“Ms. Collins, please head to the eighth floor and get the records of this year’s projects…”
“I forgot to tell you that I need the information about the investment plans in the coming year. Please go to the eighth floor again.”
“Is that all? How about going to the branch office and get our customers’ information? Anthony is one of the shareholders of Emery’s company, so it’s fine to share our resources with her. Come back within two hours, because we’re in a rush.”
Throughout the afternoon, I lost count of how many times I bossed Stella around, giving her no time to take a seat or rest.
As soon as the door closed, Emery could no longer hold back her laugh. “Look at you! You’re the new king of torture in K City. You’ve made a beautiful woman so miserable.”
“Thank you. And same to you! Now I know Ms. Moore has much compassion for others.” I made fun of her.
Emery poured two glasses of warm water and handed one to me. “Stop mocking me. The way you handled the matter today is rather brutal, but I like it. Good job!”
She froze for a second, pursing her lips. After drinking half a glass of water in one gulp, she stared into space and said, ”Perhaps Hunter and I wouldn’t have ended up this way if I had staked my claim in our relationship earlier.”
I rarely saw this side of her. She appeared so forlorn, like a traveler who was heading home alone at night, worn out and desolated. For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
Fortunately, Emery didn’t dwell on her emotions. In the blink of an eye, the loneliness within her faded away, and she asked inquisitively, ”When are you and Anthony going to stop pretending to be divorced? Luckily, I reacted fast enough just now. Otherwise, I would’ve slapped Anthony to teach him a lesson after seeing his attitude.”
“I don’t know. Perhaps it has to go on for a little longer.” I heaved a sigh, feeling dejected all of a sudden.
No couple would want to pretend to be enemies if they could show off their affection openly.
There would always be women around Anthony. Most of them might not have compatible family backgrounds or capabilities. But the possibility of an outstanding woman coming along one day was never zero. Once that happens, what should I do then?
The moment I finished speaking, I heard the sound of my phone buzzing in my pocket.
I fished out my phone right away and saw that it was a video call from Anthony.
“Will you look at that, the big boss is checking on you now. I’ll give you guys some space,” Emery poked fun at me before she stood up and walked away.
It required connections with the influential and reputable people for Emery’s company to gain a foothold in the corporate world. However, her relationship with Zachary had always been lukewarm, so she asked for Anthony’s investment. That was also why he was present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony previously. Since then, Emery had always joked about herself working for Anthony.
Feeling helpless, I shook my head with a smile before picking up the phone.
“Why did you ignore me for so long? Are you still mad?” Anthony raised a brow and gave me a devilish grin.
“Are you feeling bad for her?” I teased.
“I’m just worried that you might be exhausted. You had to stay outside and didn’t get to rest the entire day. How are you feeling now? Is there any uneasiness?” Anthony chose not to banter with me.
Listening to his gentle tone, I couldn’t bring myself to keep speaking sharply to him.
“No, I’m fine enough to get mad and mock people. Actually, I felt as if I’ve been reborn. I look nothing like a sickly person.” I bet there was no terminally ill patient who was as optimistic as me.
“Well, your happiness is more important than anything else.” He gazed at me. His expression was unusually solemn as he spoke.
I knew he was genuinely concerned about me, yet his gaze made me felt like he was seeing through me at my soon-to-be-dead face.
All the terminally ill patients had one thing in common. We loved making jokes about death, but when it struck us that death was actually on our way, we lied to ourselves and refused to accept it.
“Of course I’m happy, but that might not be the case for you, since you won’t be getting those lunchboxes made with love anymore.” I changed the subject, avoiding talking about death.
“What lunchbox are you talking about?” Anthony seemed puzzled.
“Huh?” I narrowed my eyes and stared intently at him. “Are you trying to play the fool? Stella sends you a lunchbox every day. Didn’t you eat it?”
The entire company knew about it. So how could it be fake?
“When did she send it?” His expression looked innocent as if he was completely clueless about it.
“Whatever.” It seems that I did it again… getting jealous after hearing some baseless rumor. In fact, Anthony had never seen any lunchbox all this while. Yet, the rumor about him and Stella still spread like wildfire. This showed that she was quite the scheming woman.
Anthony, however, wasn’t going to let it slide. Keeping the conversation going, he said, “By the way, it’s been a long while since I last had your cooking. I really miss it.”
“What?” I was engrossed in my own thoughts that I didn’t hear him. A few seconds later, I finally recollected myself. Is he trying to hint at me to prepare a lunchbox with love for him? With that thought, I teased him intentionally. “Oh, I don’t do lunchboxes.”
Disappointed, the gleam in his eyes became dimmer as he stared helplessly and dejectedly at the phone screen.
“But… it’s the weekend tomorrow. If you’re coming to see the babies at the Stanhope residence, I don’t mind cooking for you.”
“Haha… Okay, see you tomorrow night, then.” Anthony chuckled. His mood was already lifted as he hung up the phone.
I found that it was rather easy to console him. Like a cat, I only needed to stroke his head a few times, and he would be tamed right away.
Long after I ended the call, Emery came back in. When she saw that I wasn’t on the phone with Anthony anymore, she walked over to my side, took her bag, and was about to leave.
“Something came up in my office, so I have to go over there now. Do you want to come with me?”
“But Stella isn’t back yet. What should we do with these piles of documents?” I asked.
Holding out her hands, she shrugged. ”Just leave it. Let her clean up this mess when she’s back. It seems that you haven’t mastered the art of torturing people. You should never be considerate to your enemy.”
She was right. Having mercy on my enemy was akin to being cruel to myself, and what was more, Stella was so guileful. She totally deserved this.
After chewing on her words, I stood up, held her hands, and walked out of the room. “You head on over to your office. As for me, I’m going home since I haven’t spent much time with Audrey and Gregory. I miss them.”
Emery let out a snort of contempt. “Children will more likely be successful if you train them to be independent. They’re going to become spoilt brats if you pamper them too much.”
I don’t mind. I’m fine with it as long as my children stay safe and healthy.”
The Stanhope residence was quite a distance away from Featherstone Corporation. I looked out the car window blankly as the children and my terminal illness occupied my mind.
At a crossroads, the car stopped in front of a traffic light. There were several bars in the commercial district by the road. While waiting, I noticed a commotion in front of the entrance of a bar nearby. It seemed like a woman had offended the head of a group of men. She was probably going to face the music soon.
The scene reminded me of Yvonne. If the child was still around, he would know how to speak already.
After two minutes, the light turned green. The chauffeur slowly drove away, and I watched indifferently as the bar vanished out of my sight.
Half an hour later, the car drove into a residential area where the government officials in K City lived and made a turn. I spotted an eye-catching blue sports car in front of the Stanhope residence from afar. As the car went closer, I saw Zander standing right beside the sports car.
I was surprised, as he gave me the impression that he wasn’t someone who would do this. There was no association between Zander and the Stanhope family. So I guessed he was here for me.
Once the car pulled over, I opened the door and walked toward him.
Zander seemed to have seen my car much earlier. He came over and greeted me first. “Ms. Stanhope.”
“Mr. Hoffman, I remember that I’ve made myself quite clear the other day. I don’t want to have anything to do with Tinsel Group. And yet, here you are, waiting for me right in front of my house. What do you want from me?”
I had written down the Stanhope residence address without much thought about it because ordinary people would avoid a government residential area. If Zander hadn’t had an influential background, he wouldn’t have come over.
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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