Perfect Match: Irresistible Desire For You
Chapter 50

“No need for that. I am more than capable of walking by myself.” Ashley picked up the things on the table and walked towards the door of the office, ignoring Lina who was coming over to ‘help’.

Yasmin trailed closely behind her, but when she passed Lina she pretended not to see her foot and stepped on it hard before she went proudly on her way. If it wasn’t for the fact that Lina was pregnant, Yasmin would have slapped her across her face and slammed the door on her. The woman was really lucky that it was just her foot she stepped on.

Lina gritted her teeth in pain because she couldn’t scream out. Suddenly, the door flung open and the rest of the employees from the department streamed in, surrounding the trio. For the sake of her professional image, she held back from showing any sign of pain.

At this moment, Yasmin turned around and caught a glimpse of Lina, who was standing tall with a straight back and a pale face. A wicked smile tugged at the corner of her lips at this sight. The smile was not lost on Lina who glared fiercely back at her. Yasmin, of course, pretended to be scared which made Lina’s anger only grow.

When the other colleagues noticed Ashley’s small box and Lina’s smug face, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened. Everyone looked at Lina with expressions that ranged from disappointment to disgust. This woman had been picking on Ashley from the beginning. She even stole Ashley’s boyfriend, but she didn’t stop there. She framed her and drove her out of the company. How vicious could this woman be!

“I’ll be taking over the marketing department after Manager Guzman leaves,” Lina announced to everyone as she tried to regain her composure. “After all, I’ve worked with you for a long time. Does any of you have a problem with this?”

All the colleagues ignored her. No one dare say no to this woman. Everyone turned their attention to Ashley. They knew that their manager was being asked to step down and were sad to see her go. They gathered around her to bid her farewell. Many of them expressed their reluctance at her sudden departure.

Watching her colleagues ignore her was painful. Worse still, their concern for Ashley only made Lina feel more resentful. Their preference of Ashley over her was a bitter pill to swallow.

Ashley was moved by their concern. They were a loyal bunch and she was grateful for such a strong team. As she looked beyond them, she couldn’t help but notice Lina’s acrimonious eyes. Lina was vexed! Ashley did not want to cause any further trouble or jeopardize the future of her colleagues, so she said, “Thank you, everyone. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you. Let’s part here. Don’t forget to keep giving the work your best. If I can be of any help to you in future, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

She turned around, picked up her things and walked towards the exit. A male colleague stepped away from the group and hurried towards her. He extended his arm and took her box from her. “Manager, may I help you with your things?” he asked.

His request was so sincere that Ashley found it hard to say no. She nodded at him, and he smiled back. After taking a few steps, she paused and turned around once more. Everyone stood rooted to the ground as they watched her leave. Goodbyes are always bittersweet. Each of them contributed to her experience here at work. They made the effort worthwhile. For that she would always be grateful. “All of you have your own unique talent that has made my time here unforgettable. Keep bringing your best selves to work and you will have a bright future. Come on!” After saying that, she made a gesture of cheering to the crowd and turned away. The male colleague followed her with her things.

“Alright, enough of staring. Get back to work now.” Lina clapped her hands to get the attention of her colleagues. Watching everyone’s faces flooded with concern for Ashley only irked her further. Grinding her teeth, she tried to maintain her composure and hide her anger from her colleagues. She remembered what those people said and did today and would definitely get they paid for their complete indifference to her.

After saying goodbye to Yasmin and the man, Ashley hailed a taxi to take her back to her apartment. In the cab, her mind raced. She had to make a plan. She couldn’t tell Mike that she was fired. She did not want him to worry. He had enough on his plate. Anyway, she was used to being independent and dealing with her problems by herself. She would replace a way to solve this situation on her own. First, she needed to investigate the events that led to her being fired. They made no sense to her, and she had to get to the bottom of it. She had to uncover the truth.

She had lost her job without just cause. It would be a lie to say that she didn’t feel anything. Deep down, she sensed her own anxiety, but she pushed it away. She shut her eyes and leaned back against the leather seat as she made a plan to protect her rights and interests. If Lina didn’t give her a satisfactory explanation, she would make her regret her actions. She had to let the other woman know she was never a pushover.

At her apartment, she put her things down and slid off her heels. She knew there was a lot to get done and she did not have much time. After a quick tidying up of her things, she sat down at the dining table, removed her laptop from its case and got down to business. While at college, she had a part-time job in an intelligence agency. She remembered her colleagues vividly. They were a group of highly talented individuals with diverse skills. Their perspectives on how to approach challenges fascinated her. This small, largely unknown intelligence agency once encountered a crisis and was going to shut down because of a lack of funds. Ashley found the business very promising, and she knew it would be a pity to lose such a talented team. They worked like a well-oiled machine. After pondering on the agency’s future for a while, she made the bold, and some would say impulsive, decision to buy the largely unknown intelligence agency with the life savings. This was hard-earned money that she collected from her part-time jobs over the years. The management was stunned to replace out a young girl had saved them. For grown, conservative men, this was a slap in their faces. When realizing there was no other way, they finally came to terms with this reality and were determined to improve their ability of intelligence collection to pay back their benefactor.

At that time, Ashley couldn’t bear to see the intelligence agency fold. It would mean letting down those who loved this job. As was always the case with her, she put their needs first and wanted to help them ride this crisis out. She repeatedly explained to the leadership that she wanted to help them. It was not about ousting the management and taking over. She was merely offering an olive branch to help them get out of this crisis. When they had sufficient funds, she would gladly hand it back, without a second thought. Her sincerity convinced the agency’s founder. The business had turned around since then, but Ashley retained her ownership rights behind the scenes. Apart from checking the accounts and collecting her annual bonuses, she did not need to do anything more. Today, the intelligence agency’s clientele had grown multifold and profits continued to stream in. Those men were indebted to their benefactor for not losing their jobs. In fact, they were deeply grateful to her and would like to investigate anything for her if the boss ordered it. No questions asked.

She picked up the phone and dialed the agency. After chatting with the team, Ashley felt much better. Speaking to them was refreshing. They reminded her that people were not all bad. Despite her terrible experiences, sincerity and empathy did exist. These people were genuine in their care for her, and this made her anger towards Lina melt away.

After entrusting the task to them, she knew she needed to wait. This investigation would definitely take time if it was going to expose some of the ugly sides of the Synder Group. She also wanted to replace out what Joseph had against the Synder Group.

As Joseph’s cold and stern face appeared in her mind, angry thoughts flooded her. She felt that since getting to know him, her life had been full of bad luck. First, she lost her virginity in a meaningless way, then she faced setbacks in her career, and now she was fired. It dawned on her that he was her nemesis.

In actuality, Charlie and Lina were the culprit of her bad luck. But it was time to pay back what they had done. She paused and took a deep breath. Shaking her head, she tried to get rid of her messy thoughts. This was not who she was. With a loud sigh, she picked up a financial magazine and flipped through its pages distractedly.