Until Patrick woke up and walked out of the office, the people around him quieted down.
However, a few people still looked at Patrick’s serious face and remembered his intimate appearance with Katherine at noon, so they kept covering their mouths and giggling.
After an afternoon passed by, Patrick felt strange because everyone who passed him would keep covering their mouths and snickering.
For a while, the entire company was caught up in gossip. Many even referred to Katherine as Mrs. Pansy.
Patrick frequently heard the term Mrs. Pansy within the company and thought Jane had come to visit but couldn’t find her anywhere after searching for a long time.
Back in his office, Patrick sent Jane a text message, “Did you come to my company?”
The message was sent out but received no response until after he finished his meeting when he finally received a reply that said “No.”
This undoubtedly caught Patrick’s attention; it seemed like someone within the company was orchestrating this whole thing.
He frowned and walked into the employee office. As expected, the employees, who had previously been gossiping, immediately put on serious faces, with their mouths involuntarily curling upwards.
“Did the company hire you all just to gossip?”
Patrick roared and then left the employee office.
The few employees exchanged puzzled looks. After Patrick left, they continued to call out to Katherine, asking her to manage Patrick properly and not to have a sour face all day.
Meanwhile, on his way back to the office, Patrick ran into Chaim.
Chaim had a fawning expression on his face and humbly bowed before Patrick.
“Mr. Pansy, a few days ago, I failed to recognize Miss Maltz and offended her. Please accept my apology.”
Upon hearing this, Patrick furrowed his brow. “Katherine?”
“Yes, yes,” Chaim immediately nodded, then apologized again. “At that time, I truly didn’t know that Miss Maltz was Mrs. Pansy. Otherwise, even if you gave me ten times the courage, I wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing.”
“Mrs. Pansy?”
Patrick became even more infuriated upon hearing this. He couldn’t believe that Katherine had been portrayed that way within the company.
“Huh?” Chaim looked at the dark expression on Patrick’s face and hesitated for a moment. “Isn’t Katherine Mrs. Pansy?”
Patrick’s icy gaze locked onto Chaim, and through gritted teeth, he said, “Who told you that Katherine is Mrs. Pansy?”
He grabbed Chaim’s collar. “I warn you not to spread rumors. There has only been one Mrs. Pansy from the beginning to the end, and that’s Jane.”
“Okay, okay.”
Terrified, Chaim promised not to speak carelessly. “It’s just that everyone in the company was saying so, and I was misled. It was my negligence.”
“People in the company?”
Upon hearing this, Patrick let go of Chaim’s collar and instructed him to leave directly.
Chaim scurried away like a lackey. If he stayed any longer, he might have wet his pants out of fear.
Patrick realized something was amiss and went to the surveillance room to investigate Katherine’s actions throughout the day.
In the video, Katherine was seen chatting with employees all day, showing no interest in work. Patrick, considering the face of the Maltz family, had tolerated all these things.
When the footage reached noon, he noticed that while everyone else was napping, Katherine was the only one who walked out of the office.
Patrick sensed that something was wrong and pulled up the footage from his own office, where he saw Katherine touching her forehead, causing his stomach to churn.
In the next moment, she was fussing in front of the mirror. It was evident that her actions were deliberately meant to mislead others.
Patrick lowered his gaze, realizing that Katherine was playing so many tricks right in front of him. It seemed he could no longer tolerate it.
He went to the HR department and instructed the department head, “Dismiss Katherine for me.”
Then, without looking back, Patrick left, leaving the department head with a puzzled expression.
The entire day had been filled with rumors about Patrick and Katherine, and suddenly, Patrick had fired Katherine?
Helpless, the HR department head couldn’t disobey Patrick’s orders and handed the dismissal letter to Katherine before the end of the afternoon.
“What?”
Katherine looked at the dismissal letter, her face full of disbelief. “Patrick fired me?”
The HR department head felt embarrassed. “It’s Mr. Pansy’s decision. Miss Maltz, please don’t make it difficult for me.”
Continuing on, amidst the shocked gazes of everyone, Katherine was forced to pack up and leave.
Just this afternoon, Katherine was still immersed in the joy of being Mrs. Pansy. Who would have known that by the end of the workday, Patrick would have fired her.
Watching Katherine leave, the employees received the message that they would need to work overtime and gathered in the conference room.
Patrick had a serious expression as he began to analyze the recent unrest within the company.
“From now on, I hope there will be no more gossip and rumors in the company. There is only one Mrs. Pansy, and that is Jane.”
Patrick’s warning undoubtedly caused Katherine to lose face, and the employees realized they had been mistaken. They lowered their heads, unable to meet Patrick’s gaze.
Furthermore, Patrick sternly reorganized the entire company, firing those employees who had spread rumors outside. For a while, no one in the company dared to speak thoughtlessly.
After the meeting ended, Patrick returned home and received a call from Mike.
A slight smile curved his lips. He didn’t expect the news about the Maltz family to spread so quickly. The moment he finished work, the news reached Mike.
“Hello.”
“You brat, what have you done? You actually fired Katherine. Where does that leave the Maltz family?”
As expected, as soon as Patrick answered the phone, he heard Mike’s stern voice.
Patrick remained silent, patiently waiting for Mike to finish scolding him.
“Just now, Tyler came to see me. I was so ashamed that I almost lost face. I know you don’t like Katherine, but to dismiss his daughter without a word, have you considered the relationship between our families? By doing this, you’re making it impossible for us to hold our heads up in the business world when we encounter them!”
Listening to Mike’s reprimand, Patrick couldn’t bear it any longer and directly retorted.
“It’s them who won’t be able to hold their heads up, not us.”
Patrick’s words left Mike somewhat stunned.
“What do you mean?”
“They are the ones who won’t be able to hold their heads up. Katherine, as the Maltz family’s daughter, has no dignity or shame. Before she even joined the company, she repeatedly came into my office, trying to seduce me. If it weren’t for the face of the Maltz family, I would have dealt with her without hesitation.”
Patrick spoke in one breath, leaving Mike somewhat incredulous.
“Are you telling the truth?”
“Of course, I am.” Patrick admitted, “Today, she came to our company and spread rumors everywhere, claiming to be Mrs. Pansy. It caused a complete lack of productivity in the company. And today, when no one was around, she deliberately messed up her clothes in my office and then left when there were people around.”