Charlotte let out a laugh. “Why would I fire you? You don’t even work for my company.”
Mandy glanced nervously at Sean.
Sean said casually, “Lottie, she stopped you at the front desk earlier. If you want her gone, I’ll let her go.”
Mandy’s eyes widened. “Wait–what?! Am I getting fired anyway?” she thought.
“I never said I wanted her fired,” Charlotte shot him a look. “I didn’t make an appointment, and she was just doing her job. It’s rare to find employees who actually take their responsibilities seriously. Don’t go firing people over something like that.”
Sean smiled, eyes soft. “Okay.”
Mandy exhaled, finally letting go of the breath she had been holding. Her heart, which had been lodged somewhere in her throat, finally returned to her chest.
Sean stayed seated beside Charlotte, casually trying to keep the conversation going.
“There’s a new sushi spot in West District. Want to check it out sometime?”
“No thanks, I’ve been really busy.”
“You still have to eat, no matter how busy you are.”
“West District’s too far. The round trip would waste too much time”
“Fair enough,” Sean said after a pause. Then he added, “What about this weekend? A friend of mine just opened a hot spring resort in Clearwater Springs. Want to go check it out?”
Charlotte’s tone was flat. “I’m going to Harbor City this weekend to meet with a client.”
“Got it.”
Twenty minutes passed.
There was still no sign of Sam.
Charlotte checked her watch. “What’s
taking SO
long?”
Sean finally pulled out his phone and made
a call
follow up.
Sam came down shortly after, carrying the signed and stamped documents. He handed them to Charlotte with an apologetic smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Riley. Mr. Cruz had something come up and it took a little longer.”
Upstairs, Miles sneezed.
In reality, Miles had signed and stamped the documents almost immediately.
Sam, on the other hand, had intentionally dragged his feet–killing time sipping tea and scrolling through his phone in the office upstairs.
After years of working by Sean’s side, Sam knew exactly what was going on.
Every extra minute he delayed was one more minute the boss got to spend alone with Miss Riley.
No way was he going to interrupt that voluntarily. He wasn’t stupid
It wasn’t until Sean called to check in that he finally picked up the le and casually made his way downstairs.
Charlotte took the documents and flipped through them. Everything looked good. She gave a small nod. “Looks fine. I’ll head
+25 BONUS
out now.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Sean offered.
“No need. Petra’s still waiting in the car,” Charlotte said firmly.
“Alright.”
Charlotte turned and left.
Sean stood there, watching her until she disappeared from sight.
Mandy, who had quietly taken in the whole exchange, shook her head and let out a soft tsk–tsk.
“From the way the CEO was acting, he was clearly trying to win her back. No wonder Miss Riley said she wasn’t his wife. He hadn’t won her over yet,” she figured.
Meanwhile, upstairs on the 27th floor, Megan was still sitting in the guest lounge–waiting.
It had been nearly forty minutes.
She had called Sean twice, and both times he hadn’t picked up.
She was starting to lose her patience.
Finally, she stood up and walked out of the lounge, heading straight to the executive secretaries‘ office.
There were four desks inside, each one manned by a sharply dressed male secretary in matching gray suits. One was typing away
at lightning speed, another was on the phone. The whole room buzzed with quiet, professional energy.
Megan approached one of them and tapped lightly on his desk.
“Is Mr. Jasper still in a meeting?” she asked.
The secretary paused and looked up at her. “No, the meeting ended about half an hour ago.”
Megan frowned. “Then where is he? I’ve been waiting
The secretary replied, “I’m not sure either, ma’am.”
