Natalie’s words immediately yanked Dalores back to reality.
Surely, Draco must have seen how Natalie had slapped her twice and pushed her on the ground.lt was the perfect opportunity to ruin Natalie’s image in Draco’s eyes, once and for all! Dalores immediately rushed over to him.
“Did you see that, Mr.Wesley? Natalie dragged me to the workroom just to slap me.This is bullying!”
“Why did you do that?” Draco asked Natalie directly, his brows furrowed, his eyes clouded.
Even so, his tone was neither harsh nor accusatory.
Natalie opened her mouth to say something, but the words seemed to be stuck in her throat.
If Draco had only seen what had transpired just now without knowing about the events that led up to it, then she really wasn’t in a position to defend her actions.
“I have a personal matter to settle with Dalores.As such. I wanted to deal with it in private. nov3l0ʑ I don’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble to the studio, and that’s why I took her to this room to resolve our issue.”
Natalie didn’t bother to deny what she had done. She looked Draco in the eye and said, “I apologize, Mr. Wesley.l got carried away by my emotions and acted rashly.”
Dalores flashed her a smug smirk before plastering a pitiful expression on her face.
“Mr.Wesley, as long as Natalie stays at W Marks Studio, this incident is bound to repeat itself.She has no qualms about beating me up simply because she doesn’t like me.I can’t even begin to imagine how she will bully other colleagues in the future.I think it’s time for her to move on and find a different workplace.”
Dalores spoke in an empathetic tone, as though her suggestions were meant for the general good and not her own interests.She was presently dealing the victim card, after all.She must not come off as too aggressive.
Draco said nothing, but his expression grew serious.
His grip on his sketches tightened, crumpling the parchment.lt wasn’t exactly strange for Dalores to be stirring up trouble, but Natalie kept her head low, if only out of respect for Draco.
He had mentored her diligently and told her she had promise, yet she went and beat one of his employees in his very own studio.
Draco must be very disappointed in her.
Natalie didn’t even dare to lift her eyes, too upset at herself for letting him down.
Seeing the tense faces of the other two, Dalores couldn’t help but snicker to herself.But since her face was now swollen from the slaps earlier, her grin turned into an ugly grimace.
Then, just when she thought that Natalie was finally getting kicked out, Draco turned to Dalores and said, “You can leave the studio after you finish Elizabeth’s projects.”
She gaped at him.
“Mr.Wesley…What are you—are you telling me to leave?”
Draco was chasing her out? Not Natalie?! The color drained from Dalores” face.
“But why should I leave? It was Natalie who beat me up! I didn’t even fight back! I am the victim here, so why am I the one being dismissed? Mr.Wesley! Answer me, didn’t you see it clearly just now?”
“You are not suited to W Marks,” Draco said pointedly.
“It was a mistake for me to hire you back in the first place.Fortunately, it isn’t too late for me to correct that error.Well, then.Stop wasting time and get back to work.The sooner you finish, the sooner you can leave.”
With that, Draco turned around and made to leave.
“Mr.Wesley” Natalie called out instinctively, her eyes still wide with surprise.
Draco’s eyes were somewhat dimmer than usual, but his tone remained calm, almost serene.
“Why are you still standing there? Do you want to leave with Dalores?”
“I just..J don’t understand, Mr.Wesley.Why have you come to such a decision?”
The workroom was a small space, so she was fairly certain that Draco had seen everything since the beginning.
How could he let her stay after what she had done, and fire Dalores instead? Of course, Natalie knew that the wise thing to do would be to shut up and thank her lucky stars, but her curiosity got the better of her.
“I didn’t see anything,” Draco said lightly.
“It was too noisy out on the atelier, so I came here to try and get some peace and quiet.The mannequins were in my way when you two argued, so I didn’t really get to see what happened.I only heard some noise; that’s all.”
Then he turned to Dalores. his tone becoming sharp.
“I don’t want W Marks to be constantly plagued with petty squabbles.This is no place for the likes of you, who incite such things on the regular.As for your accusations against Natalie, you are free to sue her in court, but leave me out of it.l will not testify because I didn’t see anything.As for firing you, it is my prerogative as the chief designer of the studio.lt has nothing to do with the beef between the two of you.
Dalores’s mind went blank.She didn’t really understand what Draco meant.But she didn’t want to be kicked out of W Marks Studio at all.
“Please don’t fire me, Mr.Wesley,” she said pleadingly.
“I promise I won’t cause any more trouble to the studio.”
She knew that no other design company in the whole world would hire her once word about her termination from W Marks came out.She had already offended Mrs.Fuller and now Draco? What was she thinking? Was she crazy? She shuddered at the prospect of losing her job and even being forced to leave the industry.
Draco stopped.
Dalores thought Draco could be soft-hearted.
Wiping her tears, she hurriedly approached him and implored, “I have worked for W Marks for so long.Please allow me yet another chance to amend my ways You know that I am not really a bad person.There are just times when I do things without thinking of the consequences.Please believe me that I will try my very best to check my behavior.And please, please consider my years here.”
Draco could only listen, albeit impatiently.
After a while, he looked Dalores in the eye and said, “If you say one more word, I wouldn’t mind taking back Elizabeth’s projects and finishing them myself.”
“Oh no, please! Don’t do that. l’ve followed up the projects.If we change the designer, it will certainly cause trouble to our clients,” said Dalores guiltily.
“If I were to take them over myself, I believe that our clients wouldn’t mind the delay at all,” said Draco, blowing up his patience.
If Draco did it, no one would dare contradict his actions.
Losing hope, Dalores couldn’t control tears streaming down her already swollen face.She knew how demeaning she would look but she still pulled Draco’s clothes to beg him.
“Mr.Wesley, please.Let me stay.l will do anything you ask me to do.”
And the next moment, Dalores knelt before Draco.
Draco was horrified.He never liked this kind of begging so he just walked past Dalores and opened the door.
The door was opened, and the bright light rushed in, a little dazzling.
Outside were the other working associates at W Marks Studio.
Their eyes were on the open door.
They were worried about Natalie.
No one had expected that they would witness such an awkward scene.
Dalores was on her knees, and begging!
“Don’t you all have work to do? What aren’t you in your stations? What are you doing here during working hours?” snarled Draco, his eyes flushing angrily at his employees.
Everyone scampered past Draco, who was going out of the workroom.
