Chapter 234
With a sharp smack, Malcom’s cheek stung from the slap, leaving her completely stunned.
Clutching her face, she stared at Nelly in disbelief, her voice trembling. “Nelly…”
Nelly glared at her. “Do you have any idea what you almost did? You nearly got us all killed! Randell and Mr. Etheridge have been best friends since they were in diapers. You just aired his dirty laundry in front of half the office-what did you think would happen?”
“If he gets furious, we’ll all be caught in the fallout.”
Malcom thought bitterly that “everyone” Nelly was talking about had nothing to do with her anymore. Why should she care?
It was as if Nelly could read her mind. “Don’t be stupid. As long as Mr. Butler’s still around, you’ve got someone to help you. But now that he’s left the company, he’s got his own problems to deal with he won’t be able to save you.”
“When that time comes, who’s going to bail you out?”
Malcom finally gave in, her resistance fading away for the moment.
Nelly let out a quiet sigh of relief. At least she’d managed to keep Malcom from blowing things up-at least for now.
By the time Malcom figured things out and made another scene, Nelly would be able to claim she was just making up stories. No one would believe her.
Meanwhile, Effie and the others had already filed into the conference room for the meeting.
After what had just happened, Irving Butler was well aware of how Randell felt about Effie, so he didn’t push her any further.
Effie, representing her team, spoke with confidence and clarity, her insights sharp and original.
In just an hour or two, she and her colleagues pulled off an impressive brainstorming session; their design was already beginning to take shape.
When she laid out part of the initial draft in front of Randell, he was genuinely moved.
He glanced at Lyman, who was gazing at Effie with obvious infatuation. Suppressing a grin, Randell quietly pulled out his phone, planning to snap a picture and share it with the group chat.
Let everyone see-the famously stoic Lyman, finally showing some emotion for once!
But just as he raised his phone, Lyman’s eyes snapped to him, cold and alert. Randell chuckled awkwardly, whispering, “Lyman, you looked so cool just now-I couldn’t help wanting to take a picture.”
Lyman arched an eyebrow in disbelief; he didn’t buy a single word.
“Tell me the truth,” Lyman said, voice low and steely.
Randell surrendered. “Honestly, you should’ve seen yourself totally lovestruck staring at Effie. Good thing everyone else was too focused on her to notice.”
“If not, your little secret marriage would be all over the company by now.” Lyman shot him a frosty glare. “And how do you know I don’t want them to know?” Randell nearly choked on his own spit, staring at Lyman in shock. “Wait… so you mean-Effie’s the one who wants to keep it a secret?”
He honestly hadn’t seen that coming.
All this time, Randell had assumed Lyman was embarrassed by Effie’s background and didn’t want to go public. He never imagined Lyman would’ve gone public ages ago, if only Effie agreed.
Randell almost laughed out loud at the irony-here Lyman was, trying to sneak around, all because Effie wouldn’t let him announce it.
“Mr. Hoffman, what do you think of this direction for the design?” Effie’s question snapped Randell back to attention.
She’d noticed both Randell and Lyman zoning out toward the end of her presentation, and she couldn’t help but wonder if her ideas didn’t measure up, if Randell was dissatisfied.
“I’m very impressed,” Randell replied immediately.
Effie frowned, still uncertain.