Overbearing CEO's Contract Love
Chapter 125: Standing Up for Her

Chapter 125: Standing Up for Her

Emma Hart and another woman entered the design department together, guided by a staff member from human resources.

The HR manager brought Emma and another girl to the department, where the division manager gave them a quick look and asked, "Where did you work before?"

The girl beside Emma quickly responded, "Skyspace, where I had already been promoted to a designer."

The manager nodded in acknowledgment; Skyspace was a well-known design firm, respectable in its own right, but of course, it couldn’t compare to the Sterling Group.

Sterling Group wasn’t originally a design-focused company; it was only a few years ago that Damien Sterling, finding outsourcing tedious, decided to establish an in-house design department.

Surprisingly, Sterling Group’s design department rapidly became a leading force in the field.

The division manager, clad in a white suit and towering at least three inches in high heels, with shoulder-length permed hair and red glasses, presented a stern demeanor.

Emma couldn’t help but be reminded of her school’s strict disciplinary teacher.

The manager glanced at Emma with a frosty expression and inquired, "And you?"

Emma looked down, struggling to admit, "I haven’t worked in design before."

"What?" the woman exclaimed in surprise, then scrutinized Emma with a skeptical look, doubting such an innocent appearance belonged to someone placed by high-level connections.

Yet, she thought, in these times, young women could go to great lengths for money, harboring a dismissive sentiment.

After the HR manager left, the division manager pointed Emma to a spot, instructing, "You, sit there and photocopy the employee handbook 50 times."

Emma nodded, while the woman scoffed disdainfully at her.

Confused by the manager’s harsh attitude, Emma settled at her assigned seat and started towards the printer, clueless about its operation.

When she hesitantly asked a passing colleague for help, the colleague, clearly irritated and in a hurry, brushed her off, saying, "I’m too busy," and continued on their way.

Emma Hart approached several colleagues in a row, but not a single one of them stopped to meticulously explain how to use the printer.

It seemed as though everyone had their own matters to attend to, leaving Emma Hart unnoticed and unaided.

Two hours later, Emma finally figured out the printer’s operation but accidentally set it to print 500 copies instead of the intended 50.

In a panic, she frantically searched for the cancel button on the printer, to no avail.

Bending down, Emma Hart started to collect each page of the employee manual as it emerged from the printer, then painstakingly assembled them into manuals before bending down again to place them on the floor beside her.

This repetitive motion of bending down and standing up continued without pause.

Standing to the side, Emma watched, dumbstruck, as the printer tirelessly churned out page after page.

Even after reaching the 50-page mark, the machine kept going...

A woman’s shrill voice suddenly pierced the air behind her, "Why is it taking so long to print?"

Emma Hart stepped back, embarrassed, and with her head bowed, admitted, "I pressed the wrong button."

The woman gave Emma a dismissive glance, effectively labeling her as just another decorative piece, "So, have you finished printing those 50 copies?"

Emma nodded, pointing to the 50 assembled manuals on the floor.

"You can’t seem to do anything right. Once you’ve got those 500 copies printed, carry them up to the warehouse on the 20th floor."

Emma nodded again, steadfastly watching over the printer until all 500 copies were printed.

Looking at the massive stacks of employee manuals, each thick enough to comprise nearly 100 pages, she wondered how Damien Sterling could have possibly filled them with so many rules and guidelines.

Lifting a stack up to her nose, Emma struggled to stand, exclaiming internally at the weight.

Fortunately, she wasn’t as physically encumbered as she could have been.

Heading toward the elevator, Emma collided face-to-face with the manager, "Who allowed you to use the elevator? With the company as busy as it is, you blocking the way with these useless things is unacceptable."

"What should I do then...?" Emma asked tentatively.

"Take the stairs!" the manager barked fiercely.

"But manager, this is the 6th floor. I have to carry these items up the 20th floor, and it will take at least ten trips."

"If you can’t handle it, then leave. Do you think this is your home? The company isn’t here to coddle you," the manager retorted sharply.

Despite feeling aggrieved, Emma remembered this was her first day on the job and a hard-won work opportunity.

She swallowed her pride and agreed, "Understood, I’m on it."

After all, there are only 14 flights of stairs. In her heart, Emma tried to reassure herself, remembering her past as an athletic champion.

She took it as a challenge, a form of exercise.

By the time Emma Hart had made her second trip carrying those items, she was already drenched in sweat, a feat that would exhaust even a man to near collapse.

Emma continued to carry the items, but they were simply too heavy.

As she wobbled down the hallway, her balance increasingly unstable, she could barely see the path ahead, feeling only the shock of bumping into something.

Then, with a crash, everything scattered across the floor.

In a rush, Emma squatted down to gather the fallen objects, apologizing profusely, yet before she could even look up, her eyes landed on a pair of leather shoes of exceptional quality, the stitching and material clearly high-end.

Slowly, Emma raised her head, following the impeccably tailored suit pants upwards, to meet the sharp, eagle-like gaze of a man staring right at her.

Seeing Emma’s sweaty and disheveled state, it was clear to the man that she had been wronged.

He stooped to pick up something from the ground, standing back up with a dark look in his eyes as he surveyed the entire design department.

His fierce gaze seemed to say that were it not his company, he would set it ablaze right then and there.

The manager, having heard rumors of Damien Sterling’s arrival but not believing them, was shocked to actually see Damien Sterling himself.

Panicked, he emerged from his office to greet him, "Mr... Sterling, what brings you here?"

Then, turning a stern face to Emma still on the floor, he scolded, "What have you done, running into Mr. Sterling like that? Where were your eyes looking?"

Damien Sterling, ignoring the manager’s attempts to ingratiate himself, countered, "Is this what you had her print?"

His voice was cool as his gaze casually inspected the employee handbook in his hand.

Despite Damien Sterling’s tone not sounding angry, it sent shivers down the manager’s spine, who trembled as he replied, "Yes... yes, it is."

"Oh? The company usually has someone distribute employee handbooks. What was the purpose of printing these?"

Damien’s question left the manager too frightened to continue speaking, stammering, "I..."

"It seems you wanted the design department to relearn something. Then be sincere about it."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.