“Ms. Abend, that joke went too far. Ms. Torres is one of our key partners. She's not here to just get drunk.”
“Mr. Weber, it seems your employee need better discipline.”
“Ms. Torres is a talent that even our company would be dying to have. Mr. Weber, you’d better appreciate her.”
The mockery I had imagined never came. Instead, everyone was praising my professionalism.
I looked up at Elsa and smiled slightly. “Since Ms. Abend wants to drink, I’ll join her.”
I asked the waiter to bring two large glasses and filled them both with vodka. I drank mine in one go without difficulty. At that, Elsa stared at me in shock.
I pushed the other glass toward her. “I’ve finished mine, Ms. Abend. Don’t tell me you’re afraid?”
When I was three, I secretly drank an entire bottle of my father’s treasured Lafite from his wine cellar in France. This Vodka was nothing to me.
Elias glanced at me with displeasure and said quietly, “Ms. Torres, stop joking. Not everyone can drink like you do.”
The moment he said that, I knew he was trying to defend Elsa.
I put down my glass and nodded politely to the executives. “Excuse me, I need to fix my makeup.”
Yet, Elsa followed me into the restroom. “Anne, do you hate me that much? You’ve been with Elias for so long, yet you never won his heart. You’re just a cheap woman he uses for pleasure!”
I ignored her and that made her furious. She tried to push me. Out of instinct, I stepped aside and caused her to miss.
Suddenly, Elsa slapped herself!
I stunned frozen when Elsa burst into tears and ran out.
Sensing trouble, I hurried after her. By the time I reached the VIP room, she had already thrown herself into Elias’s arms.
“Eli, Ms. Torres hit me. I just wanted to apologize to her in the restroom, but she called me your obedient pet and said I wasn’t good enough for you.”
Elias was stunned. His eyes were full of shock and doubt when he looked at me. Elsa cried so much, but she managed to twist the truth with each of her words.
Elias frowned, holding the crying Elsa and asked uncertainly, “Anne, what’s going on?”
“Mr. Weber, do you really believe such a clumsy setup?” I laughed in disbelief and sighed. “There was someone else in the restroom earlier. It's Mrs. Blackwood from Macros Atom Group. Why don’t you ask her?”
Elsa’s crying stopped abruptly. Her face turned pale. “Eli, women understand women best. She only got close to you because she has bad intentions!”
She continued, “Anne looks down on me. She wants to be the one who get the title Mrs. Torres!”
Elias grew more upset by her tears. He looked at me with disappointment. “Elsa is still young and inexperienced. Even if she said something wrong, you shouldn’t have hit her.”
In the past, when another company tried to frame me, Elias had stood firmly by my side. He said that he'd always believe me. But now, it seemed even our strong partnership couldn’t compete with his hopeless romantic.
Seeing that I stayed silent, Elias decided to end things quietly.
He put an arm around Elsa’s shoulders and said tiredly, “Anne, it’s just a small incident. Do you have to make such a scene in front of everyone?”
“You’re my employee. You should know your place—focus on your work and stop thinking about things that don’t belong to you.”
“This matter ends here. Tomorrow, I want a written reflection on my desk.”
With that, he held the crying Elsa and left the room.
