Ellison And Joycelyn: A Love Beyond The Rules

Chapter 19 Chapter 19 C Fit4/0 +23 At half past nine, Joycelyn pulled into the parking lot in the office building and hurried out of the car. This time, she didn't wait for Ellison behind her and headed straight to the elevator by herself.

Ellison sat in his Rolls-Royce, looking at the back of Joycelyn's figure. He seemed to be reminiscing about their lovemaking session in the bathroom earlier before they'd left the house.

It hadn't been enough.

Although Joycelyn had tried to speed things up, she was still half an hour late. Thankfully, all the departments on her floor had to attend a sudden general meeting in the conference room so she didn't bump into anyone on her way up, and she snuck into the meeting room through the back door.

Selene happened to be there, though, and she remarked, “Why are you late again? Did something happen?" "Eh, kind of. Were you late too?" Joycelyn said, her face a little flushed. She had hurried the whole way here and she was also embarrassed by the question.

"Yeah. Luckily, attendance isn't being taken today so I can hold on to my perfect attendance record," Selene replied with a sly grin.

"Yeah, we got lucky," Joycelyn replied.

"It seems like Mr. Grant decided to conduct a surprise inspection Fortunately, it's targeted at the directors and not small fry like us. Linda was called out because her report wasn't as satisfactory as it should've been," Selene explained the situation with a hint of mockery in her voice.

Joycelyn, on her part, only bit her lip sheepishly when she heard the mention of Ellison. No wonder he had told her earlier that he'd fix the problem of her being late.

Luckily, she'd only been half an hour late. If it were any longer, the company policy was that you'd be considered absent for a day, and you wouldn't even need to show up then.

She'd only been asked to tie a tie and didn't expect that things would quickly spiral out of control and end up that way. Thinking of it now, Joycelyn felt a new wave of embarrassment.

Selene hadn't noticed the change in Joycelyn's demeanor. She subtly took out a picture and showed it to Joycelyn. "You left in such a hurry yesterday that I didn't get a chance to talk to you Look here, this is my senior. He's a very eligible bachelor. What do you think?" The picture was of a handsyoung man dressed in hiking gear. With the backdrop of steep mountain ranges, it was obvious that this man had a passion for life.

"Oh. He seems nice," Joycelyn answered flatly.

Selene offered, "Do you wantto set you up with him? He's good-looking, he's studied and traveled abroad, and he's the only son in a middle-class family." "No, that's alright. I don't think I'd be comfortable with that," Joycelyn laughed softly and shook her head.

She was married, and she'd already becfamiliar with a man of Ellison's caliber. She felt she wouldn't be awed again even if she cup close with a celebrity.

12:56 Mon, Feb 10 0 Chapter 19 "Are you sure? This guy is way better than those blind dates you go on. Just go on one date. Think of it as making a new friend," Selene encouraged her.

"I don't think so... I... I already have someone that I like," Joycelyn stammered as she thought of an excuse to decline.

+23 Selene narrowed her eyes and answered triumphantly, "I knew it I knew you must have your eye on someone, but still, you know, you shouldn't give up the whole forest for a single tree.” "Oh, Linda's finished her report. Looks like the meeting's about to be over," Joycelyn said hurriedly as she gathered her notebook and pens and prepared to leave.

The both of them were filing out of the conference room behind the crowd when Aurelia held them back. "The two of you, try to keep a low profile today. Our project is being scrutinized under a microscope now." Joycelyn and Selene felt their breath hitch at that and immediately put their guards up.

"Our largest project is way off schedule, while the other departments have already completed their tasks ahead of time," Aurelia explained. At that moment, they saw Linda walk past them. She was holding a file, and there was an ominous shadow across her face, Aurelia immediately snapped her mouth shut and signaled to the other two to be quiet.

Back at their desks, there was an eerie quiet hanging over the department. Everyone seemed to be bracing themselves for the shitstorm that was about to happen.

True enough, after about ten minutes, Linda cstorming out of her office with sdocuments in her hand and a stern look on her face. Her eyes searched the employees, and she snapped, "Joycelyn! You've already worked here for two years. How could you still be making such low-level mistakes?" She threw the documents in her hand onto Joycelyn's desk. Joycelyn picked them up calmly and looked through them, frowning slightly. “Didn't you give your approval for this proposal?” she asked.

She remembered it as clear as day. Everything in the business plan, from the schedule and funding to the follow- up investments, had been perused by Linda and subsequently given the go-ahead.

Linda responded by raising her voice even louder. "Your proposal requires more than five times the allocated budget. The other departments have managed to complete their projects without any issue at just a fraction of their budgets.

"Are you treating the company's cash like toy money? With the way things are, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that you actually had skind of vested interest with the investors and you're waiting for kickbacks.

"Because of you, the whole department has been accused of being incompetent. Are you trying to get all of us fired?" Joycelyn hadn't expected such a strong accusation from Linda, but she looked up calmly and stared back at her. "I arranged these joint ventures based on your suggestions and instructions. looked for investors that required the lowest costs but offered the best quality.

"You were the one who signed off in the end, but now you're trying to pin the blon me?" The entire office was quiet except for Linda's vicious scoldings and Joycelyn's calm but firm responses.

"Cwithto my office," Linda commanded. She realized that her accusations didn't hold any water and decided to continue their discussion in a less public setting.

Joycelyn had a clear conscience and the logic and evidence to back herself up, so she followed Linda.

2/3 12:56 Mon, Feb 10 0 Chapter 19 4/% +23

Aurelia then picked up the proposal and looked through it. "These investors all have a personal O M relationship with Linda. She'd had a personal agenda when engaging them, and now she's trying to pin it all on Joycelyn," she declared angrily.

"Damn right. Joycelyn's not going to do down like this," Selene agreed.

In Linda's office, Joycelyn entered after Linda, and the latter ordered, “Close the door." Joycelyn did as she was instructed. After she closed the door, she continued to wear a look of quiet confidence and calm. In her mind, she was focused on finding a solution to the problem at hand.

Linda started, "Joycelyn, on the morning of the annual general meeting, I seem to recall you leaving Mr. Grant's office sneakily. I wonder if I was mistaken." Her tone was filled with sarcasm, and her eyes were full of jealousy as she looked at Joycelyn's elegant features. "You were mistaken," Joycelyn replied.

*Fortunately, I took a picture of that person's back view. I think anyone who knows this person would recognize them in an instant," Linda said..

Joycelyn's heart clenched. She e glanced at the picture on Linda's phone screen and realized it wasn indeed her "During the annual meeting, all the rooms at the hotel near the conference center were booked by the company. You can't say with absolute certainty that the person in that picture was me." "Would you like to venture a guess as to whether I've seen the hotel's surveillance tapes?" Linda's retorted haughtily. Her eyes burned with jealousy. The man she had a crush on for years had never even glanced at her.

A cold look crossed Joycelyn's delicate features as she weighed the situation inwardly.

Linda continued without waiting for a response. “I suppose it's inevitable that smen are attracted to women like you with delicate features. Unfortunately, looks alone are not enough

"I went to the sschool as Mr.

Grant, and I know all about his romantic history. You're nothing but a plaything to him. If you don't want to be known as a woman who exchanges sex for favors, then you'd better cwithto renegotiate these contracts.

"If you do, I'll do you a favor and pretend all this never happened." Linda toyed with the fountain pen on her table, and her tone softened. "If you're looking for a man, I can introduce you to plenty of rich ones. Mr. Grant is not someone you will ever be worthy of." 12:56 Mon, Feb 10 0