At night, in the Morgan's living room.
Yuliana clasped Susan's hand and asked meekly.
"Sis, is that really Athena over there?"
Susan rolled her eyes at her hopeless sister.
"What kind of question is that? You follow Julian around like a lost puppy every day, yet you still know nothing. Speaking of Julian, what's the matter with him? He made a fool out of me in front of so many people today! When are you the two of you ever going to get hitched?"
"Sis, calm down. It'll happen soon, alright?" Yuliana hung her head in shame.
There was nothing she could do about Julian' s lack of interest in her!
Susan's younger sister was making her blood boil so much, she nearly fainted. However, it was a blessing that Julian couldn't recognize Athena.
This was indeed a silver lining to the cloud.
"Madam Morgan, Elder Master is back."
The housekeeper said as he entered.
Hearing this, Susan shot a stern glance at Yuliana, signalling her to wrap up the conversation. Then, she went out to welcome her husband.
"George, how are you? You must be exhausted traveling back and forth." Susan said, helping George take his coat off.
"How did the birthday party go?"
George hadn't been able to attend his youngest son's birthday party, since he had to return to his hometown for prayers.
"Yes, everything went smoothly." A sweet smile lit up Susan's face, like a perfectly doting wife.
She had ordered that no one would talk about what had happened earlier that day. George would be none the wiser.
"I'm tired. If there's anything you want to talk about, we could go over it tomorrow."
As Susan watched George make his way up the stairs, a hint of malevolence flashed across her eyes.
Athena was back. She would need to get her plans rolling quickly.
Monday.
Athena arrived at the company. Before she could even take a bite out of the steamed buns she bought in the morning, the design manager called her to the office.
The moment she opened the door, Tilly, the design manager, slammed a document on the table. She pointed furiously at Athena. "You're Athena, the newcomer right? Who gave you the authority to change the design draft.
Athena was slightly puzzled. She pursed her lips. The old-fashioned clothes and the glasses she wore emphasized her docile demeanor.
"You gave me the documents, but you didn't tell me what to do with them. I thought you wanted me to amend them."
"So that's the case. Are you trying to put the blame on me?" roared Tilly. She was getting increasingly livid, and it was showing in the harshness of her voice. "Athena Morgan! Who do you think you are? Our team has been working tirelessly on this for the past few months. How could you simply make changes as you whim and fancy?
"Look at these. Look at the garbage you've turned them into!"
"Get out. Immediately! Our company doesn't need someone like you!"
Tilly's face was seething red with anger, glaring at her furiously.
Athena shook her head, upset and in disbelief. She had just been described as a good-for-nothing designer. What a total insult it was.
If word got out to other companies that she was dismissed in such a manner, she would not be able to find any more work.
As Athena thought about it, she met Tilly's gaze. She said in an unsettlingly quiet tone, "As a new employee, I wasn't given any guidance. Without knowing the head or tail, a bunch of designs was chucked at me. I saw a few things that I thought needed revision. But oh well, it's all my fault anyway."
"On top of that, I'm really surprised the design manager would have approved work of this poor quality. I truly am amazed.
Tilly was pissed off by what she heard.
"Athena Morgan! You'd better shut up!" She growled and raised her hand, ready to unleash the full force of her anger in a slap.
Thankfully, Athena was able to dodge the strike, and Tilly' s hand failed to make contact.
She looked at Tilly coldly. "Manager Page, I'm just a rookie. How could you be so angry at me? Have I offended you in any way?"
Athena really found it odd. She had only been here for a few days, how could she have already ended up in Tilly's bad books?
Questioned in this way, Tilly was flustered. She would never admit that she felt threatened by Athena's talent in designing which enabled her to enhance those designs effortlessly. This left Tilly in a dangerous spot, and she must drive Athena out of the company as soon as possible.
Otherwise, she would risk losing her position in the company.
Tilly replied viciously, "Regardless of whether you are a newcomer or an old-timer, you have to bear responsibility for your mistakes."
"What's going on?" At that moment, Tilly was interrupted by a man's gentle voice.
As Tilly saw the man step in, she instantly regained her composure and transformed into a different person. She exclaimed softly in a disheartened tone, "Mr. Gibson, look at this! Our department's hard work for the past 6 months has gone down the drain because of her."
She gathered the files on the table as she spoke and stalked over to Christopher. She then handed the files over to him.
Christopher looked over at Athena, who was currently neither servile nor overbearing. He raised his eyebrows, took the design drafts, and began flipping through the stack.
Tilly glared at Athena with fiery eyes, then coyly complained to Christopher.
"Mr. Gibson, look, the original designs were far from this. However, this newcomer modified them without permission. Look at how different they are! There's no going back now, these designs are all void. I'm sure you're also aware that we do not keep backups as an extended measure against plagiarism and commercial espionage."
As Christopher nearly finished viewing the documents, disbelief manifested itself on his face.
Tilly's unending chatter flitted past his ears like a breeze. He looked at Athena and asked, "Are these your designs?"
Athena nodded. She replied with a wry smile, "That's right. Ms. Page said I turned the designs into trash."
"Isn't that so? You're just a newbie. What do you know?" Tilly's eyes were filled with arrogance.
"Shut up your mouth!"
Christopher disregarded Tilly, whose face had instantly turned pale. He turned to Athena with admiration spilling from his eyes.
"Was it really you who modified these designs?"
Athena nodded, "That's right."
"I've gone through some of the first drafts before this. They were very poor. However, you managed to tweak them into complete and mature designs. This is impressive work."
Christopher's tone was full of appreciation.
Tilly's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible! She's just a rookie!"
"There's no distinction between newbies and veterans in design. She's very talented." He glanced at Tilly coldly. Christopher's tone was particularly contemptuous as he began, "You're dismissed. You can make your way to the finance department to settle your salary affairs."
Athena looked at Christopher in bewilderment. She didn't expect him to be so quick to decide.
"No! You can't do this. I'm Mr. Collins' girlfriend!" Tilly stopped him in a panic. She couldn't afford to lose this job. There was no better job than this.
Braden had provided her with a high salary, and she was able to run her department as she pleased.
She was now so used to living her best life. How could she bear to lose this?
At that moment, Julian and Braden opened the door and stepped in from where they stood and observed. Tilly's eyes suddenly glimmered with hope as she pleaded, "Braden..."