They were finally gone.
Hazel fell back on her chair. A palpitation attacked her, and her face was ghostly white.
Zoey pushed the door open and hurried in. She looked at Hazel's pale face and asked with concern, "Ms. Haynes, are you okay?"
Hazel massaged her chest for a while and finally let out a long sigh. "I'm fine! Get me a cup of coffee!"
"Yes!" Zoey answered and went to fetch the coffee at once.
Zoey had not been with Hazel for long, but she had been very disciplined, and she never asked things she should not know.
That was why when Hazel came into the Haynes Group, she put Zoey by her side immediately.
It was lunchtime, and employees were gathering in the break room.
They had just finished lunch and were all on their cell phones, browsing for gossip.
"Wow, is this Ms. Haynes? She is so open!"
"I heard that Ms. Haynes had a quickie with Mr. Black in the bathroom on her first day here!"
"Well, what's the big deal? It's not her first time! nine years ago, at the engagement party of Mr. Black and Lyra Haynes, Mr. Black got drunk, and good, ole Ms. Haynes crept onto the man's bed and forced him to do her! Then she threatened to kill herself. That was why Mr. Black married her!"
"Really? How could any woman be so shameless?" Several new interns were dumbfounded by this. shocking news.
They were fresh out of college, and they had no clue about such things before. Being young, dumb, and easy to be manipulated, they were all outraged at once.
Some of them were even thinking of storming into Hazel's office and spitting in her face right now.
"Why do you think she did it so well in CI? She slept her way up! High–level superiors, business. partners, and even their clients have all been conquered by her pussy!"
"That woman might look elegant and honorable, but deep down, she is cheaper than a 20–cent whore!"
A few of Amara's closest associates kept saying things like that, spreading rumors all over, trying to ruin Hazel's reputation for good.
"What the… such a bitch! And yet, she hooked up with Mr. Woods again? Oh, poor Mr. Woods." The interns who felt so sorry for the man.
"And that's not all!"
"Exactly, Ms. Haynes isn't just a slut in her private life. She's also ruthless. She disowned all her relatives and was extremely vicious! She kicked Mr. Haynes out of the board of directors without any consideration!"
"Mr. Haynes even had a heart attack for this, I'm told! How could she do that to her own father?"
"Oh,my God, how can this slutty, awful bitch still sit in her chair?"
"Yeah, how does a scheming bitch like that deserve to be chairwoman of the Haynes Group?"
"Well, you can always quit if you want to."
"I'd like to, but I have a life to live, right?"
"Oh, by the way, have you heard the rumor? The word is that IIRS are making a big move!"
"What move?"
"They said that a lot of employees are going to be laid off!"
"Oh, no! We're not included, right?"
"Don't worry. If she dares to fire us, we'll go on a strike!"
"But she had been so calm about the comments on the Internet. I would have hidden from everyone if I were her."
"Alright, enough of that. If it gets to Ms. Haynes, we'll all be in trouble!"
Of course, Hazel knew about this. She also knew that it was Amara's people who were stirring things up. They were deliberately inciting employees and spreading rumors.
However, there was nothing she could do. Not right now.
She had to wait for her team to arrive. That was when she got rid of all Amara's staff, whatever the cost!
Back in the Haynes villa.
"Mom," called out Lyra, "I'm so mad!"
She came home, kicked off her high heels, took off her coat, and dropped her purse on the floor. Without even changing her clothes, she threw herself on the couch.
The maids who followed behind her were hurriedly cleaning up the mess.
"Get out," Lyra barked at them, "you're annoying me!"
"Sure, sure! Right away!" The maids quickly left the sitting room.
Lyra was only a gentle lady in front of outsiders. Only when she was with the housemaids, her true nature was revealed.
"Why are you back so early?" her mother asked, wearing a moisturizing mask. "Didn't you go to see the wedding dress with Chase? Have you picked out the proper one?"
Amara was surprised to see her daughter back so early.
Lyra gritted her teeth angrily. "No!" she complained. "It's been ruined by that bitch Hazel again!"
Amara gasped. She had never expected this!
She pulled down the mask at once and asked in a hurry, "What the hell happened? Hurry up and tell me!"
"Chase went to sign the bet–on agreement with that bitch today. I was worried. So, I went over there. to check it out. As soon as I arrived, I saw that bitch hitting on Chase! Oh, I'm so mad!"
Amara asked even more frantically, "And?"
Lyra punched the couch angrily before going on, "And then I had a fight with Chase! We were supposed to go to see the wedding dress today, but that bitch Hazel ruined it! She ruined it all!"
Then with angry tears in her eyes, Lyra told Amara briefly what had happened.
She had been waiting for this day for nine years.
And when Chase finally proposed to her, everything went back to the beginning.
Lyra had no idea how long she would have to wait for the next chance to come.
Amara's face darkened with disappointment. She lowered her voice. "Tell Chase last night?"
Lyra looked at her mother in bewilderment. "Do what?" she asked.
"Are you serious? Do what every couple does! Did you sleep with him? What else are you thinking?"
That was blunt enough for Lyra to understand. Flushing, she replied, "Oh, Mom, why do keep focusing on these things?"
"You foolish girl, you spent the whole night with Chase!" Amara said anxiously. "Don't tell me that nothing happened last night!"
"But, it just didn't happen…" Lyra said.
Amara was even angrier when she heard that. "Tell me the truth, Lyra! Did you do it or not? Don't lie to me!"
"Why would I lie to you? Chase said that he was going to save the best for our wedding night."
Amara paused a few seconds to consider this information. Then she asked suspiciously, "Is he… bad in bed?"
"How is that possible? Mom, what are you thinking?"
Chase was never a celibate man!
Just because he had not slept with Lyra over the years, it did not mean that he had not been hooking up with others.
It was just that the girls whom Chase hooked up with had never been capable of threatening Lyra's position.
Therefore, Lyra seldom complained about that. She merely paid no attention.
After all, she was Chase's fiancee. She found it demeaning to be jealous of those cheap whores.
"Oh, you're so stupid! You can't even handle a single man!" said Amara, frowning. "Do I have to teach you everything?"
"Let's not talk about it right now, Mom. I'm just too annoyed to think any of that."
Amara narrowed her eyes. "That little bitch is a disaster!" she cursed fiercely. "Don't worry. I'm gonna avenge you. I'll make her 'famous' again!"