Isobel smiled politely.
"It’s quite good," she said sincerely.
The simple response only irritated Katherine further.
"You should feel very fortunate," Katherine said, crossing her arms. "Most people—even those with connections to the Foster family—have to spend years climbing the corporate ladder. They start from the bottom and prove themselves one promotion at a time."
Her gaze swept over Isobel from head to toe.
"And yet you walked straight into the role of Executive Assistant simply because you happened to be the twins’ wet nurse."
Katherine made no effort to lower her voice. The entire secretary department could hear her.
Several heads immediately lifted from their desks.
The four male secretaries exchanged glances.
"She looks barely out of college," one of them whispered. "And she’s already a mother?"
His colleague frowned.
"Keep your voice down."
"But isn’t it strange?"
"What would be strange is losing your job over office gossip."
The older secretary adjusted his glasses and returned to his documents.
"Her private life is none of our business. As long as she can do the work, her background doesn’t matter."
The younger man immediately shut his mouth.
Everyone on this floor knew how difficult it was to get here.
He himself had spent two exhausting years handling endless paperwork, late-night reports, and impossible deadlines before finally earning a promotion to the sixtieth floor.
He wasn’t foolish enough to risk that achievement for idle gossip.
Meanwhile, Isobel calmly met Katherine’s gaze. There was not a trace of embarrassment on her face.
No guilt. No shame. No anger.
Her composure only made Katherine feel as though her attack had missed its target entirely.
"Katherine," Isobel said evenly, "I understand your concerns."
The unexpected response caused Katherine’s brows to rise.
"I may not have corporate experience, but I do have a strong academic record."
Her voice remained calm and professional.
"I graduated at the top of my class. Not just in my department, but in the entire college."
The office fell silent.
Several secretaries looked up in surprise.
Graduating first in an entire college was no small accomplishment.
Isobel rarely mentioned her achievements.
In fact, she disliked talking about them.
But the moment she saw the calculating look in Katherine’s eyes, she knew this wasn’t a casual conversation.
Katherine had come here with a purpose.
And whatever that purpose was, it certainly wasn’t to welcome her.
"If you’ll excuse me," Isobel continued, returning her attention to the documents on her desk, "I still have work to finish."
The dismissal was polite and professional.
Yet Katherine understood only one thing.
She was being asked to leave.
The implication struck her like a slap.
A dangerous light flashed across her eyes.
The audacity. How dare a mere employee dismiss her?
Before she could respond, another voice interrupted.
"Miss Hayes."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Everyone turned toward Stacey.
The secretary stood from her desk, her expression courteous but firm.
"Please stop causing a disturbance in the executive office."
Her smile never faltered.
"If you wish to wait for Mr. Foster, the reception area is available."
The words were polite but the meaning was not.
For the second time that day, Katherine had been asked to leave.
And this time, it happened in front of the entire executive staff.
Her face darkened instantly.
Across the room, Isobel lowered her gaze to her documents.
A faint sense of relief washed over her.
Without looking up, she silently thanked Stacey.
...
Thirty minutes later, the door to Morgan’s office swung open.
Katherine emerged with a stormy expression.
The carefully maintained elegance she usually displayed was nowhere to be seen.
Her face was dark, her lips pressed into a thin line, and her eyes burned with barely restrained fury.
The entire executive floor instinctively lowered their voices.
No one dared to meet her gaze.
For nearly half an hour, she had waited outside Morgan’s office, convinced that she could change his mind.
Instead, she had walked out with nothing.
Not only had Morgan refused to restore her commercial campaign, but he had also made it clear that the decision had come directly from him.
The company was entering a new phase.
Artificial intelligence was no longer merely a supporting technology—it was the core product.
The face of the campaign would be an AI-generated model.
Not Katherine Hayes.
No amount of persuasion had worked.
No amount of complaining had moved him.
Morgan had listened patiently before delivering his verdict in that calm, emotionless voice of his.
The decision was final.
What infuriated Katherine the most was that he hadn’t even sounded apologetic.
To Morgan, replacing her with artificial intelligence was nothing more than a business decision.
A simple calculation.
One that had ended with her being discarded.
Her nails dug into her palms as she strode across the office floor.
The sharp clicks of her heels echoed through the silent workspace.
No one stopped her. No one spoke.
Everyone could feel the fury radiating from her.
As she passed Isobel’s workstation, Katherine’s steps slowed for a fraction of a second.
Her eyes flickered toward the young woman.
Then, without saying a word, she continued walking.
The elevator doors opened with a soft ding. Katherine stepped inside.
The moment the doors began to close, the hatred and humiliation she had been suppressing finally surfaced in her eyes.
This wasn’t over.
Not by a long shot. The elevator doors slid shut.
And Katherine Hayes disappeared from the executive floor.
...
At lunchtime, Isobel followed Stacey to the executive cafeteria.
The moment they stepped through the glass doors, the atmosphere changed.
Conversations faltered. Forks paused halfway to mouths.
Dozens of eyes turned toward them. Toward her.
Isobel immediately felt it.
The scrutiny. The curiosity. The judgment.
She kept her expression neutral and continued walking beside Stacey, but the whispers began almost instantly.
At first, they were soft. Barely audible.
Then they grew louder and bolder as more people joined in.
"So that’s the new Executive Assistant?"
"She looks younger than I expected."
"She’s the twins’ wet nurse, right?"
"I heard she already has a child."
"Really? She looks like she’s barely in her twenties."
"Well, she’s gorgeous."
"Too gorgeous."
A woman lowered her voice but not enough.
"Honestly, she looks more like a seductress than an assistant."
Several people chuckled.
Another employee leaned forward.
"I heard there’s no husband."
"Then the child was probably an accident."
"Or she doesn’t know who the father is..."