“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you’d seen me.” She was probably too immersed in her own happiness to notice her surroundings.
Stella took a few deep breaths to calm her palpitating heart. “I’m so sorry Mrs. Featherstone! I wasn’t paying attention.”
“No need to apologize. It’s my fault for calling you out suddenly. Are you… dating someone?”
She instantly hid the lunchbox behind her. “No! I was just delivering for a f-friend.”
Judging from her coy response, she either just started dating or had a crush on someone. “Go for it! Women look the most charming when they’re taking the lead.”
Stella paused for a few moments before looking up at me. “Mrs. Featherstone, it really isn’t like that.”
“I know. I know. Don’t worry about it.” I patted her shoulder before entering the lift. It sure is good to be young.
Just as I arrived on the floor of Anthony’s office, I saw one of his secretaries printing some documents. She was flustered by my presence. “Mrs. Featherstone, you’re here!”
Although her expression seemed a bit off, I paid no heed. “Is Anthony inside?”
“He is.”
As usual, I entered his office without knocking and saw him in front of his desk, buttoning up his shirt.
Hearing footsteps, he shouted, “Get lost!”
That startled me for a moment. The atmosphere in his office was dreary. “Who made you this angry?”
He paused his hands and looked up at my voice and his expression softened upon seeing my face. “What brings you here? Aren’t you supposed to be visiting Summer?”
I walked over to his side, intending to help him button the rest. Then I noticed the red patches on his neck. “What happened?”
“Joseph’s not here. The other secretary was careless and spilled some hot water on me.”
Hearing that, I hurriedly went to the cupboard to get an ointment for his scald. I made Anthony sit on his chair as I unbuttoned the rest of his shirt. There were large red patches on his chest. “If there’s really no one reliable, get Joseph to come back and leave the issues in Moranta to someone else.”
“There are too many things to handle there. I won’t feel safe unless it’s Joseph. Although, I’ll be happy if you come to visit me more. Will you?”
Looking at his reddened chest made my heart ache. I nodded. “All right. Summer’s with Mom, and I have nothing going on anyway. I’ll see what I can help around the office.”
Anthony leaned back against the backrest. His smile widened. “My wife’s the best!”
While attending to his wound, it dawned on me to ask, “Anthony, tell me the truth. You must have said or done something for the secretary to pour hot water on your chest. What did you do?”
His eyes dimmed. “Do I seem like such a person to you?”
I shrugged. “That’s hard to tell.” Unknowingly, I increased my pressure on his wound. As an act of petty revenge, he bit my lips lightly.
“Heartless creature.”
After attending to his wound, I helped him with his shirt. “Summer’s down with flu. Ever since she arrived in K City, her immune system has deteriorated. After discussing with Mom, we are thinking of bringing her back to R Province to recuperate.”
For a few moments, Anthony lowered his head, deep in thought. “All right. I’ll tie up all the loose ends. When Joseph comes back from Moranta, we’ll bring Summer to R Province.”
That went so smoothly, it was almost unbelievable. “If you leave, can Joseph manage?”
“There’s still Joe. Nothing to worry about.” Still seated, he hugged my waist playfully. I noticed the cute lunchbox on his desk. “Did you eat out? Or did someone send you food?”
“I ordered takeaway. There wasn’t time to eat out.”
I nodded, not intending to ask any further.
Over the next couple of days, Anthony and I stuck to each other like glue; we ate, lived, and went to work together. One fine day, while we were lazing around in his office, I received a call from Hannah.
“Sienna, are you at K City?” Her voice sounded hoarse.
“I am. How’s Quilo?”
“He’s fine. Actually, I have a favor to ask.”
This was out of the norm. “Did something happen?”
“It concerns your family. Actually, John didn’t want to trouble you about this, but Sienna, you’re the only one I know who can help us! Can you get Uncle Zachery to use his connections and find out how Uncle Louis is doing?”
“What happened? Tell me everything.”
“Someone reported Uncle Louis for jobbery. They accused him of using his power to open a company for John, which is a violation of the law. It has been two days since he was taken in for investigation! John’s frantically searching, but no one has any news concerning him. Uncle Zachery’s been here for many years. I’m sure he’ll know who to look.”
“Hannah, calm down. I’ll definitely ask Dad for help. Are you alone at home? Can you contact John?”
“Quilo’s with me, and John’s phone keeps going to voicemail.” I could tell she was about to cry.
I got up from Anthony. “Don’t worry. I’ll call Dad now.” Then I hung up the phone.
Just as I was about to dial for Zachary, Anthony took away my phone. “Based on Uncle Louis’ standing, I’m sure they won’t do anything to him. He’s probably at someplace nice, answering a few questions. Give it a few more days. If your dad gets involved, how would the top brass think? A high-ranking official being friends with a dubious businessman. It would just make things worse for him.”
After considering his words, I realized how rash I was acting. If they found concrete evidence against Louis, he would have already been convicted. This silence could only mean that they had nothing against him. In this case, no news was good news. It wouldn’t help the situation one bit if I meddled blindly.
“Then what should we do now? John and Hannah must be panicking. We can’t just sit still and do nothing.”
Anthony frowned. “How would you know about John’s condition? If he’s able to lead Stanhope Corporation well, I’m sure he must have thought about this, too. Don’t worry about Hannah. I’ll get someone to watch over her.”
His words were implying something. I asked, “If John knows he can’t get involved with Uncle Louis’ matter, why didn’t he tell Hannah about it? Why’s he making her worry?”
Anthony grazed me gently on my nose. “Remember the last time he came to find you?”
I was reminded of the dinner I had with John at La Morera some time back. Not only did he get drunk, but he got Anthony drunk as well. I had assumed his moodiness was due to a couple’s fight with Hannah, so I did not probe any further.
Now that I thought about it, it was probably more than that. “Wait. Are you saying, John is not coming home not because he’s looking for help but he’s avoiding Hannah?”
“You’re heading in the right direction. Continue.”
“And since John and Hannah are not on the best of terms now, he probably wouldn’t have mentioned Uncle Louis’ news to her. This means that someone must have told Hannah about it. That person must have known she would call me for help. Naturally, I would…”
Anthony looked at me with admiration. “Looks like your brain does have some merit.”
I pursed my lips in annoyance. “That doesn’t sound like a compliment. Anyway, who exactly is going in such a roundabout manner to get us?”
He looked at me with his obsidian eyes.
“It’s the Murphys, isn’t it?”
“Smart girl!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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