Chapter 109
William had been busy all morning when he saw Ava's resignation email, and it made him so angry he felt like his insides were tied in knots.
He rubbed his temple with one hand and dialed Ava's extension, wanting to call her over for a scolding. But no matter how many times he called, no one picked up.
"James, go to the design department and get Ava."
Since the phone wasn't working, he had to send someone.
Seeing William's dark expression, James didn't dare ask questions and headed straight downstairs. Not knowing what had happened, he had a vague feeling he needed to be extra careful.
The design department was deathly quiet. James walked to Ava's desk and saw it was so clean there wasn't even a tissue box. The computer was off, the chair neatly positioned. The workspace showed no signs of being used.
He had a bad feeling and asked a nearby colleague,
"Hi, do you know where Ava went?"
Seeing James from the CEO's office, Evelyn got so nervous she started stuttering,
"She...she turned off her computer and left this morning."
James looked surprised. "Did she say anything before leaving?"
Evelyn shook her head. "She took her mug too and told me to keep in touch on Facebook."
James's heart sank. Mrs. Ava Morgan had left in anger.
"Can you open the drawer and see if she left anything inside?"
Evelyn obediently opened Ava's desk drawer. It was completely empty.
James panicked now. He returned to the CEO's office with his head hanging low,
"Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Ava Morgan is gone. She cleaned out everything she had at the company, didn't leave a single thing."
William suddenly lost interest in work. He'd only said a few words to her this morning, and that woman pulled this stunt. If she thought he'd ask her to come back, that was impossible.
"Let her go. Better if she doesn't come back!"
He snapped irritably. With that little ability to handle things, how could she work at the Morgan Group? Besides, the test results were right there. She made a mistake, wouldn't apologize, and wouldn't let him, her boss, give her some feedback.
This was ridiculous. She'd been spoiled rotten.
James let out a soft sigh, then, after a few seconds, carefully asked,
"Mr. Morgan, should we give her a call?"
William lifted his eyelids and shot him a sharp look,
"Why don't you be the CEO instead?"
James held his breath and retreated from the CEO's office. Finding a quiet spot, he secretly called Ava. He felt that Mr. Morgan clearly wanted to bring her back but was too embarrassed to say so. And he had to handle this for William.
Until Mrs. Ava Morgan came back, forget about him as the personal assistant—no one in the entire company would have an easy time.
Ava received James's call when she was already in the car, heading to Shadow City.
"James, what's up?"
When the call connected, James breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mrs. Ava Morgan, when are you coming back? The company needs you."
James's inner thoughts: The company's tens of thousands of employees need you, I need you, please come back. With Mr. Morgan's temper, he's going to make everyone miserable.
Ava glanced at the scenery flying past the window.
"James, I'm on the highway right now, going to Shadow City with Mr. Howard Morgan. I can't come to the company for now, and probably won't need to go back in the future either. If you have something to say, just say it directly."
James nearly went weak in the knees when he heard Ava say she wouldn't be coming back to the company.
"Mrs. Ava Morgan, please don't be upset. You know Mr. Morgan's temper—he just doesn't know how to say nice things, but he's not a bad person."
James figured Mrs. Ava Morgan's departure this time was most likely because she'd been upset by something Mr. Morgan said this morning.
Ava was silent for a moment.
"James, it has nothing to do with what he said. I'm not upset. I already submitted my resignation email. Mr. Morgan should have seen it."
James hung up, feeling hopeless. No doubt about it, he was about to work in a living hell. He guessed William had only seen Mrs. Ava Morgan's resignation email and was angry, but didn't yet know she'd left home for Shadow City.
If he found out Mrs. Ava Morgan had not only quit her job but also left home without saying goodbye, how furious would he be?
The thought was terrifying.
After Ava finished talking with James, Howard gave her an earful.
"Ava, how could you resign? I'll transfer you to another department. You've been in the design department, so why not go to the marketing department next? Try to get a clear understanding of the entire company's business processes within a year, and run the company together with William. I'm having you rotate through all the departments because these things are useless if others teach you—you have to experience them yourself."
Ava knew Howard had high hopes for her and didn't know what to say at this moment.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry."
"Silly girl, come with me to clear your head first. When we get back, I'll arrange for you to join the marketing department. Don't worry, that troublemaker won't dare object."
Howard's expression was serious. He thought to himself that even if William had objections, he'd have to keep them to himself. He had plenty of ways to deal with him.
Ava wanted to say something more, but Howard cut her off completely.
She thought that no matter what, she'd accompany Howard on this vacation first. She sent her sketches to Swan. Who knew what kind of storm the Morgan Group would face next? Thinking about this, she felt even more sorry for the old man in front of her, who only thought of her. The Morgan Group was his life's work.
If she hadn't been worried about dragging the Morgan Group down, she would have exposed Sarah's plagiarism long ago.
Waiting until now to make her move was because she'd really reached the limit of her patience. Sarah kept provoking her, testing her boundaries. She couldn't just sit there and let Sarah manipulate her forever.
So she'd played that card.
Looking back now, her approach had been somewhat impulsive. She should have thought it through more, to see if there was a better way to take down Sarah without dragging the Morgan Group into it.
Now it was done. She could only wait for the storm to hit.
She believed William, that business genius, would easily solve this crisis. The Morgan Group had reached its current position under his leadership—what storms hadn't they weathered?
The luxury cars drove on the highway for several hours, arriving in Shadow City at sunset.
Shadow City was a coastal city. The road layout wasn't as orderly, and she couldn't even tell which direction was which.
The Morgan Family's villa was by the sea. Their cars came from Emerald City, got off the highway, and drove onto a coastal road.
At this moment, the sunset's afterglow scattered on the water's surface, sparkling with starlight. It was like a shattered Milky Way falling down, breathtakingly beautiful.
The sea breeze poured in through the car window, blowing away all unpleasantness. Thinking about not having to face that harsh man, William, for the next few days, she felt nothing but refreshed and relaxed.
The servants at the villa here had already prepared everything and made Howard's favorite dishes. Even so, they'd brought along one of the family's chefs for this trip.
The car stopped at the villa—three stories, with a good-sized yard.
Someone had been arranged to maintain it all along, so it didn't look at all like the owners rarely stayed here.
The yard had quite a few vegetables and fruits planted. Pink climbing roses covered an entire wall. The air was pleasant.
The third floor had two bedrooms and a study.
Howard stayed in the master bedroom on the third floor, with Jeremy in the other room to make it convenient to take care of Howard.
Ava chose a room on the second floor with a view of the sea. Her suitcase had already been brought in for her.
She hung her clothes in the closet one by one, feeling great looking at all the bright colors.
At home, half the walk-in closet was filled with William's black, white, and gray clothes—so monotonous you could tell the owner's personality at a glance.
Free from that jerk, she felt completely light and carefree.