After the Secret Wedding Rise of My Queen

After the Secret Wedding: Rise of My Queen

Chapter 261 Someone's Bullying Me

"Yes, what about it?" Xander asked, his tone puzzled.

"Someone's bullying me," Isabel replied before catching herself off guard.

She couldn't believe she had just tattled to Xander.

Throughout her life, Isabel had always dealt with her problems head-on, never relying on others for help. But now, here she was, venting to Xander.noveldrama

Worse, her tone a moment ago sounded so helpless, it even made her cringe.

"Who's bullying you?" Xander's voice turned cold.

"Erm... "Isabel cleared her throat, composing herself before continuing, "It's Eva and Cindy. I came here to buy clothes for you, but they told me to get out." She quickly recounted the incident to him.

"Wait three minutes," Xander said flatly, then hung up.

He called out toward the door, "Leo!"

Leo stepped in. "Yes, boss? What can I do for you?"

"Handle the situation at Maple Mall," Xander instructed curtly.

Meanwhile, Cindy smirked mockingly at Isabel. "Hah, keep pretending. Let's see how long you can keep this up."

Isabel arched an eyebrow, meeting Cindy's gaze. "You'll find out soon enough if I'm pretending."

Cindy burst into laughter. "Listen to you-so confident! I'm curious, what can you possibly do to me? And that phone call you made earlier-was that supposed to scare me? Maple Mall belongs to Bennett Group, you know. Don't tell me you know someone high up in Bennett Group. Who do you think you are? If you do, and if you can do something to me, I'll let you hit me!"

To add insult, Cindy deliberately leaned closer, sticking her face toward Isabel as if daring her to act.

Eva, however, narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Isabel.

When Isabel mentioned Bennett Group, Eva remembered hearing that the man Isabel was involved with was rumored to be connected to them. But after analyzing the situation with Kaleb, they concluded that Xander was likely just a minor figure in one of Bennett Group's branches-not someone with enough influence to meddle in a major mall's operations.

Just as Eva was thinking this, she noticed the mall manager striding toward them with urgency.

A sense of unease crept over her.

The manager approached, scanning the group. "Excuse me, which one of you is Ms. Zimmerman?"

"That would be me," Isabel replied, glancing at her watch. Two minutes. Xander's efficiency was unmatched.

"Ms. Zimmerman," the manager greeted her with the utmost respect. "I've been informed about the situation, and I assure you, I'll handle it to your satisfaction."

Eva and Cindy watched in stunned silence as the manager practically groveled.

Cindy, however, refused to back down. She stepped forward, trying to turn the tables. "Sir, we didn't do anything wrong in this matter. She's just a broke freeloader, coming here to try on clothes she can't afford. I can see you know her, but rules are rules. You can't break mall policies just for her."

The manager's expression turned icy as he fixed his gaze on Cindy. "Ms. Johnson, you want to talk about rules? Fine, let's talk about rules. Our customers are our top priority. This mall exists to serve them. Does your attitude reflect the standards of the service industry?" "You run a clothing store. Trying on clothes is what customers are supposed to do. Yet you've humiliated someone simply because you assumed they couldn't afford it. Your behavior is not only disgraceful but also tarnishes your brand's image and risks damaging the reputation of Maple Mall as a whole!"

Cindy stammered, "I ... I... " but couldn't find the words to respond.

The mall manager wasn't finished. He continued, "From this moment on, our partnership with your brand is officially terminated. I'm ordering you to clear out your counter immediately." "What?" Cindy was stunned, her mind reeling.

Eva's face also betrayed disbelief.

Both of them turned to stare at Isabel, who was leaning lazily against the doorframe, watching them with a relaxed smile.

Could Isabel wield such power?

"Sir, you must be joking," Cindy blurted. "Our brand has been here for years! The contract hasn't expired yet how can you just tell us to leave? You don't have the authority for this!" "You're right. I don't," the manager said coolly. "But if you're unhappy about it, you can take it up with my superiors. This is a directive from the higher-ups."

With Xander backing him, the mall manager felt invincible.

From the tone of Leo's earlier call, it

was clear that Isabel and Xander's relationship wasn't ordinary. If he handled this matter to Isabel's satisfaction, it would mean pleasing Xander as well-a move that could boost his career prospects, That's why he was determined to evict Cindy and her brand, sparing no effort to make Isabel happy.

Cindy's eyes reddened with

frustration. Their brand had been doing well here, and now a small clash with Isabel had snowballed into such a catastrophe. How was she supposed to explain this to Kaleb?

At that moment, Kaleb received the news.

"Cindy, what the hell happened? Everything was fine-how did this escalate so quickly? Who did you offend?" Kaleb asked sternly.

He'd been in a meeting when he

suddenly got a call saying Maple Mall was terminating their brand's presence. Worse, they threatened to severall ties with Johnson Group entirely if the counter wasn'to removed.

"Kaleb, I didn't offend anyone! I just had a little disagreement with Isabel ..."

"Isabel?" Kaleb froze. How did this connect to her?

Cindy quickly recounted the entire incident.

When she finished, Kaleb's expression darkened, his jaw tightening. Xander's cold face flashed through his mind. "Could it be him?" Kaleb muttered to himself.

"What? Who are you talking about, Kaleb? Who?" Cindy asked, confused and growing desperate.

"We'll discuss this later. I need to call Isabel," Kaleb said before hanging up abruptly. Buzz!

Isabel's phone vibrated. She glanced at the caller ID.

Cindy and Eva's eyes immediately snapped to Isabel's phone, convinced it was Kaleb calling. That conniving Isabel! Eva cursed silently. This must be her ploy to force Kaleb to contact her. Cindy was thinking the same thing.

To them, Isabel was shameless, resorting to underhanded tactics just to get Kaleb's attention.

But as they stewed in their thoughts, Isabel answered the call.

"You can beg me all you want, but it won't make a difference," Isabel said, her voice calm but firm. "Your brand is getting out of here today-no exceptions."