Chapter 7

The slap never landed.

A hand with distinct knuckles shot out from the side, firmly catching Samantha's wrist.

"Synergy Global Corporation has quite a unique welcoming ceremony." Clayton let go and brushed his palm with disgust, as if he'd touched something dirty. "Verbal abuse isn't enough, you have to get physical too?"

Samantha stumbled back two steps, clutching her wrist and about to explode, but when she saw who it was, she swallowed the curse words stuck in her throat.

The person behind her was Clayton.

He'd been on the cover of financial news magazines just two days ago—there wasn't anyone in the whole city who didn't know him.

Seeing this, Luna's eyes instantly reddened, her voice sweet and tinged with grievance: "Mr. Thompson, you've misunderstood. Serena has been clinging to Silas, not only following him to the company but also secretly recording business secrets to threaten Samantha. Samantha was just acting on impulse to protect the company's interests."

She threw that accusation so smoothly and naturally.

Looking at Luna's tear-stained face, Serena felt nothing but disgust.

"Business secrets?" Serena held up her phone with the screen lit, her voice clear: "Since you put it that way, why don't we all listen together to what these so-called secrets actually are?"

Samantha's face went pale as she lunged forward, trying to grab the phone: "Don't play it! That's company..."

Clayton stepped aside, his tall frame blocking Serena's front.

Serena took the opportunity to press play.

Samantha's extremely flattering voice came through the speaker, sounding particularly grating in the hallway.

"Hello? Miss Frost? Serena just came by... Don't worry, I humiliated her thoroughly! A morally corrupt bitch like her doesn't deserve to enter Synergy Global Corporation..."

The recording was short, but explosive enough.

The employees who'd been watching the drama now had strange looks in their eyes.

The executives' faces also became uncomfortable—after all, if word got out about slandering interviewees, what would happen to Synergy Global Corporation's reputation?

Serena put away her phone, her gaze moving past Clayton's shoulder to look straight at Luna: "This is the business secret you mentioned? So Synergy Global Corporation's secrets are about how to cooperate with Mr. Sterling's mistress to humiliate me, his legal wife?"

Serena said each word deliberately.

Suddenly, everyone looked at Luna, their eyes pointed and judging.

Luna's face stiffened, tears falling even harder. She grabbed Silas's sleeve, her knuckles white, looking vulnerable: "Silas, I didn't, I was just worried Serena would come cause trouble and make things difficult for you, so I mentioned it to Samantha. I didn't expect Samantha would misunderstand me..."

Samantha's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Luna.

On the phone earlier, it was clearly Luna who had instructed her, and now she was throwing all the blame on her?

"Besides..." Luna sniffled, looking timidly at Serena, "Serena, if you hadn't used those methods to force Silas to marry you back then, how would we have been separated? Now that Silas has finally decided to divorce you, why are you still clinging on? Even coming here to cause a scene. I know you hate me, but when it comes to feelings, you really can't force them."

This speech was extremely skillful.

Not only did it clear her completely, but it also implied that Serena was the one who used underhanded methods to get ahead and was now desperately clinging on.

The atmosphere around them instantly shifted.

"So that's how it is. I was wondering how Mr. Sterling could be interested in that kind of woman."

"Forced marriage? No wonder she got dumped."

"She looks so high and mighty, but she can do such shameless things."

Silas listened to the surrounding gossip, his brow furrowed, showing some displeasure.

However, he didn't speak up to stop it.

Serena stood there as malice from all around rushed toward her like a tide.

She clenched her fists, trembling with anger.

Just then, a clear voice broke through the noise.

Clayton scoffed, casually adjusting his cuffs. "Miss Frost, is it? City Hall doesn't just show up on its own. Could Serena really force this marriage?"

"Besides, if it was really a forced marriage, why did the two of them live together for five years and even have a child? Could it be that Mr. Sterling was forced to do all of this?"

"Before you lie, don't you think things through?"

The surrounding chatter came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone had worked in the corporate world for years—who couldn't see through this little scheme?

The narrative Luna had just skewed was instantly pulled back by Clayton.

Luna panicked. She hadn't expected Clayton to be so difficult. She instinctively looked at Silas: "Silas, I..."

"Enough!"

Silas shouted in a low voice, his face stern.

"Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"

Silas took one last look at Serena, his gaze extremely complicated, then turned and strode away.

"Silas! Wait for me!" Luna glared at Serena with resentment, then trotted after him in her high heels.

Samantha collapsed on the floor, completely without support now, and was soon thrown out by security.

Her harassment had completely ruined her career.

The crowd dispersed, and the hallway became quiet again.

Serena felt as if all her strength had been drained. She turned around and looked at Clayton: "Thank you for today."

If not for Clayton, she probably wouldn't have gotten out of this unscathed.

"It was nothing." Clayton put away his earlier sharpness and returned to his gentle demeanor.

He pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Serena, his tone casual: "I work at this company. If you still want to find a job, you can call this number. Of course, you can't rely on my connections—you'll have to interview on your own merit."

Serena took the business card, warmth rising in her heart.

She felt moved: "Thank you."

Clayton smiled faintly: "What's your number?"

Serena didn't hesitate and gave him her phone number.

After exchanging numbers, Serena said goodbye to Clayton and left Synergy Global Corporation.

She didn't go straight home but went to a nearby supermarket to buy some groceries.

After an hour-long bus ride, she finally returned to the apartment complex where Juniper lived.

Just as she reached the door and was about to take out her keys, the sound of arguing from inside made her pause.

"I told you we shouldn't let her move in! Look, it's been days now. Eating our food, drinking our drinks, and bringing along a daughter!" A sharp, harsh middle-aged woman's voice rang out.

"She only knew how to depend on men before, and now that she's been dumped, she can't do anything. Who would want her?" Landon sneered. "I think she's just latching onto our family! And Aria—if she was really Mr. Sterling's biological child, how could she have been kicked out?"

"Who knows where that illegitimate child came from!"

Serena's fingers gripped the keys in her hand tightly, her heart feeling as if someone was squeezing it hard, making it difficult to breathe.

She could take being talked about herself, but Aria was her life!

"Serena is also stupid. If she'd been a bit smarter, she could have gotten tens of millions. Why would she need to mooch off our family now? So stupid..."

"Stop it!"

A female voice suddenly rang out, completely cutting off the endless chatter in the room.