Chapter 15 A Commotion


    "How is this possible?" J murmured, confused. "I''ve never heard of a failure notice being


    withdrawn before."


    This content belongs to N?/velDra/ma.Org .


    Even so, she decided to give it another shot and went to the Larson Group.


    The receptionist ushered her to the meeting room and motioned for her to enter.


    As soon as she stepped inside, all eyes fell on J.


    It gave her a momentary fright, but she calmed herself and mustered a smile. "I apologize. I''m afraid


    I''vee to the wrong ce."


    But before she could turn and get out of there, a voice called out, "You''re in the right ce, Miss


    Lind. Pleasee in and have a seat."


    Now that she looked closer, J recognized her. She was one of the interviewers yesterday, the


    woman with straight, chestnut-colored hair.


    She must not be mistaken, then. J swallowed and cautiously moved forward. What was going


    on?


    "Hello, Miss Lind. I''m Garrett Harding from the Larson Group. We invited you here today because


    we wanted to deal with some problems that urred in yesterday''s interview." The one who spoke


    was a handsome man in a tailored suit. He was sitting right in the middle of the long table, and he


    was eyeing J carefully. His silver-rimmed sses made him look like the typical boy next door,


    charming and friendly. It helped that he also had a mole at the outer corner of his eye.


    Garrett Harding? Why did he have to do with all of this?


    J had only ever seen him in financial news and magazines. He was the vice president of the


    Larson Group, as well as a notorious yboy. Back at university, a lot of her female ssmates


    were so enamored by him. They had been shameless and vocal about their fantasies to be his


    lover, and they eventually went on to try their luck innding a job at the Larson Group.


    "I see," J said now, not really seeing anything. She still had no idea what was happening here.


    And then she noticed that ine was also present, albeit looking like rather distressed. She looked


    up and gave J a re filled with hatred.


    J only looked away. She didn''t know why ine had just done that, either. She was absolutely


    clueless.


    Garrett pressed his sses against the bridge of his nose and nced at either side of the table.


    Seeing that everyone was there, he cleared his throat and spoke in a gentle but clear voice. "All


    right, let''s get down to the matter at hand. ine, you rejected Miss Lind on the grounds that she


    had moral issues, but we cannot simply take your word for it. Now, kindly tell us in detail what


    exactly is wrong with Miss Lind''s character. It is only fair that you rify things face-to-face, with us


    as your witnesses."


    ine gingerly got to her feet, her fear showing on her face. She hadn''t expected to cause such a


    commotion, all because she had rejected an applicant. Who was this woman, anyway? As far as


    anyone could tell, J was clearly a nobody. More than a dozen heads turned to ine, waiting


    for her response.


    "I—I," she stammered. "I heard it from the others. When she was in university, she had sex with a —


    no, with several male students, and... In any case, they said that she is not innocent and sweet as it


    appears. She—"


    "Think carefully before you speak," Garrett interrupted, his tone sharp. "Who did you hear it from?


    Give us the names of your informants, of the people involved, as well as the time and ce of these


    incidents. Most of all, you need to give us evidence to prove these ims. We must clear this matter


    up once and for all. I don''t want to find outter on that you were judging potential candidates for the


    company based on hearsay. It''s easy enough to investigate whether you are telling the truth or not.


    You will have to take responsibility for every word you say today. I don''t think I have to remind you,


    ine, that there''s a fine line between gossip and nder. It can easily turn into a legal matter


    entirely. In addition to that, you failed your duties as an interviewer by treating Miss Lind with bias.


    You know very well that it''s against thepany''s rules to let the newly-graduated applicants take


    the advanced examination meant for professional designers with years of experiences."