I was deliberately avoiding him, too. Fortunately, our offices were not on the same floor, so I knew we would not bump into each other.I had yet to think about how to deal with the unfinished business between the both of us. All I wanted to be sure of was that the selection of the new spokesperson would be done right, so even if I had to leave, I could leave without regrets.Heidi was sent to liaise with the people in charge from a few more agencies. They were all agreeable and quite excited about it, unlike Sandy’s company.This was something that would benefit them, with no risk to themself. Regardless of how things were to turn out, an artist from their agencies taking part in a show held by Grant Corporation was proof enough of their capabilities. Grant Corporation would not invite anyone who did not possess a certain level of competence to be part of a show.Who would turn down an opportunity to gain exposure AND get paid too?After a busy day, it was finally time to clock o
His eyes immediately sparkled. He enthusiastically sat up straight and looked me directly in the eye. “Let’s talk about you! Like, did you miss me? And when are you getting a divorce?”I was dumbfounded. “When did people start asking such sensitive questions so bluntly? Don’t you wanna see me be happy in life?”“Why not ask you that? You’re not happy with him. Besides, I've been waiting for you for a while now, so of course I’d be concerned about it.” He propped his head up on his hands as he smiled teasingly.I kept quiet, not entertaining his questions.“Stop denying reality! Look at yourself! You’re pretty and you’re gentle-mannered, so why would you make yourself look so miserable for Theo Grant’s sake? Trust me, a divorce would do you good.” He caught my face in his hands, forcing me to meet his eyes.Our closeness made me realize that other than his flawless face and his enticing smile, Xander had extraordinarily beautiful eyes too. Once, a fan had commented that it was like
After that, Xander kept his hands by his sides sulkily and turned to casually look at Theo. “President Grant, you and Ms. Lane make a beautiful-looking pair. People who don’t know better, like my mother, would think the two of you were married! She also said she’d like to have a meal sometime in the future with the ‘Mr. and Mrs. Grant’.”Even though I knew Xander had said that on purpose, it did not stop resentment from building up in my heart. My hands trembled slightly.I stole a glance at Theo and saw that the two deep pools of his eyes were emotionless. He replied faintly, “Please help me send my regards to President White and tell her that I will visit her soon.”From Theo’s side, Cindy enthusiastically chimed in. “President White? Is she the designer you mentioned earlier who was famous worldwide? I thought she was expanding her empire overseas?”“Ms. Lane knows of my mother too? Yes, she usually spends all her time overseas, but since Salt City is her hometown, she’s been re
I was momentarily stunned. “Parting ways in a civil manner. Getting divorce papers processed immediately.”“Impossible.” Theo was quick to reject the idea, his voice cold.I scorned him. “Then completely break things off with Cindy Reed. Give her enough money to move to another city and have her live there. Swear to me that you won’t see her again for the rest of your life.”“Who are you to tell me what to do with my life, Wanda Lane?!” Cindy barged in unannounced to shriek at me menacingly.This time, my calmness even surprised myself. I looked at her and responded quietly, “Why can’t I? Theo refuses to let me go, so he should let you go instead.”“You… I… Theowy will never let me go!” Cindy was so agitated she no longer made any sense.I did not want to argue with her, so I turned around and walked back to my seat. I grabbed my bag and said to Xander, “Am I still sending you back? Let’s go.”“Right away. Right away!” Xander hastily paid the bill after hearing the edge in my to
I pushed her extremely curious face away and made my way to the bedroom. “Don’t be nosy. It’s late, you should go sleep.”“Tell me please, Wanda… I promise to be as tight lipped as a mummy…” I closed the door, blocking out Cecilia’s voice. That girl was always saying nonsensical things.Once in my room, I continued working on my laptop. Heidi had prepared a proposal for the show, and I had to check through it.The work for the preparation stage was almost done now. It would be a busy period of time for me soon.For the next few days, I was the first in and the last out at work. Sometimes I did not even have the time to eat.The groundwork of the talent searching show had been established now, and all the participants had signed their contracts. There was a lot to do and very little time. The next task in line was to settle the decoration of the locations and to work on the online marketing.This was definitely the fastest production program in history. I had given it a timeline o
“When did you become such a scaredy-cat?” Xander teased, a charming smile on his face.“What are you doing here?” I asked, slightly bewildered.“I missed you, of course! That’s why I came.” He pressed my body back down onto the chair and reached forward to continue his massage.I instinctively tried to avoid his hands, but he clamped me down and ordered, “Don’t move.”His tone was demanding, which was rare. As his hands worked their magic, using just the right amount of force, I really began to feel like I was in a massage parlor. I let him continue.After a while, he retracted his hands and handed me a glass of water. “How do you feel? Do you need to go to the hospital?”“I’m feeling better, no need for hospitals. I still gotta head back to the office for a meeting.” I clutched the glass of water in my hands and took a sip from it.Xander was quiet. He pulled out a chair and sat in front of me. He stared intently at me for a long while before asking, his tone stern and firm, “D
When Mason saw me walk in, he put down his phone. He looked at me and asked, “How was the site recce?”“Not too bad. Do you need anything from me?” His schedule was not free enough for him to come all this way just to play with his phone.“I told you this morning that I’d send you some soup.” He passed me a container. “Drink this while it’s still hot. It’s good for suppressing nausea.”“Thank you.” I was grateful. He had been very attentive to me and my troubles recently, and I felt bad he had had to come all this way. “I’ll buy you a meal someday to make up for this.”“That’ll have to wait till after you’re done with this whole spokesperson thing. I heard you’re organizing a huge talent show for this?” Mason sounded like he had just learned about it.“Yeah, so it can be fair and no one feels insulted,” I joked.He lifted his head to look at me. “Do you ever wonder if the reason Theo passed this job to you was that he didn’t wanna work with Newlight any longer? What are you gonna
“Do you know the man who was with her?” My first reaction was to ask that.Cecilia shook her head and said, “I think I heard Cindy call him Zedd.”Zedd Nichols. No wonder they had not come to me looking for trouble. They had changed their strategy and had chosen to target Cecilia instead.Had they done this to Cecilia just to get back at me?Things were no longer as simple as I previously thought.I felt a headache coming on. After comforting Cecilia and promising her that I would get to the bottom of this, I left the interrogation room. Mason was waiting for me in the hall. When he saw me coming out, he walked up to steady me. “Are you okay?”I shook my head. “If she’s found guilty, how many years is she gonna have to serve?”“Possibly three to seven years, and it could go up to more than seven years too. It all depends on the victim’s condition and what the policemen say about it,” Mason answered solemnly.My knees gave way, and I lost my balance. How cruel could Cindy Reed b