will work hard, sir.”

Her lack of denial made Caleb give her another glance—one that was deeply disdainful. If she had

nothing to say about this matter, then it must be true!

“The work assigned to you must be completed on time every day. I don’t want to hear any excuses. You

may leave now.”

Caleb’s cool and distant demeanor made Erin feel like he was not one to be messed with. Once she

got back to her seat, everyone peeked at her, getting a sick sense of joy because Erin was looking

unusually pale.

Once it came to lunchtime, Erin wanted to go to the cafeteria to get some food. But once she thought

about collecting her luggage later that night, she decided she would first give Ian a call. She walked to

the staircase to give him a call.

The call connected quickly.

“What an unexpected call, are you calling to apologize?” Ian asked, sitting in his office.

Erin huffed. “Why would I apologize? I’m calling to let you know that I’m going to move my things later

tonight. Come home with Tracy after nine so it’s less awkward.”

Ian had mixed feelings about her moving out. On one hand, he cannot wait for her to move out, yet on

the other hand, he also felt as though he were losing out since she was leaving.

Thinking of that day in the office when he’d failed to take advantage of her, Ian gave a cold laugh,

“That’s great, you only get this one chance. If there are items that you can’t move, I’ll get someone to

throw them all away!”

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The line cut off with a beep.

Erin mumbled to the phone, “Jerkwad!”

After that, she gave Holly a call to plan the move that night. She had just put her phone away and was

going to walk to the cafeteria when a special notification tone rang out. When she was on the subway

this morning, she had set a different notification tone for Chandler’s incoming messages on her phone

so she could immediately check it when needed. The pictures that he had of her were like a ticking

bomb. It was best to be prepared.

The message read, “Come to the president’s office”

Erin was confused. The president’s office? She quickly typed out a reply, “Frost Corporation’s

president’s office?”

Five seconds later, there was a reply, “Yes.”

Ering frowned and walked back to the office. She sat down for a while but eventually got into the

elevator. She could have never imagined that, when he said that he was a president’s secretary, he

meant he was the secretary of Frost Corporation’s president!

How in the world did he even manage to get this job? Perhaps the president of Frost Corporation was

actually into men? Did that mean he’d slept his way up the ranks? At this thought, she shuddered and

even got goosebumps.

At this moment, the elevator doors opened. She had not yet arrived at the level of the president’s office.

This was the office of the head secretary, Kyle. Everyone who wanted to meet with the president first

needed to see Kyle before proceeding to the president’s floor.

Kyle was waiting for her at the elevator doors. “Miss Lane, you don’t need to get out of the elevator.”

She was shocked, but Kyle had already swiped a specialized card. With a flash of green light, the

elevator doors closed again and brought her up to the top floor. Getting out of the elevator, Erin walked

toward the president’s office and knocked lightly once she got there.

“Come in.”

The voice seemed to come from nearby, almost as if the speaker were right in front of her. Erin pushed

the doors open and was immediately lifted by someone with a built physique. He gave a toss, and she

landed on the large and luxurious leather sofa. Chandler had her trapped.

Erin lowered her voice and scolded, “Are you insane? This is the president’s office! What if the

president comes in?”

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