Chapter 229 - As The CEO?

"Do you think perhaps the CEO heard what we said earlier?" One of the men in Lucy's unit who had been badmouthing Lucy earlier that morning asked his colleagues as they all sat together trying to put their heads together to find a way to do as Tom had ordered. 

"Or maybe her driver reported us?" The other male suggested.

"It really does not make sense that he will ask us to do this! It's as if he is supporting her!" One of the ladies complained.

"Is this important right now? Is this why you all wanted us to meet?" Amy asked coldly as she looked at them with disapproval. 

"You're right. Let's focus on what's important. Shouldn't we just ask her to tell us how to prove her innocence? She is the reason we are all in this mess after all," one of the men suggested. 

"I think Amy should be the one to ask her," One of the ladies suggested. 

"Yes, I agree. You're her secretary after all. Ask her if she did it or not," One of the guys added, and the others gave their consents with a nod.

"Isn't it funny how you are suddenly interested in asking for her side of the story when some hours ago you were so busy running your mouths as though you knew the facts already? Self-centered jerks," Amy muttered with a scoff.

"What are you being so cheeky about? It's not like we are the only ones who will lose our job. You're also going to lose your job if you don't do it, so quit acting so self-righteous," another female teammate hissed at her.

"Amy, do you want to lose your job? I have my parents and my wife to take care of. I can't afford to quit or be fired. So instead of exchanging words with us, you should..."

"Exactly why I don't want to be a part of this nonsense! I'd rather lose my job than work with the lot of you. I feel embarrassed that I'm associated with the selfish likes of you! Your words and actions today made me ask myself if any of you would have had my back had I been the one who was faced with this. Do whatever you want to do by yourself!" Amy snapped at them as she stood up, picked up her handbag, and walked out of the office. 

"Why is she being so touchy about this?" They asked amongst themselves as they watched her leave.

Once Amy walked out of the office she took in a deep breath to calm herself before taking the elevator leading to Lucy's office. It was just a few minutes to closing hour already, and regardless of all that was happening she was still Lucy's secretary and needed to find out if there was any task Lucy needed her to do.

Once she got to Lucy's office, she noticed that Lucy was still busy with work, so she stood by the desk and waited until Lucy raised her head to look at her, "Do you want something?" Lucy asked with a polite smile when she noticed Amy's presence.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your work. I wanted to see if you need me to do anything else before I call it a day," Amy said, making Lucy glance at the wall clock. She sighed when she saw that it was almost time to leave. Both her family and Sonia were on their way already, and she still had no idea how she was going to manage to have all of them in her little apartment at the same time.

"Thanks, but there's no task for you," Lucy said with a shake of her head.

"I also want to talk to you."

"Okay. You can sit down if you have something to say," Lucy said, jerking her head to the seat opposite her for Amy to take it.

"Thank you," Amy said politely as she sat down, and then looked at Lucy, "I know it's probably not in my place to say this, and although I don't know the details of whatever happened, I'm sorry you have to go through all of this. No one deserves this," Amy said sadly.

"Thank you," Lucy said as she watched her. She was glad that she at least knew that Amy was being sincere with her. She didn't know what else Amy had probably said after she left, but from what little she had heard, she was thankful.

"I also wanted to know if you have any plan in place on how to salvage the situation. I will like to offer my assistance," Amy said hopefully.

Lucy's brows curved, "You are not curious to know whether or not I did it?" Lucy asked curiously, wondering why Amy wasn't asking her if she was guilty or not. 

Amy took in a deep breath, "Whether or not you did it isn't the point right now. Although I don't think you did it, and even if you did, I believe you must have had a good reason for it. So tell me what I can do to help."

"You are so kind, Amy."

Amy's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at her, "When I was in high school my elder sister was accused of seducing her boss and destroying his home which led to his wife's death. The news was all over the place and no one gave her the benefit of doubt apart from our family. When she couldn't take it anymore she took her own life because of the constant embarrassment she was faced with every time she stepped out of the house. It wasn't until her death that the truth was finally revealed," Amy explained, and raised a hand to wipe the tears on her cheeks, "If only there was one person at her place of work, or maybe a neighbor who had believed in her, she probably wouldn't have taken her life," Amy said with a sniffle.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said with a sniffle of her own as she offered Amy a roll of tissue paper to wipe her eyes and nose, while she did the same.

"Don't be. Just tell me what I can do," Amy pleaded.

"Offering to help me is already more than I hoped for. Thank you for giving me the benefit of doubt and standing by me," Lucy said with a genuine smile that touched her eyes, "And inform those in the office that they don't need to worry themselves. I will take care of it myself, and none of you will have to lose your job on my account," Lucy promised. 

Amy shook her head, "I think you should let us do as the CEO instructed even though you might not have a need for it. This will go a long way in teaching everyone a lesson to find out both sides of a story before contributing in a hateful conversation," Amy suggested, and Lucy smiled. 

"Don't hesitate to let me know if you need my help. You can call me at any time of the day and I will come running," Amy promised as she stood up to leave.

"Thank you very much," Lucy said once again as she stood up. 

"Alright then. I should let you get back to what you were doing," Amy said with a polite bow before leaving the office. 

Once Amy left, Lucy shut down her laptop and stood up. It was time to leave, and she suspected that Tom was probably getting ready to go wait for her by the car park as usual. All she needed to do now was summon the courage to leave her office and face others.

Even though she wasn't guilty, it was hard for her to walk amid people who believed her to be a murderer. Now she wished she hadn't tried to be so strong earlier and had just taken Tom up on his offer to leave the office using his private elevator.

"What? Did you change your mind?" Tom asked from the doorway of her office, startling Lucy who was about to walk into his office. 

"Why are you here?" She asked when she noticed that he had not taken off his costume yet, and had also come from outside, and not his office.

"I figured you wouldn't be comfortable walking out alone, so I came in so that we can walk out together," Tom offered as he approached her.

"You haven't taken off your costume yet," Lucy reminded him.

"Being your driver, I'm powerless. I'm walking out with you as the CEO today," Tom informed her.

"As the CEO? You can't do..."

"Then what? You expect that I should just stand by and watch you suffer? What is the point of having all this if I can't protect you? It's bad enough that I can't take down the post. I should at least make sure that no employee under my payroll makes you uncomfortable."

Lucy closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She opened her eyes when she felt Tom's lips pressed on her forehead, "We will be alright," he assured her with a small smile as he took her hand and led her out.

He could feel how tense she was as they both walked out of the elevator, and even her hand which he was holding was sweaty as many curious eyes followed them, "Relax, Lu. You are safe with me," he whispered to her as he led her out.

"Tell me something," Tom said, wanting to distract her.

"What?"

"Anything," Tom said with a shrug.

"Sonia is on her way," Lucy said the first thing that came to mind.

"So I heard. If your apartment isn't enough for you all, you can use my apartment," Tom offered, not wanting to ask her if Sonia had mentioned to her that she had broken up with Bryan just so she could come and be with her. He doubted that Lucy would want to hear of that.

"I can't believe she is shameless enough to show her face around here after murdering an entire family," A lady muttered to her colleague as they walked past them, and Tom stopped, making Lucy stop too. 

"Make an example of her..." Tom whispered to Lucy, "Or I will," Tom added in a threatening tone as the muscle in his jaw twitched with barely concealed anger. 

Lucy turned to look at the lady, and she raised a challenging brow at Lucy, "Yes? What are you looking at? Or you want to kill me too?" She asked with a scoff.

Lucy's teammates who had just gotten out of the elevator watched in surprise as the lady spoke carelessly before the man who she didn't realize was the CEO.

Lucy said nothing as she took a few steps closer to the lady, and then she took note of the name and department unit displayed on her identity card, "I murdered an entire family? I suppose you can prove that in court. You will receive a letter from my lawyer tomor..."

"Within the next hour the letter will be delivered to your apartment alongside the letter of termination of your employment," Tom cut in, and then placed his arm protectively around Lucy's shoulder as he led her out, leaving the others who were stunned to silence.

Although he knew that the shareholders were not going to like what he had just done, since he had been asked to fire her, yet he had just fired another staff on her account, he didn't care. He wasn't going to just stand by anymore and watch just anyone speak ill of her. 

Once they got outside, one of Tom's cars was parked in front of the company already with a driver waiting for them, so he held out the door for her to get in, before getting inside.

"I don't think it was a good move exposing yourself that way," Lucy said with a concerned frown.

"Don't worry about me, let's just focus on clearing this up quickly."