Chapter 12.
“Get that cat out of here and focus on doing your job!”
Juliette’s expression changed.
She’d thought Jovana would fly into a rage. How could this be?
That was so satisfying! Did you see Juliette’s face?”
‘I’m already sick of her spoiled princess attitude. She doesn’t know her place. How dare she boss Ms. Atherton around?”
The staff kept whispering among themselves.
Juliette’s face darkened.
Jovana gave her a cold glance and chuckled, “Ms. Palmer, if you’re not happy about this, you can terminate the contract. I’ll be expecting 5 million dollars in liquidated damages.”
Juliette’s face looked grimmer. She had no choice but to quietly have the cat taken out.
Laughter broke out around them.
After the photo shoot ended, Jovana was talking about work with the photographer.
Suddenly, an employee came over and said, “Ms. Atherton, something came up.”
Jovana hurried to the bathroom and saw Juliette arguing with Vonda. She raised her hand to slap Vonda’s face.
“Stop! Jovana snapped sharply.
But Juliette didn’t fear her at all. She slapped Vonda hard, angry that Vonda had led the earlier mocking.
Vonda cursed, then hit back without hesitation.
Juliette screamed. Her cheek instantly turned red and swollen.
She crumpled to the floor like a fragile thing, her head hitting the marble wall.
Jovana and Vonda both froze.
“What’s going on?” Armando’s voice came from behind, clearly holding back anger.
When he saw Juliette lying on the ground weakly, his heart jolted.
Juliette’s eyes were full of tears. She glanced at Armando. Tears immediately rolled down from the corners of her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have argued with Vonda. It won’t happen again…”
This was always her trick. She shed some tears and then pinned everything on someone else.
Jovana frowned, gripping her fists tightly.
Armando met Juliette’s teary gaze, his heart aching. He instinctively wanted to help her up. But considering Jovana, he asked Normand to assist Juliette instead.
Then, he looked at Vonda with cold eyes.
“You slapped someone. Aren’t you going to apologize? No matter what, she’s the company’s product spokesperson. How could you do that? If word gets out, that’d harm our company’s reputation. Apologize! If not, I’ll fire you according to the company’s rules!”
Armando could be gentle, but when angry, his imposing presence could be intimidating.
Vonda’s face turned pale.
Apologizing to a bitch was just repulsive.
Jovana couldn’t stand by. She patted Armando’s arm and called him.
Juliette caught on, dabbed at her tears, and choked out, “It’s alright, Mr. Dunbar. I’m just a nobody, a minor performer. I get that people look down on me, even lash out at me. It’s alright. Don’t let this come between you and Ms. Atherton.”
Her words only made Armando feel worse for her.
He took Jovana’s hand, softening his tone. “Vana, don’t take Vonda’s side. If we don’t settle this properly, it’ll hurt the company’s reputation once
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word gets out.
Just listen to me this once, okay?”
Jovana’s plea for leniency died on her lips. She stared at him, her heart aching
His words sounded noble, purporting to be for the company’s reputation.
But really, he just couldn’t bear to see his lover suffer.
Jovana thought, Armando, do you see how fickle you’ve become?”
Jovana took a deep breath to ease the excruciating pain.
She withdrew her hand and shielded the trembling Vonda behind her.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, fixing a cold look on Juliette, who was still sobbing dramatically,
“Oh, what a coincidence. I just happened to take a photo. If it gets posted online, I’m sure it’ll stir up a huge fuss.”
Juliette’s face went white in an instant. She stared at the phone in Jovana’s hand, panicking.
Juliette wondered, “Did she just take a picture of me slapping Vonda?”
Armando frowned and asked, “What photo? Let me take a look.”
Jovana looked calmly at Juliette, who looked panicked.
