Chapter 394 Who Do You Think I Am?
"Seduce men?"
Isabella let out a cold laugh and slapped her across the face.
Cressida froze, her eyes wide open in disbelief as she stared at Isabella.
Isabella glared at her with icy eyes, her tone extremely cold. "Who's the bitch? Who's seducing men? Cressida, if you don't want that mouth of yours, I can sew it shut for you."
Being slapped in public like this, Cressida's face instantly twisted with rage.
Cressida got angry immediately, fury quickly gathering in her eyes. "How dare you hit me? You stole my card, and you still dare to hit me. Are you looking for death?"
"Didn't you ask me to hit you?" Isabella's sharp gaze swept toward her. "I didn't provoke you at all. You've come looking for trouble with me again and again. Do you really think I'm easy to mess with?"
"Also, you'd better pick up the water you knocked on the floor."
"You dare to order me around?" Cressida shouted angrily, raising her hand to slap Isabella's face.
Asva, standing nearby, turned pale at the sight.
But just as Cressida raised her hand, Asva caught it.
"Cressida, you can't hit her!" Asva shouted sternly.
"I can't hit her?" Cressida laughed in anger, grievance immediately spreading. "She hit me, and you won't help me. You won't even let me hit her back?"
Her boyfriend was actually protecting another woman right in front of her.
Wasn't this her failure?
"Asva, don't tell me you actually like this bitch? So what if I'm ten years older than her? I'm not even thirty yet, and you've already changed your mind?"
Asva frowned. "Cressida, what are you even talking about? Can you stop being so unreasonable?"
"Ms. Isabella Powell, I'm truly sorry." Asva held Cressida's hand down, looking at Isabella apologetically. "Please forgive the offense. I'll take her away right now."
Cressida was so angry she was about to lose her mind and didn't notice how Asva was addressing Isabella.
She just saw how friendly and accommodating Asva's attitude toward Isabella was, and it made her blood boil.
"I'm not leaving! Why should I leave?" Cressida shouted.
She suddenly looked at Isabella with disgust. "You steal things and seduce men. How can you be so vicious, you bitch? Let me tell you, stealing a researcher's ID card from a classified lab is a crime against national security. I'll have you arrested!"
"Cressida!" Asva's face turned completely dark. "She couldn't have stolen your card. You have no proof. Stop talking nonsense!"
"Asva, who's your girlfriend?" Cressida's eyes turned red. "Why do you keep taking her side?"
Asva took a deep breath. There was no reasoning with her.
"Sorry, Ms. Isabella Powell. I'll take Cressida away right now."
"You really should drag her away immediately," Isabella said coldly. "Otherwise, a mad dog will just bite anyone it sees."
Asva ignored Cressida's struggles and pulled her away.
Cressida's shoes even came off.
"You're the mad dog!" Cressida's face turned ashen with rage as she cursed. "You man-seducing bitch! You thief!"
Cressida was being dragged away by Asva but still wouldn't let it go.
She really hadn't expected that Asva would be so bewitched by this bitch that he'd protect that vixen without any regard.
"Asva, let me go..."
Just then, Cressida spotted Deputy Director Foxen walking toward them.
Cressida quickly called out, "Foxen!"
Foxen heard the commotion and saw the chaos here. He frowned and walked over.
"You're all senior researchers. What are you doing? What does this pulling and tugging look like?"
"Foxen, she stole my ID card!" Cressida pointed at Isabella.
Hearing Cressida say someone stole her card, Foxen's expression became somewhat serious.
He glanced at Isabella, finding her familiar but couldn't remember where he'd seen her.
Foxen asked Isabella, "You stole Cressida's ID card? Do you know that all ID cards at our research institute are classified? If you stole an ID card and caused losses to the institute, the consequences aren't something you can bear."
"See?" Cressida sneered. "You really dare to steal anything."
"I didn't steal her card, and I have no need to steal her card," Isabella said coldly, then looked sharply at Foxen. "Cressida first said I seduced her boyfriend, and now she says I stole her card. Don't you need evidence to slander people?"
Isabella spoke word by word, her voice carrying a chill.
Foxen was momentarily stunned by Isabella's presence, staring at her blankly. "You are..."
Isabella raised her eyebrows with a cold smile. "Who do you think I am?"
Foxen stared at Isabella and finally remembered something. His expression immediately changed. "Ms. Isabella Powell, what brings you here?"
He had previously received notice from above that a new administrator's information had been added to the management database—the daughter of Gwyneth who had just returned. He had browsed through the information and facial photos of Isabella Powell sent by the higher-ups.
No wonder she looked familiar.
So it was Gwyneth's daughter!
Seeing Foxen's instantly changed attitude, Cressida froze and stopped shouting. "Isabella Powell? Who's Isabella Powell?"
She looked again at the name embroidered on the upper left corner of Isabella's uniform and frowned. "Isn't your last name Taylor?"
Asva coldly reminded her, "Cressida, this is the young lady of the Powell family who just returned, Isabella Powell."
Cressida was instantly dumbfounded.
She stared at Isabella in disbelief, completely unable to believe it.
This girl was the Powell family's young lady?
How could she be the Powell family's young lady?
"Just because I handed her desserts and coffee, you thought she was seducing me?"
Asva laughed in disbelief. "Do you think someone of my status is worthy of being seduced by Ms. Isabella Powell? Cressida, I don't even know what to say about you. Before, when people said you had paranoid delusions and secretly caused trouble for female researchers who had contact with me, I didn't believe it. But this time you've really opened my eyes."
"Also, Ms. Isabella Powell has the highest level of clearance. She can freely enter and exit any area of this research institute. There's no way she would steal your card."
Isabella seduce him? And steal a card?
What a joke.
It was like a bucket of cold water poured directly over her head. Cressida's face turned deathly pale.
Isabella's gaze swept over Cressida. "You seem very dissatisfied with me?"
Looking at Isabella again, Cressida no longer had her earlier arrogance. Her heart trembled. "I... I... I didn't..."
She was truly panicked.
She never imagined that Isabella would be the Powell family's young lady. She had never seen her before, so how could she possibly know?
"It's okay. I'm quite dissatisfied with you too."
Realizing what Cressida had just done, Foxen looked at her with cold eyes. "Cressida, as a researcher, you failed to properly guard your own belongings. You lost something and then pushed the blame onto others. What were you thinking?"
Slandering people was bad enough, but to slander Isabella directly—what a complete embarrassment!
"Is this the kind of conduct our research institute taught you?"
Cressida pressed her lips together, unable to say a word.
She never expected that Isabella would be the Powell family's young lady.
So that's why Asva treated Isabella that way earlier?
"I'm sorry, Ms. Isabella Powell, I..." Cressida looked at Isabella again. "I didn't know you..."
"You don't need to explain."
Isabella cut her off, her face cold and mocking. "This has nothing to do with my identity. It's entirely a problem with your personal character."
With one sentence, she completely blocked whatever Cressida wanted to say.
Cressida bit her lip, all color draining from her face.
"Isabella, what are you doing here? We've finished the tour. We should head back to Radiant University."
Kennedy and Domingo finally found Isabella. When they came over, they saw the strange atmosphere.
Domingo first glanced at Cressida, somewhat incredulous. "Isabella, how did you end up with Cressida? Do you know each other? What could you possibly have to talk about?"
"We don't know each other, and indeed there's nothing to talk about."
Isabella said flatly, "Let's go."
Isabella turned and left. Domingo and Kennedy first exchanged confused glances, then followed her.
——
Just after Isabella and the others left, a security guard hurried over.
"Cressida."
The guard held an ID card in his hand.
"Cressida, is this your ID card? Someone found it and turned it in."
Cressida blankly took the ID card.
It was indeed hers.
"I told you we should have asked the security center to help look for it, but you insisted on saying it was stolen and had to slander her." Asva said with a dark expression. "Cressida, can't you just be calm? Why are you always so impulsive?"
Cressida gripped the card in her hand and bit her lip. "Asva, I..."
Asva's expression was gloomy. He didn't want to hear what she had to say and turned to leave.
"Cressida, come with me." Foxen said coldly.
Cressida immediately had a bad feeling. She pressed her lips together and followed Foxen into the elevator, arriving at his office.
Before Foxen could speak, Cressida lowered her head. "Foxen, what happened today was all my fault. I'm willing to accept punishment."
She was really afraid Foxen would fire her over this.
Foxen stared at Cressida and sighed. "Not many people know about Ms. Isabella Powell's return. Even I only found out recently."
Although he was also part of the Powell family, his energy was mainly focused on research. Much of the Powell family news, if unrelated to research, really didn't reach him.
Cressida just felt confused. "But isn't Ms. Gwyneth Powell..."
"Ms. Gwyneth Powell gave birth to this child outside. You don't need to doubt Ms. Isabella Powell's identity. Since the Powell family has already made this information public internally, it means she really is the child Ms. Gwyneth Powell gave birth to."
Cressida's head lowered even more.
No wonder Isabella's appearance was indeed stunning. She had inherited Gwyneth's looks, which was exactly why she felt such a strong sense of crisis.
"Regardless, your behavior today was disrespectful to the Powell family and nearly implicated me!" Foxen frowned. "Considering you've made considerable contributions to the research institute, I won't fire you. But starting today, you're removed from research project A007. Reflect on your own behavior."
"People who can't maintain rationality and calmness won't go far in scientific research either."
Hearing this, Cressida's expression changed. "But Foxen, I worked so hard to get the opportunity to participate in this project. Can't you..."
"Enough, don't say anymore. If you don't want to be fired, accept this disciplinary action."