Chapter 331

Delia had been assigned to serve drinks at the celebration. Her attention kept drifting toward Hannah, so she accidentally brushed against someone-a guest named Shane Wexler, a junior manager from one of Luminara Group's partner companies. Shane had a reputation for being arrogant and treated anyone he looked down on wvith contempt.

Delia's face flushed as she hurried to apologize.

But Shane wasn't having it. He jabbed a finger at her and exclaimed, "This jacket is custom-made! Do you even have the money to replace something like this?"

His outburst turned heads, drawing everyone's gaze.

Elsa, who stood nearby, hurried over to help. She quickly put herself in front of Delia and started bowing, her words tumbling out. "Sir, we're so sorry!If you take off your jacket, we'll clean it right away.

It'll look as good as new."

Shane's anger only deepened. When he caught a glimpse of the scar on Elsa's face, his expression twisted with disgust. He shoved her aside."Get lost!That ugly mug of yours is making me sick!"

Elsa stumbled back, nearly losing her balance. All the color drained from her cheeks.

The sight pushed Delia into panic. "Sir, I'm the one who made the mistake. Please don't blame her! Let me take care of it. I'll pay for the cleaning-whatever it costs!"

She pulled out a handkerchief and reached out,trying to help.

Shane's gaze slid lower, his eyes darkening with something ugly as Delia leaned forward. A cruel smirk formed on his lips. "Oh, you really want to make it up to me? Fine. Why don't you lick the wine off my jacket? Every last drop."

Delia stood frozen. He moved in closer, voice cold. "Well? It's just a little wine, not poison. Do it, and maybeI'll let it go."

Delia's whole body began to shake. Her lips trembled so hard that she couldn't get any words out.

Elsa bristled with fury and tried to rush at him,but one of Shane's lackeys quickly blocked her way.

Right then, Hannah broke through the crowd. A sharp slap rang out as her hand met Shane's cheek.

"Ms. Scott!" Shane stood there, hand pressed to his cheek, shocked by the sudden slap.

Hannah's words came out in a low, dangerous tone,fury held tightly in check. "Who the hell do you think you are? On my company's anniversary, you think you can walk in here and humiliate my employees?Who told you it was fine to strip them of their dignity?"

Her voice cut through the silence, sharp as glass."Lick it clean? Have you completely lost your mind?"

Shane shrank under her glare and tried to talk his way out. "Ms. Scott, you've got it wrong! I wasn't trying to cause any trouble! That waitress spilled on my jacket, and the other one with scar lunged at me,that's all. I just wanted an apology. That's reasonable, isn't it?"

"Waitress, you say?" Hannah let out a cold laugh,though nothing about her looked amused. "Where did you get the idea they were waitress?"

She swept her eyes over the crowd and then called out, "Curtis. Over here. NNow."

Curtis Blackwell, the head of HR, hurried over,already sweating bullets. "Y-yes, Ms. Scott..."

Hannah jabbed her finger toward Delia and Elsa,her words cold and clear. "I personally invited them as honored employee representatives of the Luminara Group. So tell me, who gave you the right to make them serve drinks? Do you think they're people you can push around? Or are you saying what I say doesn't carry any weight at all?"

Curtis stumbled over his words, face pale. "Ms. Scott, I swear, I didn't mean for any of this! They're new to this sort of event, so I thought I'd let them do something easy..."

"Easy?" Hannah snapped, slicing through his excuse."In your mind, that makes it fine for scum like him to humiliate my employees? You think it's acceptable for them to be ordered to lick someone's jacket clean?"

She fixed Curtis with a hard stare. "You're done here.Pack your things and leave Luminara Group right now."

She didn't stop there. "And as for you, Shane-your company is blacklisted for good. Every contract is cancelled,effective immediately."

She raised her voice so it echoed across the room."Security! Get these two out of my sight."

"Right away, Ms. Scott!" The guards moved in quickly, grabbing Shane and Curtis and hauling them out of the hall without a second thought. With a slow, steady breath, Hannah turned to Delia and Elsa. "If anything like this ever happens again,don't just stand there. Stand up for yourselves. I'll take care of the fallout."

Delia's and Elsa's eyes shimmered with grateful tears.

As the celebration continued, guests came up one after another to toast Hannah and offer their congratulations. By the end of the evening, she was noticeably flushed from all the drinkS.

Outside the banquet hall, Vincent had been waiting for quite some time. He could have gone in whenever he wanted since he was the CEO of Jones Group,after all, but he wanted tonight to belong to her,without drawing any of the attention to himself.

But when the event ended, Hannah didn't walk out alone. Claude was by her side, his arm thrown around her shoulders in a way that looked familiar,even intimate.

Vincent's face turned cold in an instant. Claudeseemed to be everywhere he looked.