Chapter 26 Obvious Hostility

When she came into the house, she saw that her two little darlings had just returned as well. From the looks of it, they had not settled for long. They were picked up by their uncle, Lyle Lowe. It was fortunate they did not see her downstairs and for that, Lyla was truly grateful. For two days, Lyla constantly felt guilty for her children. As she had to work overtime, she had not managed to properly cook them a meal. “Eh? Mummy’s home! It’s nice to see that mummy didn’t have to work overtime!” Gretel lunged herself at Lyla as she cried out in surprise. Lyla, as she hugged Gretel tightly, said, “What’s going on? Seems to me that you guys are hoping for me to come back late!” She smiled. “What are you talking about, mummy? We are very happy that you are here! I would even go as far as to say, congratulations!” Gretel said, over-flattering the mother. She even dragged Lyla to the sofa as she prepared to give her mother a massage. She turned to her brother and winked and that made Hansel’s face twitch a little. That was his response; speechless at his little sister’s skill in flattery. “It’s alright, my darling. I’m not tired!” Lyla smiled. Her little darling was always better at making people happy. “I’ll make dinner.” After that, she changed her clothes, put on an apron and started to work in the kitchen. “Darling? What do you have in mind for dinner? Should I make your favourite? How does cabbage and chicken stew sound?” When it came to cooking for her family, Lyla would never feel tired or troubled. In fact, it was a form of enjoyment for her. … On the following day, after Lyla sent her two darlings to school, she went to work. Somehow, she could feel the animosity from Kathleen Turner only getting worse and worse. Working in the company would only be challenging, day by day. She would have to be careful of herself. She could immediately feel something was off, the moment she stepped into her department. The entire Department of Design was shrouded in a thick heavy atmosphere. Even though work had been a little too much lately, the atmosphere had never been that bad. Lyla came to her desk and started to flip through her documents. Lily Aldrin, who sat beside her, came in earlier. “Morning, Lyla,” she said, feebly. “Morning, Lily! What’s the matter today?” Lyla asked, feeling a little strange. “What else could it be…” said Lily as she glanced at Kathleen’s office. Lyla picked up on the signal and understood that the mood in the office had got something to do with Kathleen. She had seen her in the office a few times. Surely, that would not be her first. In that case, why did everyone only now, treating her like the enemy? “Seems to me that this is not her first time being in the office, yes?’ Lyla turned to Lily and asked. “Yes, and no. Today is the official day she’s working in her official capacity. Everything in the past was merely playing around. Now, it looks like she’s taking things seriously.” Lily pouted. It was painfully obvious that Kathleen Turner was not someone people liked in the hearts of everyone. That said, no one would dare to go against her. She was, after all, the girlfriend of the president. “In a way, it’s good. There’s now one less person slacking off in the company!” Lyla arched an eyebrow. “By the way, Lyla, you have to be careful. I can see that she especially hates you!” Lily got closer to Lyla and advised her. ‘That true. I’ve ruined their intimate moment. Of course she would hate me! However… I didn’t do it on purpose! It’s her fault for not picking the right place!’ “Thank you, Lily. I’ll watch my back,” said Lyla as she smiled at Lily. The two then buried themselves in the work they currently needed to complete. After ten minutes or so, Kathleen suddenly came out from her office. “Meeting room, all of you. Ten minutes!” As soon as she finished, her eyes glared at Lyla but she turned around and walked away. ‘Fucking hell, that blatant hatred is just too blatant!’ After she left, everyone in the department looked at each other. What happened? The moment she came, she wanted to have a meeting. Something about it was obvious. Everyone started to discuss amongst themselves. Even though they were sharing their complaints, no one dared to disobey, only to comply. Ten minutes later, in the meeting room, Kathleen was seen sitting at the front most seat. The large meeting table had two sides. The designers were sitting on one side and the assistants were sitting on the other. She arrogantly tossed a folder on the table. “This is the Riddlesons’ contract. Why is it not yet done? Someone tell me why!” Everyone turned to each other and they lowered their heads, not talking. “Fine! No one wants to speak. In that case, I’ll start picking out one of you to get this contact signed!” Kathleen said. Everyone was still muted. Lyla did not understand what was going on. The only thing she knew was the atmosphere was wrong. “Who wants to go?” Kathleen asked, forcing someone to speak. “I have to be overseas this week. I don’t have the time.” “I have a few cases on my desk! And I have a deadline to submit them!” “Me too! Mine is waiting on President Pattinson!” Everyone had their own excuses whereas Lyla was the only person who remained silent. As such, Kathleen turned her eyes to her. Everyone, in unison, turned towards her as well. Lyla frowned. It looked like she was not getting away. Whatmore, the gun has, and always was, pointed towards her. “Miss Lowe, since you are the one with nothing to do, you are tasked with getting this contract done! I hope you won’t trouble everyone here.” ‘Fuck, you’d put that halo on my head?!’ Lyla could not say anything. Even though she did not know what was going on, based on everyone's negative reaction, she knew it was something bad. She did not even have the leeway to feel scared about it… “I’m currently working on two cases…” “Is that so? Put that aside and get this case done first!” Kathleen demanded, commandingly. ‘Fucking hell? That bias is just too obvious innit? How could she do that?’ That being said, Lyla was not for one to back out. She knew Kathleen was going all out against her. Even if she would decline the work openly, Kathleen would still find a reason to get her to work on it. The better way for her to get through this was to just agree to do it. At that point, she nodded and said, “I’ll do that.” If she was right, the entire meeting room, all eyes were looking at her suspiciously. Kathleen Turner even had a satisfying smile on her face. “Since it comes to that, this contract is now in Miss Lowe’s hands. If you can’t get it done, I expect your resignation letter when this is over.” Lyla was speechless. “That’s all! Dismissed!” said Kathleen. An inexplicable smile formed on her face before she turned around and left. Everyone could finally breathe normally then. They packed up their things and hurriedly left the room. Lyla and Lily were the only two people left in the meeting room.