Chapter 418 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Matt’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name, but he ignored it. He reminded himself that she didn’t want him, and no matter how much it hurt his heart and ego, he needed to move on.

“Cool. I’ve got to go now. I still have a couple of lines I need to memorize,” Matt said and hung up without waiting for her to say anything else.

That was cold! Jade thought with a wince as she returned her phone to her handbag.

“Was that Matt?” Candace asked from behind her, but Jade didn’t turn.

“Yes,” she said as she stopped in front of the reception desk, and it seemed like the receptionist recognized her because immediately, she took out the key card to the suite and handed it to Jade.

“You recognize me?” Jade asked with a bright smile.

“You are the CEO’s sister,” the receptionist reminded her with a polite smile, wondering why she looked so surprised about being recognized when she had spent a couple of days sharing a suite with Harry.

“Oh!” Jade almost facepalmed.

“And Mr. Jonas instructed us to give you the key to his suite when you show up,” she added.

When? Not if? Jade mused, “When did he give that instruction?” She asked curiously since she particularly remembered telling him she was returning to her apartment and didn’t want to return to the hotel.

“I don’t know about that, but the manager announced this morning that you would be coming in today,” she explained, and Jade nodded.

“Thanks for your help,” she said before walking away while wondering why Harry had been so sure that she would return to the hotel.

She had actually wanted to go home but had changed her mind just before getting off the plane. She had remembered that the cartel knew where she lived, and so she couldn’t risk taking Candace home with her as she knew they might come for Candace. It was one thing to threaten her to drop the case, but they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Candace.

“What did Matt call to say?” Candace asked as casually as she could muster as they both stepped into the elevator that would take them to the suite.

A part of her was tempted to lie and tell Candace that he had asked her to say ‘hello’ to her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that since she didn’t really know what had transpired between them. For all she knew, Matt cared about Candace a great deal and had been hurt by her.

“He couldn’t reach Bryan, so he called to find out why,” Jade said and watched the barely noticeable flicker of disappointment on Candace’s face as she digested the information.

“Oh! I hope he’s fine?” She asked, trying to stifle her disappointment at the thought that he hadn’t called to check on her or find out if she was okay.

She had no right to feel disappointment when this was what she had wanted this whole time.

She should be glad that he had finally decided to give up. Perhaps Bryan talked to him? She couldn’t blame him. She would give up too after being treated that way

One part of Celsie’s menstrual cycle that she hated the most was the part that involved her having to use the restroom more often than was necessary because of her diarrhea.

As a result of this, twenty minutes before the close of work for the day, Celsie was seated in the toilet in the last stall of the restroom for the fifth time that day, trying to relieve her bowel before leaving.

Celsie smiled in satisfaction as she watched the video which Harry had sent her earlier. It was the recording of Benne and Anita’s conversation, and attached to it were four simple words. For your eyes only.

From the looks of it, she could say that Benne had handled it perfectly. She would never have imagined that Anita was capable of looking so embarrassed.

She replayed the video and giggled each time Harry made a funny sound, especially when she listened to his closing statement about people learning to have some pride. She forwarded the video to Sonia with a message reminding her once again not to forget to call her the moment she got home.

She had tried to reach Sonia after Amy left her office earlier, but her number had been unreachable, so she had sent a long text telling her how much she loved her and how happy she was that Sonia would be moving down to Serenopolis soon. She also told her that she would be forever thankful that she had an amazing and loyal friend like her.

Deciding that she had spent too much time in the restroom, she put away her phone and quickly cleaned up. After flushing the toilet, she began to adjust her clothes, ready to leave, when she heard the sound of feminine laughter followed by a statement she suspected was related to her, “Did you see the way she grabbed his butt yesterday?”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t time to leave yet, Celsie decided as she silently returned to her toilet seat. Although she knew the saying that eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves, she liked to believe that it was rude to interrupt an ongoing conversation by announcing her presence. Nah. She owed it to them to hear what they had to say about her, especially as they had come to her. She hadn’t gone to them.

“Who didn’t see that? She must think she owns the man now simply because he announced their relationship to the world,” another said, sounding more annoyed than Celsie thought was necessary.

Yeah, I own him! Care to know what I named him too? Celsie mused with a smirk.

“I wonder what she’s going to do today. I want to be outside to see them leave together,” the first lady said with a giggle.

I guess I’ll have to give you a show. I shouldn’t disappoint my fans.

“What for? Please don’t give them any attention. That relationship won’t last, trust me,” the second lady said with a scoff.

Don’t bet on it!

“C’mon! Don’t say something like that. She’s lucky, though. I can’t believe she came here barely a month ago, and she hijacked the CEO from us who have been here,” the first lady said.

Yes, I am. Celsie nodded in agreement.

“Luck? Do you really believe that luck has anything to do with it? I heard that she asked to be made the CEOs assistant, and that was how she seduced him,” the second lady said maliciously.

Asked who to be an assistant? Seduced who? I wish you knew half of it! Celsie thought with a roll of her eyes.

“I don’t think that’s what happened. Didn’t you watch the interview? They met at a club before she even knew his true identity. And she even said she didn’t know that her boyfriend was her boss.” the first lady reminded the second lady, who seemed eager to say only the worst things about Celsie.

Tell it to her, gurl! Celsie nodded in approval.

“Do you really expect them to tell the world the truth that she seduced him? Of course, they came up with that story! What is this? A fairytale movie or a romance ? How naive can you be to believe that you would be in a relationship with a man and not know he is your boss? There will always be signs,” The second lady countered.

Dumb ass thinks she’s smart! Yes, bitch, it’s my fairytale! Celsie thought and almost giggled when she realized she had thought of that in Sonia’s voice. Sonia was such a terrible influence.

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