Chapter 9 The Setback

The ground floor of the Bryant Group Building was busy, and those people entering or getting out of it all looked in a hurry.

Ashley walked to the reception to see a female receptionist with delicate makeup, saying, "Good morning. I'm Ashley, a new employee in this company."

The receptionist sized Ashley up and down, checked with the computer, and smiled politely. "You should go to the Administration Department on the 16th floor from Elevator No. 1 over there. Someone at that department will help you with the entry procedures."

"Thank you." Ashley nodded her head at the other woman and walked over to the elevator.

The entire building was equipped with twelve elevators, and the middle one was the exclusive elevator for top managers. Ashley looked at it and thought of Leonard entering and coming out of it.

At the thought of working together with Leonard in the same building every day in the future, Ashley was full of expectations. Still, at the same time, she felt slightly uneasy. Leonard thought she was approaching him through despicable means. If he saw her in the company, would he misunderstand her again?

"Stop overthinking." Ashley told herself inwardly, "Didn't you wake up early and stay up late to study hard for years to enter the Bryant Group and stand next to Leonard one day? Now you have made it through your own efforts, do you want to shrink back?"

Ashley let out a deep sigh and entered the elevator when the door opened.

"Wait a second." All of a sudden, one hand blocked the elevator door from closing.

Ashley lifted her head to notice a warm smile, became stunned for a second, and then retreated to the corner.

Victor initially wanted to take that exclusive elevator. However, on seeing a familiar face, he immediately decided to enter this one instead. He recognized that the young woman in front of him was the one taken away by Leonard last night.

"Nice to meet you." As the man kept looking at her, Ashley greeted him politely.

Victor was indeed curious about why Leonard, who never showed any interest in women, had such out-of-control behavior last night. He actually left with this woman in his arms. How unusual was that!

"Is there anything on my face?" Ashley let out an awkward smile as the man still did not take his eyes off her.

Victor realized that he had stared at the woman out of curiosity for a good while and then shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Sorry. Forgive me for not being able to take my eyes off a beauty."

Ashley was stunned, then smiled without speaking.

"You work here?" Victor continued.

Ashley nodded. "Today is my first day to work here."

"Do you know Leonard Bryant?" Victor asked tactfully, but he was genuinely curious about the young woman before his eyes.

Ashley wondered why the stranger asked so and nodded with a smile. "Sure. I think everyone in town knows Mr. Bryant."

At Ashley's answer, Victor let out a smile. It was a smart woman. He then replied, "That's true. President Bryant is quite famous in town."

As the elevator door opened on the sixteenth floor, Ashley hurried to walk out after saying goodbye to the man.

Staring at the departing back of the woman, Victor pressed the button for the top floor. Soon, the doors closed slowly.

The 16th floor was where the Administration Department was located. As soon as Ashley walked out of the elevator, a staff member came over to her.

"Hello, I'm here to go through the entry procedures," Ashley said politely.

It was a well-dressed pretty young woman who welcomed Ashley. She glanced at Ashley and then gave her a form. "Please fill in this and give me your ID card and education certificates to copy."

Ashley handed the other woman her documents and began to fill the information on the form.

The position Ashley got was a junior designer in the Architectural Design Department of the Bryant Group. Thinking that she had made minor progress towards her goal, she felt incredibly excited.

After filling the form, Ashley waited for that young woman on the sofa. However, she did not show up for a good while.

While Ashley was looking around, she noticed Nadia walking out of the room, who was in a white shirt and Chanel black professional suit and tied her long brown hair in a low-positioned ponytail. Her earrings were Chanel as well, and her delicate makeup made her face pleasantly good-looking.

Compared with Nadia, Ashley's plain face, white shirt, and black dress appeared somewhat monotonous.

"You two know each other?" The woman in a professional suit, who was standing next to Nadia, asked suddenly.

Nadia smiled without looking at Ashley. "We graduated from the same department in the same class."

"You may go directly to the Design Department now. Your colleague there will help you familiarize yourself with the work." The woman nodded and then looked at Ashley.

Nadia left without even saying hello to Ashley.

Ashley felt confused and somewhat lost. They were good friends, but Nadia was deliberately keeping a distance from her.

"Pleased to meet you." Ashley walked over to the other woman. "I'm here to go through the entry formalities. A lady has taken my academic qualifications and ID card for copying. Still, she did not get back to me for a good while. I am wondering what's going on?"

Ashley handed the completed form to the woman in front of her.

"Please come with me." The woman looked at the form that Ashley handed over and then walked into the Administration Department.

The Administration Department was spacious, and everyone inside was busy with work with their heads lowered. Ashley immediately noticed the young woman who had taken her documents.

Ashley was taken into the director's office.

"Nice to meet you, Ashley. I am Mia, the chief personnel officer of the Bryant Group." Mia Pearce looked at Ashley's resume and academic credentials on the desk and nodded. "I'm sorry to inform you that for some reason, the Architectural Design Department no longer needs a junior designer. Suppose you want to stay at this company, the President's Secretariat currently needs an assistant. Maybe you can consider that position."

Ashley was surprised. "But the position I applied for was the junior architect, and it's stated clearly in my offer letter that I've obtained it. How can you tell me now that you cannot provide me with that position? Director Mia, your explanation doesn't make sense to me."

"Miss Powell." Mia smiled politely. "Sorry for having given you the wrong information, but this is the current situation. If you can accept the other position, you can stay at the company. Once the Architectural Design Department has a position suitable for you in the future, we can prioritize you to be transferred to it."

Ashley furrowed her brows slightly. She studied hard for four years to enter the Bryant Group to become a professional architect. She passed through various interviews and tests and was then told that her fancied position was no longer available. How could she accept the news?

For many years, this was the first time that Ashley felt so frustrated.