Chapter 123 Public Display of Affection
Murmurs spread through the office as everyone finally understood Arabella's true identity, each person feeling ashamed of their earlier snide remarks and cold mockery.
With Arabella's wealth and status, she would never stoop to using her looks to seduce a boss!
Her husband was more handsome than any movie star and infinitely richer too—why would she need to flirt with some supervisor!
"Alright, since I'm here now, I'll handle everything from this point forward, hmm?" Gabriel spoke with infinite patience, completely unfazed by Arabella's ungrateful attitude. As he finished speaking, his large hand once again domineeringly captured her small one.
Arabella couldn't break free...
"Mr. Sullivan, would you prefer to handle this here, or..." Gabriel turned back to Cody, asking with seeming politeness.
Cody immediately responded, "Let's move to another location—the general manager's office. Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling, this way please!"
As the group CEO, he didn't have an office in this building, so the general manager's office would have to suffice.
With things having reached this point, Arabella had no choice but to follow his arrangements.
Just as the two turned to leave, Gabriel suddenly looked back, his deep, sharp gaze sweeping across the crowd before settling on Zane, "You must be Zane. We spoke on the phone yesterday—why don't you join us for a chat."
Arabella's eyes widened—they spoke on the phone yesterday? When? About what?
Suddenly being singled out, Zane jumped in alarm, his tongue tying in knots, "Ah, that... yes, I... certainly, thank you Mr. Sterling."
Zane was internally cursing himself!
Remembering how he'd acted superior toward Arabella's husband on yesterday's phone call, he wanted to slap himself twice.
He'd somehow managed to offend a powerful elite, and had even harbored improper thoughts about said elite's wife...
He had a sinking feeling his career was about to come to an end.
The group of big shots descended from heaven and departed just as quietly, leaving the office gossip mill in full swing as everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief and began whispering among themselves!
"Oh my God... Arabella is actually Mrs. Sterling!"
"Nora is really screwed this time! With Arabella's status, she could destroy her with a snap of her fingers."
"Mr. Sterling is absolutely gorgeous! If I had a husband like that, I'd die happy in my sleep!"
"But Arabella doesn't seem to love her husband very much..."
"Right! I noticed that too! She was so cold and dismissive, like they're having some kind of fight."
"Haven't you forgotten about those wealthy family scandals online recently? Don't think marrying into money is all glamorous—only the person living it knows the heartache behind the glitter. These powerful rich playboys could never have just one woman! Arabella working here is probably because of all that drama."
"Please, if it were me, I wouldn't care how many women there were, as long as I was the legal wife! You can't have everything perfect in this world—getting either the money or the man is enough."
Ella listened to their animated discussion and deliberately coughed to remind them, "Watch out or you'll end up like Nora!"
The group immediately dispersed.
————
In the general manager's office, Gabriel and Arabella took their seats, with Cody and several vice presidents settling in around them, while Zane and Nora could only stand awkwardly to the side.
Later, Gabriel had someone bring in chairs for them to sit.
"So that's the entire situation. Now that we've identified the perpetrator, the appropriate punishment is up to Mr. Sullivan's discretion." After explaining the "breast milk incident" from start to finish, Gabriel dumped the unpleasant task of punishment onto Cody.
Arabella sat beside him, and after finishing his explanation, the man's handsome, charming face turned toward his wife with a gentle smile, then took her hand and held it in his palm, softly squeezing it.
Arabella frowned slightly, pulling her arm back within her sleeve and forcefully trying to extract her hand from his grasp.
But he deliberately pretended not to understand, reaching out again to capture her hand and hold it in his palm, even asking with apparent concern, "Why are your hands so cold? It's gotten chilly today—did you not dress warmly enough?"
Arabella was going insane.
What exactly was his game! Deliberately putting on this lovey-dovey show to disgust whom exactly!
The several pairs of eyes watching this display showed varying expressions—some embarrassed, some uncomfortable.
Allan Jennings somehow quietly raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
He never could have imagined that he'd nearly caused a catastrophe this time—he didn't dare think what the consequences would have been if he'd actually transferred Arabella to his secretary office and tried to sexually harass her...
Just as he was secretly celebrating his narrow escape, he suddenly heard Cody call his name, "Mr. Jennings, the planning department falls under your jurisdiction. How do you think we should handle this matter?"
"Ah?" Allan was so startled his spine went rigid, immediately snapping to attention. "Well..."
He glanced at Nora and Zane, considering the impact this incident would have on the company, torn between difficult choices.
"What does Mr. Sterling think?"
Sure enough, they were all cunning foxes—he simply kicked the burden of making enemies back to Gabriel.
This way, no matter how severe the punishment, they could claim it was the victim's wishes.
It would absolve him of responsibility.
"These are your company's employees, and this incident occurred at your company, so naturally you should make the decision—that would show proper sincerity." Gabriel didn't take the bait, and made his words even more pointed.
The implication was clear, if you don't take a stance, that shows a lack of sincerity.
Allan's forehead began sweating again. He hemmed and hawed before saying, "How about... first compensation, then a company-wide apology, and finally termination—would that work?"
Gabriel frowned slightly, and Arabella remained silent.
Allan continued, "This employee just graduated two or three years ago—she's still young. If we involve the police and she gets a criminal record, her entire life would be... So we hope Mr. Sterling and Mrs. Sterling will be magnanimous and give her a chance."
These words seemed considerate toward Nora, making him sound like a good boss—but in reality, he was still protecting the company's interests.
Once police got involved, escalating this to criminal activity, it would definitely create negative publicity for the company.
They had a new property development launching soon, and they absolutely couldn't afford negative press right now, or their competitors would seize the opportunity to make a big deal of it, causing incalculable losses.
After saying this, he looked toward Zane and subtly signaled with his eyes.
Zane understood immediately and quickly tugged at Nora, indicating she should hurry up and apologize.
Nora had never experienced such a high-stakes situation, facing a room full of corporate executives while thinking about Arabella's hidden powerful background—she was scared senseless.
She wasn't stupid; she knew the consequences of offending the wealthy elite.
Not only would she lose her job and reputation, she might actually end up in prison as a convicted criminal.
"Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling."
At Zane's prompting, she snapped back to reality and immediately stood up, nervously bowing as she addressed them.
"I'm so sorry... I was momentarily confused and did something terrible, causing your children to get sick and nearly creating a disaster. It's all my fault, and I sincerely apologize to you both! I'm truly sorry!"
Nora didn't dare meet their eyes, staring at the floor while continuously bowing and nodding.