Trying to Silence Me?
What company would keep an employee who had stolen company secrets?
And so, Annette left her job at Alexis without fanfare.
After she left Alexis, Annette walked right into the Saunders Corporation building—she had fallen this
low because of Saunders Corporation. David Saunders must take responsibility for this outcome! she
thought.
“Mr. Saunders, I have nothing left. You have to keep me, or my family will be doomed!” Annette said to
David as she wept.
David was currently fretting over the incident with Fiona. He couldn’t be bothered with Annette right
now, so he just gave her a half-hearted reply. “You still have the guts to ask me to keep you? Would the
plan have failed and been revealed had you not left traces behind? Now I’ve lost a designer, and
Saunders Corporation’s reputation is under scrutiny. I’m already being courteous since I haven’t come
knocking on your door looking for compensation. Now get out!”
Annette went quiet. David had made his decision to leave her out to dry. After a moment, she
announced confidently, like she had nothing else to lose, “You were the one who promised me a spot in
Saunders Corporation in the first place. That was why I even took the risk. If you’re going to renege on
your word, then my only choice is to go to the reporters and tell them the truth!”
David lifted his head when he heard that and looked at Annette. “You really are quite unusually gutsy.
You dare to even go against me?” he asked darkly.
Annette swallowed fearfully, but she still clenched her fists and prepared herself when she remembered
Elise’s orders. “I’m just a nobody. I’m just asking for 10,000 bucks for my salary. You, however, are
different. If this incident gets out, Saunders Corporation will be looking at losses numbering in the tens
of millions. Mr. Saunders, if you comply, your company will continue to profit. If you don’t, then
everyone will be dragged down with me!”
David narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He had his fair share of experience because of his age,
but here he was, being threatened by a young woman. It certainly didn’t feel great to swallow his pride,
but if he didn’t, he would end up facing losses.
“Fine. Go to the HR department and introduce yourself. You’ll be working in your previous position!”
David waved a hand dismissively, unwilling to involve himself any longer.
“Thank you, Mr. Saunders, thank you so much!” Annette repeatedly thanked him before she retreated
and closed the door.
David rolled his eyes. Worker bees were troublesome to deal with. He decided to keep Annette in the
company and let her calm down a little. When the time came, he would just find an excuse to fire her. If
he did it through proper channels, then she probably wouldn’t have any ammo against him. The most
important thing right now was to handle the newly-emerged Alexis.
David had already done his research. Alexis was originally Shaw’s Jewelry Co. They were an
established company that had been rendered close to bankruptcy by Saunders Corporation. Somehow,
however, Alexis had gotten a streak of incredible luck in recent months. Not only did their shops
repeatedly carry Peculiar Jadeites, but their designers’ skill levels skyrocketed. David had no other
option than to get someone to steal Alexis’ design drafts, but he hadn’t thought that the plan would be
foiled.
If Saunders Corporation wanted to stand at the top of the jewelry industry, then their competitors must
not be given the chance to rise again. Alexis was unstoppable now. David had to find a way to get rid of
this eyesore, or Saunders Corporation would end up becoming just a stepping stone on Alexis’ road to
success sooner or later.
At that thought, David irately lit up a cigar and took a deep drag on it. His mind wandered as he leaned
back in his seat.
Just what should he do to ensure Alexis’ humiliation?
When half of the cigar had burned away, David suddenly slapped his thigh. “That’s it!”
“It’s just as you expected, Miss Sinclair. All of Alexis’ stores haven’t been able to keep up with the
customers’ demand after the jewelry contest. We’ve got orders for well into the second half of the year!”
At Alexis’ headquarters, Tom was grinning from ear to ear. Shaw’s Jewelry Co. was finally making
waves while under his leadership. When it was time for him to die in the future, he would not have to
worry about disappointing his forefathers!
Elise was practically his idol. She was skilled through her own merit, and she was also meticulous in
her tasks. Every step she took had been solid!
“This is only the beginning. We need to keep up the promotions and also hire more workers. Once our
name is out, business is going to boom and we won’t be able to keep up with demand,” Elise reminded
with a straight face.
“Got it. I already made all the arrangements for that. With Smith Co. greenlighting everything, things will
go smoothly. Speaking of that, why don’t we send a present to Kenneth? We’ve benefited a lot from his
kindness during the jewelry contest and for everything after that.” Tom had already thought about this.
“I have my own plans for that.” Elise could no longer repay Kenneth for everything that he had done.
There was no need to care too much about the little details. A moment’s pause later, Elise diverted the
topic. “One more thing—tell the technicians to add an extra layer of ultraviolet material to the jewelry
when they’re undergoing the laser anti-counterfeiting process.”
“But costs will go up that way. Business may be on the upswing lately, but on paper, our books still say
that we’re coming out negative. Wouldn’t we end up losing more money that way?” Tom took a more
cautious approach.
“I told you before when we decided to work together that money isn’t a problem that you should be
considering. It doesn’t matter if the costs increase, but we need to ensure that every item has that layer
so that they have double the protection against counterfeiting. But, keep the anti-counterfeiting layer a
secret for now.” Elise had a serious look on her face, her expression brooking no argument.
“Understood. I’ll pass down the order.” Although Tom was still doubtful, he had never doubted Elise’s
abilities. She must have her own reasons for this.
——
A week passed in the blink of an eye. Alexis welcomed a new peak in sales after their first round of
word-of-mouth marketing and publicity. It was the weekend, and people kept singing Alexis’ praises as
they thronged through the flagship store.
Near closing time, a chubby middle-aged woman suddenly showed up. Her appearance immediately
disrupted the store’s order.
“Where’s the manager? Get your manager out here right now! I want to see which of you had the guts
to sell me a fake!” The woman furiously smacked the glass display case in front of her as she ranted for
an explanation.
One of the salespeople with plenty of experience immediately stepped forward and patiently talked to
her. “Madam, let’s go inside and have a nice, polite conversation if you have something to say, alright?
Our manager is not present at the store right now. Please come in and take a seat. I’ll get in contact
with our manager. Is that alright?”
“Bah! I think your manager just doesn’t want to see me. Trying to cajole me into going with you so you
can silence me? I’m warning you now that I’m not one of those people who is content to just settle for
some measly compensation! I insist on having that conversation here to let everyone know that you are
a bunch of liars who sell fake jewelry!” The woman was emotional. She wouldn’t listen to reason at all.
Her repeated mentions of ‘fake jewelry’ made the other customers who were planning to place their
orders put down the jewelry in their hands as they decided to observe the situation.
“Madam, the manager really isn’t in right now. You’ll affect the other customers like this. It’s difficult for
us to…”
“What? You still think of kicking me out?” The woman immediately began to throw a tantrum as she
raised her voice to garner sympathy from the other customers. “Everyone, look! This evil store won’t
admit to selling counterfeits, and even attempted to chase me out. There is no justice left in this world!”
The salesperson had seen her fair share of customer tantrums, but there was nothing she could do to
stop the unreasonable customer. All the salesperson could do was panic.
Right then, Tom walked in with Tina.
“What’s going on?”
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