Chapter 68 - World Door Listening Day

"What did you hear?"

Stephanie had a hard time calming down since she returned from Acrosoft. She couldn't shake off the feeling that Jade might have overheard her conversation with Jake. She really wished that was true, but she couldn't get over the way Jade had looked at her when their eyes met back at the conference room.

She would have cared less had she been able to sign that contract, because she'd have proven that she was more capable than Jade, but not only had she missed that opportunity of signing the contract, but she might have also given Jade some leverage over her.

What if Jade told Cale about it? She wouldn't know what to do if that happened. That would be the end of her.

Right now she could only hope that Jade didn't hear a thing about her sleeping with Jake.

Jade looked with mockery etched in her eyes. It was fascinating seeing an unnerved Stephanie. This was the first time she was seeing Stephanie in such a nerve wrecking state and she wouldn't lie that she wasn't enjoying every bit of it.

Jade's continued staring blankly at Stephanie and her silence was making anxious. Stephanie was trying her best to compose her but she was failing miserably at it. Her fingers trembled lightly as trepidation engulfed every bit if her.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Jade feigned ignorance as she stared her down. Although it would cause her immense pleasure seeing Stephanie suffer, she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to be an hypocrite by judging Stephanie for what she had done.

She didn't think it would be right to torture Stephanie with this secret, because that would be hypocrisy. Frankly, she was guilty of same crime, since she had slept with the same man for money too. Thinking about it made her heart clench tightly.

But come to think of it, it seemed Stephanie was always entangling herself with every man she had encountered. Could this be mere concidence or was it a deliberate act? She looked at Stephanie with a calculative look. She sighed inwardly as she dismissed that thought.

There was no way it could have been delibrate, after all no one knew about what had happened between herself and Jake.

Stephanie searched Jade eyes for a clue that she might just be messing with her or maybe she really didn't hear a thing, the latter was what she sincerely wished for.

She deeply stared at Jade but she couldn't get a clue out of her. Her face was expressionless. She couldn't arrive at a definite conclusion if Jade had really heard something or not. From the look on Jade's face, it would seem she had no clue what she was referring to.

Stephanie let herself relax a bit.

"Never mind" She sighed before turning to leave. Jade lips slightly curved upwards as she watched Stephanie turn to leave. She shook her head in pity. She understood the feeling of being haunted by a dirty secret, since she had one herself.

Stephanie suddenly stopped on her tracks and slowly turned to Jade, who in turn raised a brow in confusion. She didn't like the way Stephanie was suddenly staring at her.

"Jade I hope you aren't trying to be smart with me?" Stephanie said in a threatening voice.

Jade was stunned when she felt a tight grip around her wrist. Her eyes flashed red at the sudden surge of pain that shot through her wrist. She lowered her eyes to find Stephanie tightly squeezing on her wrist.

"I'd let go if I were you" Jade said coldly as a her eyes turned murderous. Stephanie shuddered under Jade's fiery gaze. She slowly let go of Jade's wrist and suddenly turned to leave without apologizing. Something was wrong with the way Jade looked at her. She could swear that she had never seen it before.

"Oh..I think I remember something now" Jade said dramatically stopping Stephanie on her tracks. Her body stiffened at the words that followed.

"I think there was a part when you were pleading for the contract to be signed and..." Jade trailed off to mess with her. She had no intentions talking about this, but if Stephanie wanted to do this, then, she'd do her the honors. The last thing she hated was being intimidated or looked down on.

"And did I almost forgot the part were you had slept him for that too" Jade walked closer to her with a sardonic smile on her face.

Stephanie felt a chill run down her spine when Jade's expression turned deadpan suddenly, with her eyes, cold. It was as if that cynical smile on her face a while ago was a figment of her own imagination.

She took a step back with every step Jade took close to her. She could see anger written in Jade's eyes.

Jade continued walking close to Stephanie till her back touched the wall. With the heels she had on, she had an advantage in height over Stephanie, which made tower over her.

Stephanie was shocked when she saw light flash through her eyes and a deafening sound echoed through the emergency exit. She felt her cheek burn by intense heat as it slowly swelled. She slowly raised her hand to her cheek as her eyes glistened with tears. It was at this point that she realized that Jade had just slapped her.

She opened her mouth to say something but her throat was burned and dry and it hurt more than her cheek. It felt like she had been hit on her throat and not on her face. She involuntarily shut her mute mouth when Jade's gaze intensified.

"Let this be last time you'll ever put that hand of yours on me or anything that belongs to me. I'm warning you Steph. You really shouldn't push me, cause I don't know what I'll do next. The next time it might just be your head against the heels or the wall. That I might act like a pushover does not mean I don't know how to fight back. Make sure this never happens again" Jade warned in a calm but grave tone that made Stephanie shudder in trepidation.

"I wonder if you were you taught any manners at all?" Jade glared at her in a condescending manner. she sighed in annoyance before turning to leave while wriggling her wrist.

Jade's hand on the door knob paused as she turned to Stephanie who was fuming in anger even though she still hasn't gotten over Jade's actions yet.

"And if you must talk about your cheating act next time, make sure there's no one by the door" Jade advised her turning the knob to open the door. It wasn't her fault she had overheard them. They weren't being discrete about it, and she wouldn't have said anything about it, had Stephanie not provoked her.

Jade would never have believed that her last words to Stephanie would happening right this moment. She was utterly surprised to find Cale standing by the door with a death look in his eyes. His hands were tightly clenched into a fist, as he stared coldly at the person behind Jade.

Jade looked from Cale to Stephanie who looked catatonic to find Cale standing there.

"I'm not at fault" Jade shrugged nonchalantly before walking past the dumbfounded man. "Excuse me" she said.

It seems today was 'world door listening day.'