Chapter 41
Chapter 41
Chapter 41 You Stole The Drawings
"what's the matter?"
Nina and Bernice turned around to look askance at Annabel.
They were trying their best to avoid showing their dissatisfaction with her.
"Let's talk about this now," Annabel said, waving the blank sheets she had found in her folder.
Seeing the sheets in Annabel's hand, Nina felt guilty.
"What do you mean?"
With the sheets in her hand, Annabel walked up to Rupert and handed them to him.
"The drawings I kept in the folder turned into blank sheets.Mr.Benton, don't you think there's something strange going on?"
Rupert took the blank sheets and put them on the conference table.His slender fingers tapped the table impatiently as he stared at the sheets.
Obviously, someone had stolen the drawings and replaced them with these sheets.
There were not many people who had access to the drawings, and Annabel had always been cautious in her work, so he knew she would not let such important documents be handled by just anyone.
There were only two possibilities.
One was that someone had replaced the drawings and set Annabel up to make her look like a fool during the meeting.
If this was the case, Rupert wouldn't let this person go scot-free.
Another possibility was that Annabel had switched the drawings herself, but why would she do that? Clearly, the case was beginning to get more and more interesting.
Finally, Rupert said, "I'll ask Finley to find out the truth."
"Yes, sir," Finley said respectfully.
Annabel explained, "Before I went to the airport, I checked the file.The drawings were there, intact.After I returned from the airport, I brought the file to the conference room.But like we all saw, the drawings turned into blank sheets of paper.That means, someone must have replaced them while I was at the airport."
"Annabel, you lost the drawings and you're now trying to frame others.That's all!" Nina retorted.
Now that Rupert said he was going to intervene in the investigation, she was highly flustered.She knew very well how cruel Rupert could be.
If he found out that she was the one who had stolen the drawings, the consequences would be dire.
A shiver ran down Nina's spine as she thought of what Rupert could possibly do to her.
"What? You think I lost the drawings?" Annabel sneered.
"Then why would I replace them with blank sheets? Do you think everyone is as stupid as you?"
"What do you mean?"
Nina demanded with a glare, pretending to be calm and not bothered.She comforted herself with the belief that what she did had been done secretly, so Annabel would not know anything about it.
"If you don't want people to know it, the best way is not to do it," Annabel said.
Nina's heart trembled in fear.She stole a quick glance at Rupert, who was silent.
Seeing his face so expressionless and his eyes so sharp, Nina quickly looked away.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about," Nina stuttered. This is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
"By the way, I have something else 1 need to do.This meeting is over, Annabel.I don't have any more time to waste talking with you."
With that, Nina got up to leave.
"Stop!"
Annabel shouted, her tone cold and harsh.
"Nina, why are you in such a hurry? Do you have a guilty conscience?"
"Guilty conscience? Why would I feel guilty?" Nina scoffed.
"Because you asked someone to steal the drawings!" Annabel said, hitting the nail on the head.
Nina's expression changed a bit, but she said defiantly, "Annabel, don't cast malicious accusations against me.Do you know what slander means?"
"Slander?"
Annabel chuckled.She was not surprised at all.She knew that Nina would not easily admit to it.But even if Nina denied it, it was only a waste of time.
Annabel had already prepared for every scenario and she would expose Nina.
"I have evidence to prove that you're the initiator of this evil," Annabel said confidently.
Rupert suddenly got up.He stood tall and straight, with a cold expression and his lips drawn into a thin line.He glanced at Annabel and said in an indifferent tone, "Since you said you have evidence, go ahead and present it."
Then he turned to Nina and Bernice, and ordered, "Come back and sit down!"
Nina had no choice but to go back to the conference table and sit down.She was very nervous.
Did Annabel really have evidence against her? But that could not be possible! Everything she did was secret and flawless.
Annabel could not have found any evidence! "Do you have any evidence to prove that I stole the drawings? Annabel, I'm warning you.Slander is a very serious offence!"
Nina took a deep breath.
"I know you don't like to obey me, but you can't frame me!"
"Funny," Annabel scoffed.
"Mr.Benton is here.So, why are you anxious? If you didn't do it, I believe Mr.Benton won't do anything to you.But I'm sure he won't let anyone get away with hurting the company’s interests."
Then she looked at Rupert and asked, "Mr.Benton, am I right?"
Rupert raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly.
As far as he could see, it seemed Annabel had some evidence.His fiancee was getting more and more interesting.
Rupert had asked Finley to investigate the matter, but now, it looked as if it would no longer be necessary.He would simply let Annabel handle the matter.
But there was one strange question nagging at his mind.
Why did Nina do such a thing? Though Nina was a little arrogant and domineering sometimes, she always did her work well.
Why did she do such a thing that would damage the company's interests just to frame Annabel? What was more, she was the director of the secretarial department.
If something bad was attributed to Annabel, Nina would be seen as a poor supervisor and it would do her career no good.
Seeing that Rupert had no objection to her move, Annabel cleared her throat and said, "Let's get to the point.Now that I've narrowed down the timeframe when the drawings must have been stolen, I just need to check the surveillance footage during that timeframe to know who did it."
But Nina quickly screamed, "But the surveillance camera is broken, isn't it?"
"Oh, is it? It seems you pay much attention to such trifles," Annabel sneered.
Truly, the surveillance camera set in Annabel's office happened to be broken the previous day.
Of course, she knew why the surveillance camera was broken.
Nina didn't want to leave any evidence that would show how she stole the drawings.
Realizing that she had made a slip of tongue, Nina quickly tried to explain, "I don't know anything about it. I only heard it from others."
"But did you also hear that the surveillance camera has been repaired?" Annabel asked with a smile.
She had secretly asked someone to fix the surveillance camera, so that Nina would walk into the trap unawares.
"Really?" Nina asked in surprise, her voice trembling slightly.
She had damaged the camera the previous day.How could it have been repaired so quickly? Rupert narrowed his sharp eyes and ordered Finley, "Go and get the surveillance footage."