Chapter 479 – Second Chance Love of the Missing Groom Novel

James saw that her appearance was fitting and he said, “Let’s go.”

They left the house and James drove her to the Twinrise Enterprises headquarters, parking the car in the basement.

James turned to look at her just then. “Stay calm.”

She was a little nervous, but she managed to gather herself. “I’m alright.”

With Diarmuid missing, she knew she must help him keep things together for now to prevent unrest.

She heaved a long sigh, opened the door, and alighted.

Puffing her chest and rearing her chin, she headed toward the elevator, with James in tow.

The elevator soon arrived.

As Abigail strode into the elevator, James followed her like he usually did with Diarmuid.

“Mrs. Althoff.” Some of the employees in the building greeted Abigail when she passed them.

Abigail would respond with a small nod and a faint smile.

Then, arriving outside Diarmuid’s office, she said a little too loudly, “James, inform everyone that we will be having a meeting soon.”

And with that, she headed inside Diarmuid’s office right away.

Having heard that, some of the employees slid up to James, asking, “Mr. Cross? Is Mrs. Althoff really calling for a meeting? What’s going on here?”

“Mr. Althoff mentioned before that she would start learning management of the company,” he replied. “She’ll probably announce that at the meeting and properly introduce herself.”

“Really?” someone exclaimed softly. “But isn’t she the director of Hotmesh Research? I just saw the video of her being interviewed days ago. It had a lot of views.”

“She resigned,” James said.

“I see!” Someone else came up, butting in. “Such a shame… Everyone was saying Mr. Althoff married her for her looks, but it turns out that she’s already so accomplished despite being so young.”

James quickly added, “She spent time studying at Mead Clinic in Minerva.”

“Oh, I know that place. It’s the world’s top medical research center,” yet another person added.

People were starting to flock around James and they were all very very interested in Abigail, mainly because she was Diarmuid’s domestic partner.

“That’s the one,” James replied. “Once she returned to Zidonia, she took up the post of director of Hotmesh Research, and led the successful development of an artificial heart. She’s a famous heart surgeon as well, but since both her and Mr. Althoff were too busy at work and could not spend time at home, she decided to resign to take care of their family. However, she’s also used to working and cannot calm down, and since Mr. Althoff is heading to Remy now, he’s letting her learn a couple things about company management while she’s free.”

News of the successful development of the artificial heart was everywhere, and almost everyone at Twinrise Enterprises had seen that video interview.

Abigail had certainly been down-to-earth and candid, and judging from her response to the interviewer’s questions, she was not one who hogged the spotlight.

She also did not claim all credit, and everyone naturally had a good impression after watching the interview.

Most importantly, while they all believed that she married Diarmuid thanks to her good looks, she actually depended entirely on her own abilities to win his heart!

“Alright, that’s enough. It’s time for the meeting,” James said then, cutting them off or he might say too much and let on his attention.

With that, the crowd around him dispersed and shuffled into the conference room.

Still, there were those who commented that a medical professional might not be able to learn company management.

In Diarmuid’s office, Abigail was standing in front of his desk, her fingers brushing over it.

As she looked up to his seat, she seemed to see Diarmuid in it, working like he usually did.

His face looked so vivid…

Still, the image soon faded and Abigail lowered her eyes in disappointment.

Soon, the door opened and Elliot entered. “Mrs. Althoff? Mr. Cross asked me to inform you that everyone is in the conference room now.”

Withdrawing her hand from the desk, Abigail said, “Okay.”

“Should I take you to it?” Elliot asked, worried that Abigail was not familiar with the office building.

However, though Abigail had visited before and knew where it was, she did not refuse Elliot either.

“Sure,” she replied evenly and strode out, heading straight to the conference room.

Arriving outside the door, the secretary quickly walked up and opened the door.

As Abigail strode inside, everyone got to their feet.

She headed straight to the main chair, casting a sweeping glance over the crowd of around twenty, and she gestured. “Please be seated.”

James brought Abigail a chair as well, and after she sat down, she said with an even tone, “There’s no cause to worry, everyone, and you can be candid too. I’m not here to take a job, and I actually don’t know a thing about managing this company, so I’m just here to learn. There would probably be plenty of things which I’d need everyone’s instructions and guidance for.”

It was just the right tone of voice to indicate the purpose of the meeting.

“You’re giving us too much credit, ma’am.”

Everyone was already aware of that since James had already told them, and no one was about to provoke her when she was their boss’s wife.

In fact, they were perfectly respectful since she was not throwing her weight around, and she spoke with such earnestness that there was nothing much to nitpick.

Smiling, Abigail continued, “Diarmuid has told me that you’re all the backbone of the company, and that I’ll definitely learn something from everyone here. But I resigned to take care of my family, so I’ll only come to learn when I’m idling. For one, I can kill time with this, and he always seems so busy—I wouldn’t even know if he’s really busy or faking it.”

One of the executives raised his hand then and explained, “Actually, ma’am, there’s already plenty to do here, while Mr. Althoff also had to attend video conferences to oversee Remy abroad. He had to travel this time because of a company acquisition going awry. It’s a branch company issue and there are people in charge, but Mr. Althoff is still needed for executive decisions.”

Abigail’s hand grasped her knees beneath the table.

She never did learn about the nature of Diarmuid’s work, and she only knew that he was very busy.

Her heart was stricken with guilt just then—she really should have resigned earlier to take care of home, so that he would not have to worry too much.

Be that as it may, she refrained from letting any of her insecurity show at all. She joked, “No one here is covering for him, right?”

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” another executive quickly said. “Mr. Althoff is always too busy to have time for anything else.”

Abigail pointed at them and smiled just then. “Are you sure about that? I think I wouldn’t be aware if he’s having an affair, but what about you?”

“Uh…”

“Ma’am…”

“It’s alright, calm down. I’m just joking.” Abigail kept smiling.

The joke was to ease the tension, while insinuating that she did not just come to learn—she was here to prevent Diarmuid from having an affair!

“Anyway, the main purpose I’m here today is to explain that I’ll be here to learn about managing the company and to formally greet everyone,” Abigail said as she rose to her feet. “That’s all for today— dismissed.”

As she strode out of the conference room, everyone else followed suit.

Inevitably, there were small whispers too.

“So Mrs. Althoff is here to keep an eye on Mr. Althoff.”

“He’s probably not having an affair, right? He’s always so busy…”

“Hey, you never know. Hadn’t you heard what Mrs. Althoff said? Would we know if she doesn’t?”

“True. She shares a bed with Mr. Althoff—she would know him better than we do!”

“So learning to manage the company was just a smokescreen. She wants to keep an eye on the boss.”

“I won’t blame her. Mr. Althoff is young, handsome, and rich. Women are all too willing to throw themselves into his arms.”

“That’s right. Is there ever a man who isn’t fickle?”

“You’re a man too…”

The man snorted. “Like you never thought about it. It’s just that you haven’t done it yet.”

In the end, the spark between spouses tends to fade with time, and thoughts would get astray, the key difference being a person’s self-restraint: some would decide to go for it when the desire hits, just as some would restrain themselves despite feeling the desire.

It is the only difference that matters.

As Abigail got in the car at the basement parking lot, she heaved a small sigh of relief—she had been on edge the whole time.

Turning to James, she asked, “How was my performance?”

James glanced at Abigail through the rearview mirror, but he was assuredly surprised by her composure and poise at the meeting just now.

“Very good,” he replied.

Abigail’s smile faded at that and she rubbed her cheeks firmly.

She had been smiling constantly while she had been upstairs, because she had to fake it.

With Diarmuid’s whereabouts unknown, she has to muster her spirit.

Returning to the hilltop mansion, she saw that Eagle had just returned with Mrs. Watson as well.

After alighting, Mrs. Watson quickly went up to her, saying, “Mrs. Althoff, I’ll go with you.”

Abigail said, “But your health…”

“I’m fine.” Mrs. Watson patted her chest. “See? I’m fine.”

Abigail nodded. “I’ll arrange for a doctor for you over there.”

“No, I’m really fine,” Mrs. Watson insisted. “I would’ve discharged myself if you hadn’t told me to stay at the hospital. I was almost bored to death there! Oh, can I see Tommy now? I’ve missed him since it’s been a few days.”

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