Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Behind her, at the store entrance, the mall supervisor heard the last barrage of insults. The blood ran cold in his veins. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, running down his temple.
They are signing their own death warrant!
He did not know the details of the relationship between that woman and President Wolf. He only knew that the all-powerful man's personal assistant had called with a clear order: treat her like a queen and make sure that not a hair on her head was harmed.
And now, his employees were publicly humiliating her. In his mall.
His career was hanging by a thread.
His face pale with fear, the supervisor stepped forward, his voice booming like thunder.
“What nonsense are you talking about?!”
He emerged from the shadows behind Caroline, fury stamped on his pale face.
“Mrs. Ford is a VIP customer of this mall!” his voice exploded, full of panic. “How dare you treat her this way?”
“President Watson?!” Recognition hit them, and the saleswomen immediately straightened their posture, respect forced onto their faces.
“Mr. Watson, there must be some mistake,” one of them said, still casting a look of pure disdain at Caroline. “We would never disrespect our Miss Ford. She is the VIP customer. How could we offend her?”
President Watson felt a vein throb in his forehead.
“Then what did I just hear?”
“You have the wrong person!” the saleswoman insisted, blinded by arrogance. “The VIP is Miss Claire Ford, not this thief. By the way, it's good you're here! We suspect this Caroline Ford of stealing something.”
You should search her right now, before she runs off with merchandise from the mall!“
”That's right, President! She definitely stole something!“
”Call the police! Thieves belong in jail!"
With each word, more cold sweat dripped from President Watson's forehead.
He cursed those idiots a thousand times in his mind. They weren't just digging their own graves; they were trying to drag him down with them.
Who the hell hired these imbeciles?!
“Enough!”
Edward Collins' voice cut through the air. He approached, his face a mask of controlled anger.
“Caroline isn't that kind of person. I believe her. Stop this scandal.”
Then he turned to Caroline, anguish and pity overflowing from his gaze, as if he were her noble savior.
“Caroline, if you wanted to buy clothes, you should have just told me. I...”
She turned away before he could finish his sentence.
Her gaze passed right through him, as if he were invisible.
“Mr. Watson,” Caroline's voice was icy, coated with a power he had never heard before. “What do you intend to do about this? If this mall continues to employ such snobbish and mediocre staff, perhaps it's time for the personnel department to undergo some changes as well.”
“Yes, yes! You are absolutely right!” The president bowed, terrified. “It is an unforgivable failure on the part of our HR department! I will take care of it personally. Ms. Ford, please calm down. The employees who offended you will be fired immediately. And I guarantee you, they will never be hired by any Wolf Group company again.”
President Watson's bow was extreme. He bent almost ninety degrees before Caroline, a display of submission so humiliating that all the saleswomen's jaws dropped.
Their world was turned upside down.
What the hell was going on?
Why was President Watson, a man they hardly dared to look in the eye, bowing to her?
Wasn't she a nobody? A failed extra?
And the word he used... fire them?
The castle of arrogance they lived in crumbled in the blink of an eye.
Where once there had been mockery, now there was absolute, white panic. Their faces drained of color.
“Mr. Watson, we...” Their voices were terrified whispers.
“Out! Get out of my sight now!” Watson's politeness shattered. He pointed his finger, his face red with rage. “This mall doesn't employ trash like you!”
“Mr. Watson, it was a mistake! Please give us another chance!”
“We need this job! We've worked here for years! Don't fire us, please, we can't survive without this job!”
They cried, begged, clinging to any shred of hope.
The Wolf Group's benefits were legendary. Losing that job wasn't just getting fired; it was being exiled from a corporate paradise to the hell of the ordinary job market. No other place would pay as well or offer the same advantages.
But Watson, fearing for his own skin, was a wall of indifference. Their desperation did not move him. He wanted them out.
Then, in their panic, their eyes turned to the silent figure watching the scene. Caroline. The source of their ruin. And perhaps their only salvation.
Hope, twisted and desperate, shone in their eyes.
They still didn't understand her power, but they knew it was the cause of Watson's subservience.
If the offense against her was the crime, her forgiveness could be the absolution.
Forgetting all pride, they crawled to Caroline, tears streaming, voices broken.
“Mrs. Ford, we were wrong! We were blind, stupid! Please forgive us! Never again, we swear!”
“I'm sorry, please forgive us! We misjudged you! Have mercy, give us a chance to fix our mistake!”
“You are a great person! Forgive our smallness!”
Watching that pathetic display of forced repentance, Caroline felt absolutely nothing. Not a twinge of pity.
She was no saint.
They had humiliated her, called her a thief. Forgiveness was not in her vocabulary today.
Forgiving them would be an insult to herself.
Besides, she knew their kind. Nature does not change. They were snobs to the core.
Her gaze pierced through them, cold as the Arctic.
“I will not forgive you. Consider today's lesson a gift from me: never judge anyone by their cover.
Without saying another word to them, she turned to the president, who was still looking at her with terrified reverence.
”Mr. Watson, the rest is up to you.
“Yes, ma'am! Yes!” he nodded frantically. “Rest assured. I will take care of everything to your complete satisfaction.”
Caroline gave a slight nod, turned her back on the carnage of careers she had left behind, and walked toward the exit without looking back.