Is this destiny?

Bridgette\'s lips curled up into a condescending smirk. "Miss Rogers, are you aware that CEO White is a married man? Or you don\'t care about it? Don\'t tell me that you don\'t know because it is easy to find out."

Vera narrowed her eyes at Bridgette. "Why does it matter if he is married or not? I was not trying to seduce him."

Bridgette stifled a laugh. "Ah, if you repeat that few hundred times, maybe you convince yourself of that, but not me. You just admitted that you used your womanly charms on CEO White to score points at work. Regardless if you are successful or not into seducing CEO White, do you know what impression that creates for anyone present? Is your goal for people to believe that you are CEO White\'s mistress?"

Bridgette\'s gaze moved to Steve and he could see the fury in Bridgette\'s eyes when she asked Vera: "Did you use your womanly charms on Mr. Long as well? Maybe he should be more transparent and explain how he picked three people for this little experiment."

Steve panicked. "Biddy, I…"

"Shut up!", Bridgette squeezed through her teeth angrily.

"What gives you the right to be this rude in CEO White\'s office?", Vera snapped at Bridgette.

Bridgette glared at Vera. "And what gives YOU the right to police my behavior?"

Vera glanced at Jeff and saw that his expression is unreadable. But he is quiet, and silence means approval, right?

Vera lifted her chin defiantly. "I am CEO White\'s assistant. Of course, I have the right to decide what is right or wrong for him!"

Bridgette sneered at Vera. "Is this the attitude you showed to Anna?"

Vera smiled smugly. "How is that any of your concern? Don\'t you see that CEO White is not saying anything? If he is not stopping me, that is an obvious approval of what I am doing. As his assistant, I will make sure that all women who think too highly of themselves stay away from him."

Bridgette looked at Jeff and shook her head in disapproval. "CEO White… you are in trouble…"

Vera\'s eyes darted from Jeff to Bridgette. "What is the meaning of this? How dare you speak like that to him?"

Bridgette ignored Vera, and she spoke to Jeff: "I have nothing else to ask or say. If you need more than this to see that this woman is shameless and that she is two steps away from climbing into your bed, I feel sorry for you. If she is acting like this in front of you, I don\'t want to imagine how she acted with Anna, without you present. And I am sorry that I am not by Anna\'s side right now to give her a comforting hug and support her in cursing you all the way to hell where ignorant men end up after they perish."

"How dare you!", Vera screamed and lunged at Bridgette.

Steve tensed up to get in between two women, but Bridgette nimbly avoided Vera and...

\'PAK!\'

A crisp slap landed on Vera\'s cheek, stopping her in place. 

Bridgette smiled victoriously. All those months of training at the Cliffside villa are paying off! In the next moment, she regretted that she didn\'t go for a punch or a kick, but seeing how shocked Vera is, the slap was enough. 

"You!", Vera squeezed through her teeth in disbelief while pressing her aching cheek with both palms, one over the other.

Bridgette lifted her chin defiantly. "Don\'t try to twist this into me bullying you. It was self-defense and I have two witnesses."

Bridgette threw an angry glare at Steve and strutted out of Jeff\'s office without looking back.

When the door closed behind Bridgette, Jeff hid his face in his palms. He heard everything and it confirmed that JoAnna was right and that he is… stupid.

Steve stared at the carpet in front of him and he wanted to go after Bridgette, but on second thought, he didn\'t want to leave Jeff with Vera on their own. Now that Vera is exposed, who knows what she will do. And also, giving Bridgette some space will help her calm down. They will talk later. Much, much later.

"Boss?", Steve called. "What are we going to do with Miss Rogers?"

"She can collect three months\' salary." Jeff mumbled into his palms.

Vera could not believe this. "You are firing me?"

"Just go.", Jeff weakly said.

"No! I demand an explanation!", Vera shouted angrily. "That woman hit me, and you are firing me?"

Jeff lifted his head and looked at Vera. "You said that you were bored and decided to tidy up. If you started from my desk, this day would probably end differently." Jeff reached for the picture frame on his desk and flipped it for Vera to see. "This is me and my wife, on our wedding day. You met her today as Dr. Hill."

Vera paled when she connected the smiling woman in Jeff\'s arms on the photo to the one who she called hillbilly. Oh, God! She was rude toward CEO White\'s wife! No wonder Dr. Hill was so confident. After a few seconds of panic, Vera thought about how that does not matter. Actually, it can work in her favor.

Vera\'s expression changed a few times before it settled on a sneer. "You are firing me because I insulted your wife? My lawyer will enjoy suing White corp. and you personally for this."

Jeff\'s gaze sharpened. "Miss Rogers, I am firing you because you overstepped your boundaries, entered my office without permission, used underhanded methods to gain favor, insulted a coworker, and attempted an attack. Any of those is endangering my company and what it stands for. I am offering you three months\' salary. Take it before I change my mind. And if you insist on taking this to the court, I can assure you that we will sue you back and my lawyer will take everything you own."

Jeff saw that Vera is not responding and he told Steve: "Make sure it\'s done before you go for the day. Miss Rogers is banned from entering White corp. properties starting now. I want everything in the suite discarded and burned."

Jeff stood up, took his suit jacket, and walked out.

"Good night, boss…", Steve called after Jeff.

Jeff didn\'t respond. His mind was a mess to the point of being blank.

Vera wanted to go after Jeff, but Steve held her back.

"Let go of me, you brute!", Vera hissed.

"You are a stupid woman.", Steve said icily. "Do you know what you did? You are lucky to lose only your job."

"I was only doing my best to advance. What gives you the right to judge me? What gives you the right to insult me? You and that bitch and…"

\'PAK!\'

A hard slap landed on Vera\'s cheek (the same one where Bridgette hit her), and she was instantly dazed. This slap was much harder than Bridgette\'s.

Steve never hit a woman, until now. Vera already caused so much trouble with her arrogance. Can\'s she see how distressed Jeff is? And she made JoAnna and Bridgette angry. And when Steve heard Vera talk smack about Bridgette, he lost it.

His icy gaze met Vera\'s shocked one.

"That bitch, how you called her, is my fiancée. If you say one more bad word about her, I will snap your neck. You have ten minutes to pack your personal belongings and to leave the building." Steve squeezed through his teeth while pushing Vera out of Jeff\'s office.

Vera was outraged that Steve is holding her forearm. "Let go!"

"No. I will accompany you until you leave the building."

---

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