Chapter 20
Valencia
I wanted some time for myself to cool down and talk with my colleagues. Somehow, they thought I was the one who was responsible for this.
Rhonda was staring at me in disdain and shoved me while walking out, murmuring something about being the boss’s pet for a fancy promotion.
The others were equally harrowed by the new set of rules which just didn’t make sense.
I cleared my throat and tried to tell them.
“Guys, I didn’t do anything. Mrs Briggs came up with that idea on her own.”
I tried to say but nobody seemed to want to believe me.
One of the senior associates named Gracie glared at me and hissed. “I’ve seen that mad woman talk to you so many times. You practically live in her cabin.”
“No, I don’t. And if you remember, she had insulted me just a few days ago in front of the entire office.”
I tried to argue, but she brushed it off. “All a setup to make us think you are on our side. But you are on hers.”
“That is not true. I hate her,” I answered, but she had made up her mind it seemed.
Thomas seemed to rush to my rescue.
“That is correct. I spent a day with her in the basement sorting the files nobody wants to. Mrs Briggs just loves to make everybody miserable.”
The senior crumpled a piece of paper and threw it at Thomas.
“Oh, shut up! I know how much you stare at her when she is not looking. Ever tried to confess your undying love for her?” She asked Thomas who instantly went red.
He grew flustered, raked a hand through his hair and replied.
“That….that is…..not… true” He began to loosen his tie and grabbed a tissue to wipe the sweat coating his face.
Grace walked up towards him and he tried to almost shrink himself and get plastered to the wall behind him.
“And do you also know that this lovely crush of yours is doing all this just for a promotion that I have been working hard for?”
I looked up at her at that, eyes wide with shock.
She gave a mirthless chuckle.
“You thought you are the only smart one here, Valencia? Trying to act all high and mighty in front of others and then trying to bootlick the new boss so that you get all the perks and promotions?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn’t really have anything to say to her.
“I am a senior associate and so are 5 more of us, but no, Miss pretty little face here, wants to push us all away
and
get to the
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front with her petty politics.”
When she said that, four more stepped to her side as if they were ganging up against me already.
The rest of the staff just watched as Grace approached me and placed a finger under my chin. Meanwhile, the other four
seniors circled me.
“Understand this. I am not going to let you have the cake and eat it too. I am not going to do anything that woman asked and if you so much as dare whisper a word to her, I will ensure you will think your high school bullies were kind hearted people.”
“We work in a law firm, Grace” I looked her in the eye, my voice loud and clear.
“And I have been working on every damn case that you guys were too busy to handle. Be it the reparations case of alpha Jack, the tax dispute between the northern packs files that always end up on my desk somehow…..or the newest error made by someone sitting on the second floor that almost cost a client half a million dollars.”
I blurted out, unable to keep it to myself.
Not just Grace but the rest of the crowd was stunned too.
But I couldn’t help it.
I was already trying hard to extend an olive branch to Mrs Briggs and I simply didn’t have it in me to do that for anybody else.
The rest of the staff began whispering amongst each other, not believing what they had just heard.
Grace looked around to see her mask falling and grit her teeth.
“How dare you, junior?” She shouted at me. “I have been working here for way longer than you.”
“And you are just a level above me despite all your endless partying, hookups and last minute client meetings that everybody knows is nothing but you sneaking out of office to go enjoy and fuck around while depositing all the files on my table.”
I folded my hands on my chest and continued to talk.
“Not once have you faced any issues in your cases, have you? In fact, you thought you were clever to send all the complicated stuff my way, coming early next day to see if the work was done, and miraculously taking the files back from my desk before anybody could notice.”
Thomas looked flabbergasted.
“That….that is not allowed. Senior associates become senior after they have achieved everything through hard work.”
Grace narrowed her eyes at him.
“So gracious of you to be her knight in shining armor.”
I snapped my fingers in front of her and said, “Hello, eyes on me.”
She looked back at me and warned. “Don’t you overstep your boundaries, Valencia. Mrs Briggs might get replaced soon but I am here for the long haul.”
She had raised her hand to point a finger at me threateningly.
Chapter 20
“I worked my ass off to get all the tiles cleared under me” She began but I raised my voice and asked,
“What was the tax dispute settled at in case of the northern packs?”
Grace seemed taken aback by the question. One of the girls standing beside her immediately felt emboldened and joined her in bullying me.
“How dare you question your senior’s work?” She began, and I looked at her.
“You are Miranda, right? You were working on the case of the Crest moon pack where their alpha’s son allegedly drugged his mate. That son was found with a heavy stash of illegal drugs. Any idea what was the settlement offered by his dad to clear his
son’s name?”
Miranda’s face turned pale, and after looking around helplessly, she answered.
“Of course, I know. He wanted to escape with a mere ten thousand dollars but I got his mate to take a stand and not settle for anything less than twenty.”
I snorted.
“Colin Grayson was fined fifty thousand dollars, his stash was confiscated, he was asked to serve a mandatory jail time of one week AND his mate rejected him and got restraining orders against him.”
A shocked gasp and murmurs of appreciation echoed through the cabin.
Grace and Miranda, along with the other two of their bully group had no face to show and looked extremely uncomfortable.
I raised my voice and continued.
“You know if you were as smart as you said, you would know details of the files of your bloody cases. So before you threaten me about how you deserve that promotion, you should try to actually work instead of leaving your files at my table.”
Saying so, I stormed off the cabin, leaving behind a stunned crowd.
