With everyone's eyes fixed on him, Stuart Bai frowned and shot a displeased look at the woman he had personally hired in the position she held today.

Maxene was confident that he would speak in her favor as he had tried to talk her into continuing with this job which meant that he valued her presence here.

Though Leon seemed confident on the outside, he was fretting what this old man would say.

'What if he speaks against Lina because of their old grudge?' He feared that their plan would go awry thanks to this sudden disruption.

Stuart Bai alternated his gaze between Lina Yang and Maxene Kang as though he was appraising their qualifications.

While people were awaiting his judgment, Lina and Benji were as cool as cucumber.

'I have seen Maxene's files. She may have graduated from a prestigious university but…' Lina snickered to herself as she stared at the Director.

Right on time, Director Stuart Bai looked Maxene in the eye to give her his answer.

"Miss Yang is more than qualified to work in this company. In fact, she can handle my job as a Director with ease." He revealed which elicited startled gasps from everyone.

Here they were labeling Lina as a woman who had gained this job because of her connections with the top tier of the company.

However, as it turns out, they had been too far off the target and now the truth was slowly being exposed for everyone to see and make an informed decision on who was right and who was wrong all along.

Stephen was not interested in who was more qualified to work in this office but he was also impressed when he heard the high praise that the grumpy man had given her.

'I'm sure he said the second sentence because he is worried about me complaining to daddy!' Lina associated his high words with this possibility.

But what Stuart had mentioned was what he had believed wholeheartedly.

"What? Are you sure that she is even qualified to do a simple clerk's position here!?" Maxene scoffed when she heard these absurd words.

'Why did his answer differ from my expectations?' She was bewildered and was unwilling to accept this ridiculous answer.

After all, this pride in her qualifications was because she had graduated from the same university as the VP of Obsidia and was also his junior.

Hence when she had been rejected by Talia's Jewelry, she had applied for a post at Obsidia and was surprised to see that Wade was the VP here.

This was also why Stuart had given her slightly preferential treatment even when she was haughty and crude at times.

Maxene was waiting for Stuart to reveal her extraordinary qualifications but the outcome was different from her expectations.

Stephen noticed that this answer did not sit well with that annoying woman who was about to speak something else so he decided to act before she did.

"Now that we have gained clarification on who is worthy of the job can we move on to the next and important matter!?" He growled impatiently.

The people said nothing in return to avoid getting targeted by this young man, thus giving him the perfect opportunity to continue.

"We all know that this incident blew up out of proportions because of a few loudmouths." He mentioned while scanning the room.

Everyone who had a hand in driving Lina's name through the dirt subconsciously dropped their heads to avoid his scrutinizing gaze.

"Come forward and make things easy for me." He announced as though he was giving them the easy way out.

His simple statement made people look at each other to see who would dare to step up and confess to their crimes.

So many of them had participated in this rumor fiasco, if not being an active member they had at least been a passive member who had heard what had been spread in the company.

More or less everyone had been a part of this incident.

Stephen frowned when he noticed that none of them had stepped forward and just when he was about to give them another warning, he saw someone move.

"I was present when Miss Lina's name was being destroyed. I am sorry that I did nothing." Anya, Vivian's friend, was the first to express her guilt.

Upon witnessing the young woman's brave actions slowly the others came forward with the same statement.

Yet the ones who had actively spread the rumor had not moved an inch.

Stephen's eyes narrowed as he focused his nasty glare on the group of women who had taken the lead in this incident.

Though reluctant at being at the receiving end of the glare, these women stepped forward and stood in silence without speaking a word of apology.

Lina shook her head but did nothing as she was waiting to see whether the main culprit would come forward.

"The main culprit has still not come out." Stephen's words brought a puzzled look to everyone's faces.

Only one woman was aware of what this little devil meant and her eyes moved in the direction of the one who had caused this entire mess.

Maxene Kang, who had just obtained a scorching glare from the gossipy woman tilted her head to the side as she stared right back.

'Why are you looking at me as though I did something wrong?' The expression on her face was conveying this message to the gossipy woman who felt as though she would puke blood the next second.

'What is that innocent expression supposed to mean!?' She glowered at her but did not say a word.

Anya had caught this silent conversation between these two and shook her head in disappointment.

"Master Jin, it was Miss Kang who had told us that Miss Lina is repeatedly out of the office when she needs her." She tattled like a child in the playground.

Anya felt no shame upon snitching on Maxene as she had warned her earlier today yet this woman was hell-bent on messing with Miss Lina.

Lina stood as a silent spectator as the show advanced to the next level.

'Oh… Shall we take an intermission here?' She pondered while watching this entertaining show.

___

Hearing Anya's bold words, her colleague, the woman who had started the fire in the department, felt as though she had also gained the courage to speak up for herself.

"It was Miss Kang who said that Miss Lina skips work and is not serious about her job!" She agreed with Anya's words.

'So… No intermission? Okay!' Lina stopped herself from taking her seat on a nearby chair.

The people who had heard this were stunned when the people being accused of framing Lina was the former fairy of the Marketing Department.

"Why would she do that?"

"Miss Lina was always targeted by Miss Kang. Have you not noticed that yet?"

"Is this jealousy at the workplace?"

"Tsk tsk…"

The murmurs began to rise in the room which made Maxene panic as she shook her head to deny them.

"I never said that! I was just expressing my disappointment about not being able to meet the consultant when I needed her." She scoffed as she glared at the woman who had pointed the finger at her.

'You think that you can push the blame onto my head? Dream on!' She sneered inside as she jutted her lips out to put on an aggrieved appearance.

"All I did was to share my troubles with a colleague. I never asked them to spread any of the words that I had said in confidence to her." She explained what had happened on that day.

'Hmm hmm… That's a valid point!' Lina nodded as though she was a member of the jury in a courtroom.

The calm and collected expression on her face made it look as though this entire drama had nothing to do with her and all she was here for was to watch the entertainment.

'Shameless!' Benji, who was still mad at her, scowled as he averted his eyes from his boss.

The faith she had in her brother, her puppy Steph and her assistant was the reason for the nonchalance she was able to display at the moment.

"If that is your justification for saying such negative words about my boss then there should be no problem in telling us why you were seeking her?" Benji interrogated while staring down at the woman.

'Him again!' Maxene gritted her teeth because she knew that this man would find a way to twist her words against her.

Seeing how she stayed mum, the people were beginning to doubt her words and this was making her feel nervous.

"You could have come to me, her assistant if you needed to reach her that urgently. But instead, you decided to whine about the situation to people who were unrelated to this matter?" He added, further strengthening his case.

Maxene glared at the tall man and then scoffed without trying to hide her hatred from everyone's eyes.

"The matters concerning us, should a mere assistant know about it?" She sneered as she dragged his lower position into the mix.

Lina's eyes darkened when she heard this derogatory comment being aimed at one of her people and she took a step forward.

'She needs to be taught a proper lesson.' She narrowed her eyes as she moved ahead.

However, her arm was held before she could shorten the distance between them.

"Control," Stephen whispered as his hand gripped Lina's forearm, forcing her to halt in her steps.

"If Benji is not qualified to know about it then am I?" Stuart Bai stood before Maxene as he questioned her.

The man who had always stood before her to shield her bad behavior and mistakes from others was now standing against her to point the same out.

This thought made her feel a strange prick in her heart as she grimaced upon feeling the pain.