THE SURTR: SON IN LAW

CHAPTER 05 BULLIED

The amount of pity that Marlene had started to gather increased much more as they heard her twisted story.

The female colleagues felt sympathy for her as a fellow woman, and some even came forward to hug her.

"Oh Marlene, I'm so sorry for you. I can't believe Ellen did that, men are such assholes…"

"Yeah, they are horrible! But don't feel lonely or sad, okay? We all are here to support you."

"Of course! Just come and talk to me if you ever feel sad, that loser doesn't deserve your tears!"

Meanwhile, the nale colleagues also rallied in her favor. Of course, they had always found her attractive, but didn't directly make a move at her because Ellen also worked there.

Now, they naturally felt like they had a change to win her favor, and they began to abuse Ellen as well.

One man spotted him standing outside the bullpen and shouted,

"Look, there he is! The heartless bastard, I can't believe he did that!"

As soon as Marlene heard that Ellen was also there, she began to sob loudly, as if she was triggered on seeing him.

"Oh no, Marlene, she is do heartbroken… is he even a human or a beast?!"

"How pathetic are you, Willmott? You actually hired a fake actress to be your pretend- girlfriend? Ew!"

"Guys, come on! We all know how stupid he is, that he left such a beautiful wife like Marlene. Do you really think you can get someone better than her?"

"You never know! Maybe he has found another dishwasher at his part time job and fallen for her! And now, they can spend their life scrubbing pots together."

"That's exactly what he deserves for being such a disgusting and toxic husband! Actually, I feel like you dodged a bullet, Marlene!"

The men were fueled by a misguided sense of entitlement and believed that Marlene's status as a divorcee was an opportunity for them, not knowing that she would not even look at them twice.

This is when Sophie, whose mood was already sour because of the phone call, stepped out of her office.

She came to the bullpen and ended up witnessing the her employees ridiculing Ellen, making him the sole target of the hostile remarks.

Seeing him getting abused like this irritated her to no limit, and she said sternly,

"What on earth is happening here?"

The employees, caught off guard by Sophie's unexpected appearance, fell silent.

Her displeasure was evident, and the employees exchanged uneasy glances, trying to think of an excuse.

One of them tried to explain, stammering;

"Well, we actually… you know -"

Another one tried to take over, but was ultimately interrupted.

"Marlene just told us how Willmott divorced her-"

"Do you think you should be discussing all this in the workplaces?"

Sophie roared, making them all fall silent.

"No matter what happened, this behavior is absolutely unacceptable! Disrespecting a colleague in this manner reflects poorly on all of you! Do you have no ethics?"

Sophie's patience was running low as she glared angrily at her employees, her tone cutting through the awkward explanations.

When nobody had anything to say in their defense, she decided to take immediate action.

Without hesitation, she announced the consequence for their actions.

"I think you all need a lesson in now to conduct yourself in a professional set- up. All those who thought it was a good idea to abuse your colleague today, your wages will be deducted. Consider it a warning."

One employee protested,

" This isn't fair. Why should we pay for Willmott's family drama?"

Sophie replied resolutely,

"Then you should not have gotten involved in anyone's family drama. My decision has been made, and you are on thin fucking ice, Charles."

Saying this, she turned around to leave with a final warning;

"Now, back to work, everyone. This behavior is not what I expect from my team."

The employees were angry, but at the end they were completely powerless and incapable of defying her command.

Even though murmurs of frustration rippled through the crowd of employees, they had no choice but to swallow their resentment and quietly return to their workstations.

As Sophie left the scene, an uneasy silence settled in the bullpen.

But one of Ellen's colleagues, instead of returning to his table, found him in the warehouse.

He said accusingly,

"You must have complained to Sophie, haven't you? Are you that desparate to get us in trouble? Losers like you always find ways to backstab others!"

Ellen was confused by his aggressive tone, and he shook his head in denial.

"What are you talking about? I didn't complain to anyone. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Another one of his colleagues joined them in the warehouse, supporting his friend,

"Well, someone surely complained, and I remember you being called into her office just fifteen minutes ago! Sophie just deducted our wages because you, you asshole!"

The first guy grabbed his collar as he said,

"You are a damn snitch! We already knew that you are a loser, but we didn't think you would go so low as to get our salaries deducted. Shameless!"

Without missing a beat, Ellen removed his hands from his collar and adjusted his shirt, saying,

"I already told you, I don't care about your words and certainly not enough to file any complaint."

The men mocked,

"Sure, like we will believe you now!"

But instead of being provoked, Ellen shrugged,

"Your wish. I don't care either way."

Saying this, he walked out of the warehouse with some files, while the two men also followed him outside.

Just like earlier, Ellen completely ignored anyone who was speaking to him sarcastically as he calmly gathered his remaining belongings from the table.

But even after their wages were deducted, his colleagues didn't stop taunting him, and even took it a step further.

One of the men started,

"Huh! Look at him, picking up his toys. What a coward he is!"

"Yeah, he is already useless at the office, I think it's better for him to leave. Otherwise who knows, he might get our whole salary deducted for teasing him!"

"What are you gonna do next, Willmott? Complain to your mommy that your friends are teasing you?"

"Looks like this tough guy can't even handle a little teasing! He really needs a woman to fight his battles."

"Tsk, tsk! Poor Ellen, he's a delicate doll waiting to be saved. Maybe if he had a girlfriend to defend him, he wouldn't be in this mess right now!"

Just then, a sudden knock echoed through the office, catching everyone off guard. Everyone turned their attention to the door a group of imposing figures with weapons in their hands stood at the entrance.

It wouldn't take much time to figure out that they were gangsters.

One of the gangsters stepped forward, enjoying the terror that had settled in the entire office floor, and asked;

"Tell me, where is Sophie?"

The sudden appearance of these intimidating men made everyone stunned in their place, as there was a pin drop silence there.

One of the accountants adjusted his glasses on his nose as he asked nervously,

"Who… who the hell are you guys?"

Another man stepped forward, waving his pistol,

"What, do you want our business card now! It's enough for you to know that we are looking for Sophie. She owes someone, and they want to have a little chat…"

The leader asked once again;

"So hurry up! Which one of you gonna tell me, where is she?"

The employees felt their heartbeats speed up with genuine fear as the gangsters questioned them.

But the office workers were faced with a dilemma—they actually didn't know Sophie's whereabouts.

"We… we don't know-"

"How the fuck don't you know! Doesn't that chick work here?"

The girl who had answered him earlier just nodded nervously, and another ganster yelled,

"Answer while we are asking in your language…"

Saying this, he swung his bat through a window, shattering the glass as the employees shivered in fear.

He yelled,

"Or we can ask you in our language too!"

An employee burst into tears as he spoke,

"We… we really don't know! She… she went somewhere and-"

"Fine! If you say this, then we'll see."

The man who had shattered the window stepped towards the receptionist's desk.

"If she has gone out, she will return, right? Then we'll wait for her right here! Do you mind sharing a seat with me, honeybun?"

The receptionist was a young girl who immediately shook her head in fear and ran away from her desk, stopping at the other end of the room.

The gangsters were apparently very amused on seeing her run away in fear, and the men blocked the entrance while their leader sat at the receptionist's seat, placing his feet at the desk.

"We will wait for her to show up right here. And if we find out that you lied… you can imagine what will happen."