Chapter 18: Borrow you for a while
Julia’s POV:
Soon, it was time for the afternoon audit meeting that Mr. Todor had scheduled for today, especially for this order mishap case. But I was perfectly aware that in this meeting he would purposely insult and mock me in front of the other employees since he had assumed I couldn’t find any proof to pull myself out of this trap.
But now, it was my time to have the last laugh.
When the meeting started all the other administrators from other departments had also attended it. I walked inside the door but when I was about to take my seat, Mr. Todor glared at me in front of everyone, “Ms. Julia? Where’s the evidence to prove your innocence? I thought you would show up with proper records today!”
When he was grumbling aloud at me, Yasmine slowly entered the meeting room, holding a tense look on her round face as she took her seat at the end of the table.
I saw Mr. Todor shuffle his glance on Yasmine once, and as if he was baffled by the antsy expression on her face, he continued to vent on me instead, “Tell me, how can you prove yourself that you didn’t mess up this order? Do you have any proof!?”
“Ms. Julia doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone…because she’s innocent.”
A cold menacing voice flinched everyone inside the room when the door opened, letting a majestic figure walk inside the room. I was anticipating this voice desperately and turning around, I saw it was Damon, holding a file in his arm, with his elegant aura dazzling under the warm sun rays entering the room.
Watching the CEO enter the hall, every administrative officer stood up from their seats, including Mr. Todor who seemed very confused by his howl as he muttered, “P-Pardon, Sir? How can you say she’s innocent?”
“Because the culprit who caused such a big loss for the company is someone else…and…that’s you, Mr. Todor!” In front of all the keen eyes locked on him, Damon pointed his finger toward Mr. Todor, surprising everyone around him.
However, facing the direct accusation from the CEO himself, Mr. Todor’s face turned pale from harrowing fear as he couldn’t blink his eyes. Sweat drops trickled down his forehead which he started wiping with his handkerchief before urging Damon, “S-Sir, what are you talking about? I messed up the order…how could I do something like that when I have devoted 20 years of my life to this company?”
“Mr. Todor, I do not possess the habit of bluffing nonsense without any concrete proof. Since you want to play the victim here, I will just shove the proof right in your face.”
Sounding quite vexed by his tone, Damon tossed that file in Mr. Todor’s direction, and instead of catching it, he dropped the file on the floor. As a result, all the CCTV pictures stored inside that file showed Mr. Todor messing with the main system computer to delete all the emails directly from my inbox. Thus, the order delivery schedule was disrupted, making the order fail to be delivered timely. And after doing his heinous deed, he shamelessly put the entire blame on me just so that I would be the one to get fired from the company.
But…thankfully I was able to secure the CCTV images of him accessing the main system computer and I showed them immediately to Damon in my defense. Of course, I couldn’t have done all this alone, so I blackmailed Yasmine into helping me access those proofs, in exchange for deleting the picture where I caught those two kissing.
Mr. Todor stared at those scattered pictures on the floor in disbelief, failing to utter a word. But all the other administrators and employees saw those pictures and quickly realized who was the main culprit in this case.
“I can’t believe your stupidity, Mr. Todor. Just to frame someone innocent as Ms. Julia to satisfy your toxic pride, how dare you cause such a big loss to our business? Of course, I am kicking you right now from the office, but how will you bear with the damage you have caused here? Can you ever repay the loss of a billion dollars?”
Making a grimacing face, Mr. Todor seemed almost on the verge of tears from fear and humiliation, and the sight provided me with deep satisfaction inside. Folding his arms, he tried to plead before Damon for his mercy, “S-Sir…I…I know I have no right to say this…b-but please…could you reconsider—”
“The company’s attorney will contact you regarding your repayment for this damage. So, see you in the court next time, Mr. Todor. Goodbye.”
Damon’s blunt response left him spellbound for a brief moment, as Mr. Todor was forced to walk out of the office since he couldn’t stand everyone’s scornful gazes towards him now.
Before walking away, I saw him meeting my eyes briefly, with a furious glare in his teary eyes, but I held my head high with my confident smile to be able to prove my innocence and watch him getting kicked out instead.
“The meeting is dismissed today. Everyone, please leave.”
With Damon’s curt declaration, all the people inside the room gradually started moving out, and a few junior employees even apologized for me for siding with those obnoxious rumors which were spread about me.
As they spoke, I saw walking past them quickly, Yasmine almost ran outside the room, barely escaping the grave danger since I didn’t put her name to Damon who had aided Mr. Todor in his nasty deed.
When the room was gradually cleared, Damon turned his face towards me and a soothing warm smile curved his lips, “Are you satisfied now, Ms. Julia?”
“I am grateful to you…Sir. Thank you…for everything.” Holding a soft smile on my lips, I bowed my head to him to express my heartfelt gratitude, since Damon was the only person in this whole chaos who had chosen to believe me, without listening to anybody else. After facing all the turbulences of life mostly alone, Damon truly felt like my knight in shining armor who was there to shield me.
Gawking at me with a kind, compassionate gaze, Damon smiled wider and walked a little closer to me. He was very taller, and to meet his gaze I had to arch my neck high sometimes, but I could see a mysterious tint in his dark eyes as he spoke.
“Just a simple thanks won’t do…Now that I have proved you innocent, it’s time to keep the end of your bargain, Ms. Julia.”
“Pardon?”
A little startled as I couldn’t think what I should do to express the sincere gratitude I felt inside, before I could say anything, Damon suddenly held my hand with his strong grip and winked at me, “What if I say, I want to borrow you for a while?”