Chapter 397 The Truth Is Finally Revealed
The moment the word tore from her throat, Zoey staggered back, clutching her cheek in disbelief.
“You!” she hissed, her teeth clenched so tightly her jaw trembled. Rage burned in her eyes, her swollen cheek throbbing from Olivia’s slap.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Olivia had actually struck her again, twice, right in front of everyone.
“Are you insane?” Zoey exploded, her voice cracking with fury. “How dare you keep hitting me?”
Charlotte froze for half a second, stunned by what she had just witnessed, then snapped into motion. She stepped forward with a sharp, reprimanding tone, who do you think is acting arrogant and domineering right now? Just because you’re Mr. Hamilton’s girlfriend, you believe you can assault people? Don’t you think you’ve gone far enough?”
Olivia’s gaze swept across them, cold, razor-sharp, cutting the air like a blade. “I don’t strike people lightly,” she said, her voice eerily calm. “But when I do, they’ve earned it. Zoey, you know better than anyone what truly happened at the research institute. You framed me, you set me up. So yes, you deserve this.”
She wasn’t shouting. She didn’t need to. The truth in her voice was sharper than any blow.
Zoey’s palms grew damp, but she fought to maintain the mask of righteous indignation. “Lies! Stop spreading false accusations about me, Olivia!”
Olivia was telling the truth, and Zoey knew it, but the watching guests, clueless and easily swayed, turned skeptical eyes toward her.
Zoey immediately seized on their uncertainty.
“Olivia, stop blaming us for your own mess!” she snapped, her voice rising theatrically. “Everyone here knows you made a serious error during your experiment. Instead of admitting your mistake, you tried to shift the blame onto innocent colleagues. This is the national research institute, we can’t tolerate that kind of irresponsible behavior!”
Some people who still had doubts heard this and looked at Olivia strangely again.
“So she really refused to admit her mistake? If she tried to pin it on someone else… that’s horrible.”
“Didn’t that lab accident injure a few staff members?” someone murmured nearby.
“I heard the same thing… so she was the cause?”
Olivia heard the whispers in the crowd.
She laughed coldly and looked at Zoey. "Your words are pure scaremongering! Zoey, if you have a clear conscience, why do you need to stir up and mislead people who don't know the truth? You keep saying I made a mistake and won't admit it, but that's because I didn't make any mistake! As for you framing me, do you think you did it perfectly? You're wrong! The research institute already has evidence. The reason they haven't made it public isn't because they're investigating me. It's because they're investigating you! The institute has already found out that you used your computer to tamper with the data I submitted, and then tried to destroy the evidence and erase all traces! Don't rush to deny it, because the technical team at the institute has already finished their investigation. Who's right and who's wrong, you'll get the notice very soon!"
"What?"
Zoey was shocked by this news. "That's impossible!"
The word broke her composure, shattering it completely.
Olivia’s knowing gaze made Zoey’s blood run cold.
Impossible, this was impossible!
Olivia must be bluffing.
There was absolutely no way that data could be recovered. Charlotte had told her exactly how to delete it, how to erase every trace.
What she had done could never be discovered!
Zoey kept trying to reassure herself.
However, at that very moment, as if on cue, her phone rang.
She flinched violently, dread exploding in her chest. With trembling fingers, she pulled out her phone.
The caller ID nearly made her faint. Research Institute Investigation Team
How could the timing be so perfect?
Zoey desperately wanted to reject the call, to pretend none of this was happening.
Her throat constricted painfully as she tried to speak. She wanted to claim Olivia was playing tricks, but her voice refused to form a single coherent word.
Olivia watched her with a faint, devastatingly calm smile.
Zoey’s hand shook uncontrollably.
She missed the reject button and accidentally answered the call.
She couldn't answer it!
The realization hit her too late. The phone slipped from her slick fingers and fell to the floor with a harsh clatter.
A cold, authoritative voice echoed clearly from the speaker.
“Zoey, this is the investigation team from the national research institute. Two weeks ago, your department became involved in a serious dispute over data discrepancies, forcing us to intervene in the investigation. After extensive data recovery and evidence review, the person who tampered with the data was not Olivia, but you! Olivia is innocent, while you, because of your personal matters and emotions, framed a colleague, delayed the entire team's progress, and caused innocent colleagues to be injured. Now, after discussion among the leadership, we will dismiss you. The research institute will never hire you again! Please come handle the paperwork as soon as possible! This is your official notice!"
As soon as the words finished, the call was disconnected.
Zoey's body went stiff, her face changed color.
“No… no, this can’t be happening,” she whispered, shaking. “You can’t fire me! I can explain, please, I can explain!”
She scrambled to pick up her phone, her fingers clawing at the floor in desperation.
But all she heard was the cold, merciless beep of disconnection.
And once the institute issued a termination order, nothing and no one could reverse it.
Her breath came in short, panicked gasps.
This couldn’t be real. She couldn’t lose her job. Not when it was the foundation of everything, her reputation, her status, her future.
Her precious title at the institute was her golden ticket, the very reason she had dared to dream of climbing into high society.
How was she supposed to keep Oscar now?
How could she possibly compete for a wealthy marriage without her career behind her?
Her terror spiraled out of control. Driven purely by panic, Zoey dropped to her knees and grabbed Charlotte’s skirt. "Ms. Ross, you have to help me. I can't be fired from the institute! I can't be fired!"
After hearing the phone call, Charlotte's expression darkened, uglier than anyone had ever seen.
Zoey, this idiot, couldn't even handle such a simple task!
She told her to frame Olivia, but she couldn't even properly erase the evidence, and ended up implicating herself. How stupid!
And now she dared to kneel before her like this, in front of all these people? Was she trying to expose both of them?
That phone call was on speaker—everyone present heard it clearly.
Now, people were looking at Zoey with contempt.
"So now the truth comes out, right?"
"Turns out this was a case of the thief crying 'thief'?"
"She framed someone else, and then dared to smear the victim here. How shameless!"
"See, not just anyone should be allowed into tonight's event. Where's security? Can you throw her out?"
"Being in the same place as someone like this makes me feel like my class has been lowered!"
"She can even frame her own colleague, who knows what she might do here tonight?"
"Really both stupid and evil. Good thing the institute investigated thoroughly."
"This kind of person really doesn't deserve to stay in such a respectable place as the research institute!"
"Evil gets what it deserves. Fortunately the institute saw through it."
"Where's security? Hurry up and throw her out!"
The hostility in the room was something Zoey had never experienced before.
Zoey felt as though she’d been stripped bare and thro.wn into the center of a pack of predators. The shame burned hotter than fire. Her ears rang with humiliation, her knees wobbling
Right now, Charlotte was her only lifeline.
Her only hope for survival.
Zoey lifted her tear-filled eyes again and again, silently begging Charlotte to save her, because she had only done everything under Charlotte’s instructions.
"Ms. Ross."