One Night Stand Gone Wrong

**Three months later**

Thomas and Arielle were living in their high.

Their work was going exceedingly well.

They were practically living together. No one knew of the secret fling.

They were happy and content with each other.

However, the company was in chaos.

Arielle was good at her job. She had accurately flagged most of the employees hired through back-doors – using connections or due to sucking up to others, rather than their workability.

She had, similarly, flagged troublesome projects likely to end up as a liability.

There were a lot of peaceful and forced exits and contract breaches in the last three months.

That led to a series of unrest among the employees. The internal stir and tense environment had Arielle and Thomas cracking their heads.

It was evident that people were let go due to their incompetence. As such, people hired on merit and doing their work well need not have panicked, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

Arielle suspected that someone could be causing panic deliberately and revealed her suspicions to Thomas. Thomas had come to a similar conclusion by himself as well.

Hence, they devised a plan to counter the detractors.

The obvious way to do that was to lay out the plans, reassess their values as a company, and reward their employees.

They announced an impromptu event in addition to the annual event that would go on as scheduled.

Everyone could hear the unsaid words; the event was to assuage the panicked employees.

Soon the preparation began, and the mood shifted to a cheery one almost immediately.

But this peace did not last long as two people joined the company in a much grander fashion than Arielle.

Those two were – Emma Payne – Thomas’s elder sister who had the helm of the company before Thomas; and Sophia Green – Thomas’s ex-girlfriend, daughter of one of the minor shareholders, and the heir of Green Group.

Green Group was a new company that was barely seven years old and had just about started flourishing in the last two years.

Thomas was irritated because he could tell those two had joined the company with ulterior motives and not actually to work. He knew both well enough to understand that they couldn’t care less about the company, merely the money and privilege it brought.

Arielle did not know either of them. Given the timing they joined, the grand announcement, the banquet, and the fact that Thomas fiercely opposed their joining, she could tell they were bad news.

But it was not in Arielle’s nature to judge a person based on her prejudices. Arielle would form her opinions of them as and when they interacted, which was bound to happen sooner than later, given their respective roles.

Arielle was disappointed that they turned out to be the same as she had guessed. It is never fun to judge a person badly before you meet them, and when you meet them, they validate your opinions of them without leaving any room for doubt.

The three women did not get along. It was evident for everyone to see.

But there was no catfight, nor arguments or insults were thrown from any side, as some people had expected. It was just two privileged women picking on Arielle and the latter treating them like air.

“Well, I am amazed how you have instructed my brother to fire all good and loyal employees just because they could see through your facade and greed.”

Emma snorted after Arielle’s presentation in one of the meetings.

Thomas frowned and bellowed, “Emma! Behave! Don’t forget who the CEO is here, and I was the one who approved all the terminations. If you have a bone to pick, come at me. She is just doing her job.”

Arielle hid her smile. Thomas supported her in front of everyone and went against his elder sister. She was pleased that he never once hinted at their unusual relationship and kept everything professional between them.

Sophia could not help but snort at that, jealousy rearing its ugly head. “Do you mean that she is sleeping with you?”

“We had been hiding it so well. How did you find that out, Miss Green?” Arielle exclaimed, making everyone gasp at her.

Thomas frowned at her and looked at her coldly. He knew she hated exposing her private life at work, so he was unsure what she meant by that. She was also not easily provoked.

But he did not say anything, merely maintaining a blank but cold look.

The onlookers understood it as Thomas being annoyed at Arielle for spitting nonsense but staying out of it to give her face and simply not caring enough for mindless gossip.

Oblivious to her surroundings, Sophia thought she had proved her point.

“See! I knew you were a bitch!”

Sophia rattled on, much to Emma’s embarrassment.

“You have been sleeping with Thomas. That’s how you got him to spend so much on you. And yet, you dare to act all innocent.”

Emma could not take Sophia’s verbal diarrhea anymore as it indirectly implicated her since they were both friends and united against Arielle.

“Shut up, Soph!” Emma cried.

“Miss Green, you should listen to Miss Payne.” Arielle finally spoke. “Please be mindful of your words if you don’t want to pay a hefty penalty. I would advise you to go through my contract with PGI and preferably do some research on me if you go against me.”

Arielle shrugged nonchalantly, “I have never lost a lawsuit. You are free to ask around.”

It gave everyone the message needed without any explicit threat.

She would sue if provoked needlessly, and she had never lost a lawsuit which meant she was innocent and resourceful enough to prove that.

Thomas had to hide his smile.

Arielle had told the truth when she admitted to sleeping with him. Yet, she managed to convince everyone that it was slander.

They had been remarkably discreet. No one could have proof of it.

It was clear that they were all verbal insults when they did not have anything against her. Knowing her advantage, Arielle had played the word games well. It took her less than 100 words to scare others off.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Thomas knew he would soon be whipped, considering how hard and fast he was falling for her.