Chapter 10

Sebastian might have just woken up, as his voice had a hint of laziness. When he called Isabella's name, his tone was slightly raised with an indescribable tenderness.

His voice made Isabella blush a little, and she explained, "This is what you gave me. I'm returning it to you."

Sebastian glanced at the bag on the table. "Don't you like it?"

"It's not that," Isabella shook her head, "I can't accept something so valuable. I have no reason to take it."

"It's not that valuable. It's just a small token from me," Sebastian said, "Or you can tell me what you like, and I can have Jack buy it for you. You can choose for yourself."

He sincerely wanted to make it up to her.

"I didn't think much of that night, Mr. Landon. It's in the past, so I'll forget about it. If you give me something, it would only remind me of it." Isabella spoke the truth. That incident had already passed. If neither of them brought it up again, it would be over. But Sebastian gave her something that made it seem like this matter couldn't be resolved.

Sebastian nodded, perhaps thinking that what she said made sense. "Alright. I won't force you to accept it."

"Thank you, Mr. Landon."

Isabella turned to leave, but Sebastian called out to her again. "Could you make me a cup of coffee?"

Since she was part of his assistant department, Isabella could handle a small favor like that. "Alright, please wait a moment."

When she returned to the sofa with the coffee, Sebastian had closed his eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Mr. Landon?" Isabella called him softly, but he didn't react at all.

Not wanting to disturb him, Isabella bent down to place the cup on the table, but as she was about to pull her hand away, Sebastian suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Ah!" Isabella exclaimed, losing her grip on the cup and spilling the coffee.

Sebastian confusedly let go of her hand and rubbed his temple. "Sorry..."

He had just dreamt of that night, and Isabella happened to come over. The faint scent on her body had stirred his restlessness, causing him to subconsciously reach out and grab her.

"Are you okay?" Sebastian felt guilty as he looked at Isabella's reddened hand.

She was like a fragile "little white rabbit", and he seemed to unintentionally startle her all the time.

Knowing that he didn't mean to scare her, Isabella hid her hands behind her back. "I'm fine. If there's nothing else, I'll leave."

"Alright."

Sebastian finally let her go.

Isabella hurried out and happened to run into two people.

"Isabella?" Laura widened her eyes in surprise. "Why were you coming out of Mr. Landon's office?"

Vanessa also looked at her with confusion all over her face.

Isabella didn't want to explain and tried to walk away, but Laura grabbed her. "Don't leave! Don't you know interns aren't allowed in the CEO's office? And it's so early; no one else is here yet, but here you are, coming out all flustered. Did you steal something?"

Laura noticed Isabella's left hand hidden behind her back and immediately concluded that she had stolen something. She sternly demanded, "What do you have in your hand? Show me!"

At that moment, Jack and a few others came over from the direction of the elevator. "What's going on? Why are you arguing?"

Laura pointed at Isabella and loudly said, "I just saw Isabella come out of the CEO's office, Mr. Brown. It seems like she stole something!"

Everyone's attention was focused on Isabella.

"I didn't steal anything!" Isabella defended herself.

"Then why have you been hiding your left hand?" Laura looked down on her. She had disliked Isabella for a long time. "Do you dare show everyone what's in your hand?"

Isabella reluctantly revealed her left hand.

Her hand was empty. There was nothing in it, only a red burn mark on the back of her hand.

Laura said, "You hesitated for a long time. You must have hidden something from your person. Will you let us search you?"

Isabella flushed with urgency. "I didn't steal anything, why gives you the right to search me?"

"Because you're suspicious and because you broke the rules by sneaking into the CEO's office! If you won't let us search you, it means you're hiding something!" Laura acted arrogantly, almost pointing her finger at Isabella and telling her to leave.

Vanessa stood by silently.

The others usually had a good relationship with Laura, so they remained bystanders at this moment.

Jack hesitated for a moment, then spoke up, "Isabella, interns aren't allowed in the CEO's office according to company regulations. Did you know that?"

"Yes, I did," Isabella nodded.

She had just wanted to return something to Sebastian, nothing else. She had to quietly return it to him, too.

She couldn't do it in front of everyone.

Otherwise, people would definitely talk about her in private, and they would misunderstand the relationship between her and Sebastian.

Laura seized on that topic to gain attention. "Did everyone hear that? She did this on purpose! She must have stolen something. Maybe our company's competitor sent her here to be a spy. You really should investigate her thoroughly, Mr. Brown!"

Jack couldn't believe Laura's words.

He was a very good judge of people and didn't think Isabella seemed like a spy. But he had to follow the company's regulations in front of everyone, so he said, "Do you have anything to say, Isabella?"

Isabella hesitated for a moment and shook her head.

She couldn't explain herself.

"Then why did you go into the CEO's office?"

Isabella shook her head again.

"Can anyone prove that you didn't steal anything?" Jack wanted to help her. If she had just violated the regulations, it wouldn't be a big deal, but if she was accused of stealing, it would be serious.

Isabella was very aware of her position in the company. Regular employees could easily be dismissed, let alone an intern like her. And she couldn't count on Sebastian to come and clear things up for her.

She closed her eyes, "No..."

Before she finished speaking, the office door opened, and Sebastian's voice floated out. "I can vouch for her. Is that enough?"

Everyone turned their heads to look at Sebastian.

Isabella also looked up in surprise, gazing at the man walking toward her. She couldn't describe her feelings at that moment. She just felt that all her uneasiness had disappeared in an instant at his appearance.

"Mr. Landon?" Laura was astonished. "Were you in the office?"

Sebastian glanced at her, "I've been in the office all along. I allowed Isabella to enter the office, and I can also prove that she didn't take anything from the company. Is that enough?"

No one dared to speak, and there was silence in the room.

It was rare to see Sebastian defending someone like this.

Laura didn't want to accept it. "You're not being fair, Mr. Landon! Isabella is an intern, and the company's regulations clearly state that interns are not allowed to enter the CEO's office. She violated the rules..."

Vanessa looked at Sebastian, wanting to know how he would handle this. After all, the company's regulations were serious, and if he couldn't handle this, it wouldn't be convincing.

In theory, Isabella couldn't avoid punishment.

"Who says she's an intern?" Sebastian spoke calmly in the silence. "Jack, tell everyone that starting today, Isabella is a regular employee."

Everyone was shocked.

Laura looked at Sebastian in disbelief.