The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella)
Chapter 14 Fourteen

When Ann was asked to see the vice president first thing in the morning, she never could have imagined it would be concerning Isabelle's interview and subsequent rejection. After having the panel reject her the previous day, she had slept like a baby, happy that she had finally executed her revenge.

Keeping Isabelle out of the company almost made up for that time in college when she lost the scholarship to her. And, not only had she managed to cost her a job at the prestigious Larson Group, but also tarnished her reputation at the same time. She had been certain that once the word spread in the industry, Isabelle would have a hard time replaceing a job elsewhere.

So, she hadn't foreseen what was currently happening-sitting opposite a righteous-looking Isabelle, under the strict scrutiny of the Larson Group's vice president.

Why was Jason paying so much attention to Isabelle's case, anyway? The man rejected hundreds of applicants daily and forgot about it. If he was acting as he usually did, he wouldn't be questioning the panel's decision to reject Isabelle. Ann and her colleagues were entrusted with the duty of rejecting applicants or approving them, and nobody had ever questioned their process before. So, why was Mr Del Mundo suddenly interfering?

"Ann?" the vice president urged when she remained silent for too long. "Is there a reason why you gave Ms Cruz the wrong examination paper?"

"It was a mistake," she said, hoping to not make an issue of that. If the vice president knew that she had deliberately given a more advanced paper to Isabelle in an attempt to make her fail, she could even lose her job. "I did not realise it until she was through."

Jason's firm gaze on her didn't relent. "Really? Because according to the records, you personally took the examination from the office. You specifically asked for a senior designer examination, even though yesterday, we weren't interviewing any senior designers."

She bit down on her bottom lip. He had checked that too? Did he know Isabelle personally or something? Bowing her head slightly, attempting to appear contrite, she said, "I must have not been paying attention. I apologise."

"My assistant seems to remember you clearly making a request for a single senior paper while you were collecting the other papers meant for the other junior applicants. Do you still want to claim that it was a mistake?"

Ann's gaze shifted to the assistant who was standing a little behind the vice president, tablet in hand. She knew it would be useless to argue against her. She had been working for Mr Del Mundo for many years and was known to be very efficient. The vice president would never take Ann's words over hers...

Ann felt her insides squirm. She was smart enough to recognise that she had been backed into a corner. The vice president had already claimed that he would contact the college about the accusations that Isabelle stole a design. If he did, he would replace out the truth. And, once he found out that she was lying, the rest of her lies would crumble...

She wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her pants. It was better to come clean right now, she decided. If she did, and apologised, she might still have a chance of keeping her job. But if she held onto her lies and the vice president's office wasted their time and resources on the investigation only to discover her deception, she would have no chance of saving her job.

"Sir, I..." she swallowed, cast a sidelong glance at Isabelle, then refocused on the vice president. "I'm sorry, it was intentional, and I lied about everything else too." Jason straightened in his seat, his dark eyes digging into her. "Why did you do that?"

"I did not want her to join the company," she admitted. "I hate her, and I didn't want to work in the same place as her. That's why I made up the rumours."

"Let me get this clear, you are admitting that every accusation you made about Ms Cruz's character was fabricated."

She dropped her head in shame. "Yes."

"Do you know how serious this is? Do you have any idea how many company guidelines you have violated?"

She lifted her head and clasped her hands in front of her, giving him a pleading glance. "I know, and I'm terribly sorry, sir. I... It was bad judgement on my part. I promise to not let my personal grudges affect my decision-making from now on. I truly regret my actions, sir."

"Do you?" he demanded. "Just a few minutes ago, you were sitting here, lying to my face even after giving you a chance to come clean. You must know that we do not condone this sort of unprofessional behaviour at the Larson Group."

"I know, I know sir. And I promise that I will never repeat it again."

"You do not need to worry about that. You are fired."

Ann's eyes widened at Mr Del Mundo's resolute words. Fired? He was firing her? Just like that? She shook her head. "No, please sir, don't do this. This is my first violation, can't you suspend me instead? You can even suspend my salary for a month, but please, don't fire me."

"You went too far, Ms Ann. You fabricated rumours that can impact Ms Cruz's entire career, and you abused your power as part of HR. We cannot keep you in the company anymore."

"No, please no. I need this job, I worked so hard to get into the Larson Group." Suddenly, she turned to Isabelle, who was sitting still in her seat, observing the spectacle. "Isabelle, I am so sorry. I apologise for making up lies about you and causing you unfair rejection. I swear I'll never do it again. Please forgive me and don't let them fire me."

Isabelle was, to say the least, shocked at the turn of events. She had never thought she'd see the day Ann pleaded with her for anything, least of all forgiveness. Then again, she also hadn't thought she would admit her lies.

"Please leave," Jason addressed Ann. "My decision is final, and not even Ms Cruz's kindness can save you."

Ann's pleading eyes switched from her and back to the vice president. To everyone's shock, she fell to her knees and clutched onto Mr Del Mundo's leg. "Please sir, don't do this." Jason sighed as he looked down at her, then turned to address his assistant. "Call in the security guards to take her away."

While Ann continued to beg the vice president, Isabelle stood by and watched. The woman's lies had not only almost cost her a job she not only deserved but also needed, but also nearly ruined her reputation. Given how word spread quickly within the industry thanks to social media, there was a chance that she would have been rejected by others-if at all she was invited for interviews-based on the lies Ann had made up.

Knowing that, and remembering all the hate the woman had directed at her during their college days, she didn't feel even the least bit inclined to plead for her. Not only that, but knowing Ann's personality, she also felt that she wasn't being sincere with her apologies. If she was allowed to stay at her job, she would soon be cooking up new ways to have Isabelle fired. So no, she wasn't going to contest the vice president's decision in any way.

A minute later, a security guard appeared and pulled Ann from the vice president. She struggled at first, but the guard successfully dragged her out of the room.

When she was gone, Jason turned back to Isabelle. "I'm so sorry about all this, Ms Cruz. I want you to know that our company does not condone such practices by our employees and we are committed to ensuring fair evaluation of all our applicants."

"Yes, I...uh, thank you," she said, still dazed from everything that had transpired. If she didn't know better, she would think she was dreaming. Or watching a TV drama. This day was going nothing like she had expected. "I'm so happy to hear that, Mr Del Mundo."

"We are truly sorry about all this," one of the other interviewers told her as he stood from his seat. "We had no idea that she had fabricated everything she told us while we were evaluating your paper. We will be more diligent in the future."

One by one, the other interviewers stood up and apologised to her. Then they left, leaving Isabelle alone with Mr Del Mundo and his assistant.

Isabelle felt gratitude brimming in her heart as she faced the man. "Thank you very much, sir. If it were not for you, I would not have been able to clear my name."

He shook his head and smiled warmly. "Don't mention it, it's my job to ensure something like this doesn't happen. I sincerely apologise for any trouble this might have caused you. Since you passed the interview and meet all our qualifications, we would like to invite you to undergo the remaining rounds of interviewing. While you exceeded our expectations in the first round, you have to complete the other interviews before we can hire you officially."

"Of course, I understand," she agreed, feeling like she had struck gold. "I would be happy to attend the other interviews."

"Linda will brief you accordingly," he told her, indicating his assistant. "I must excuse myself now."

After the vice president left and Linda filled her in on the remaining interviews, Isabelle couldn't help but wonder. Considering how Mr Del Mundo had handled her case, one would think she had a personal connection to him. But she had never met him before. Maybe he was just a really fair man who took his job seriously, she decided at last. Whatever the case, she was glad to have him on her side.