Chapter 123
Suddenly, a cup flew toward Ivy.
"Ahh!" The cup narrowly missed Ivy as it flew past her, prompting her to scream in fright.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
As she looked up, she spotted Mandy calmly walking over and picking up the cup from the ground.
"Sorry about that, my hand slipped," Mandy explained casually.
Ivy shot Mandy a glare. "Slipped? You obviously did that on purpose!"
But Mandy didn't bother arguing. "Oh," she said. "If you think it was intentional, then sure, it was."
"You little" Ivy's anger boiled, her fists tightening in frustration as she fought the urge to lunge at Mandy. But she was quickly restrained by a few colleagues.
Mandy made her way to Tiffany's desk and watched her silently for a moment. Unable to bear it any longer, she eventually took the documents from Tiffany's hand.
"Are you serious? Can't you see Ivy is intentionally giving you a hard time?"
"I know," Tiffany replied calmly.
Mandy was surprised. "You know, and you're still putting up with it? Are you a glutton for punishment?"
Tiffany pressed her lips together. "You don't understand..."
"How can you say that?" Mandy pushed back. "I believe in live and let live, but if someone messes with me, I won't just stand by. At this point in life, should we really allow ourselves to be pushed around for no reason?" Tiffany fell silent for a moment before asking, "Have you ever been bullied?"
Mandy shook her head. "No."
"I have."
Silence followed.
"I don't have parents. My older sister, Teresa, is my only family. Teresa raised me, and I endured a lot of bullying when I was younger."
Mandy listened intently and replied, "If they bully you, why not fight back? Once you stand up for yourself, they won't dare to bully you again!"
"I did fight back. But every time I did,
the teacher would call my parents, and Teresa would be accused of bullying by other parents. And the teachers would also hold it against me...
"Ms. Stewart, this world isn't fair everywhere. There are places where justice doesn't reach. If you don't have a powerful backing, even if you fight back, you'll end up getting hurt."
Tiffany finished and took the documents back. "It's the same in the company. Ivy is the team leader and she assigns me tasks. As long as it doesn't involve personal safety or privacy, I have to complete them."
There was a moment of silence from Mandy.
When Tiffany glanced up at her again, she noticed tears streaming down Mandy's cheeks. Before she could ask what was wrong, the office door opened, and Alex and Vincent came out.
They seemed like they were about to leave. But when they heard Mandy crying, they stopped in their tracks and turned to look in her direction.
"What's going on?" Alex asked.
"Tiffany, Tiffany, she..." Mandy struggled to speak through her tears.
Alex's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Tiffany. "Tiffany, did you hit Ms. Stewart?"
Tiffany was at a loss for words.
Vincent frowned slightly while questioning Alex's logic. How could Tiffany, who was usually so timid, have possibly hit Mandy? It seemed more likely the other way around. Before Tiffany could respond, Mandy blurted out, "Tiffany, she's just so pitiful..."
Silence enveloped the office.
Feeling a bit awkward, Tiffany handed Mandy a tissue. "Ms. Stewart, please don't cry."