Although she was already the new CEO of Waldburg Corporation and was recognized by Old Master Waldburg, Niamh still asked her employees to call her Madam.
This address gave her the illusion that Kendrick was still alive, and this illusion had the ability to heal her broken heart.
It was almost noon, and just when Niamh was about to have a meal, her secretary came to inform her, “Madam, the head of Riverdawn Corporation mentioned that they want to change the shipment date and design of the perfume. Mr. Jones has come over to discuss it with you. He’s currently waiting for you in the restaurant next door.”
Customers came first, so Niamh headed over to the restaurant immediately.
Since it happened to be lunchtime, it was a common thing in the business field to talk about work over lunch.
Niamh went to the restaurant, but she did not expect the meet-up place to be the restaurant with many memories.
Although those memories were not beautiful, as long as there was him in the picture, they were all memorable to Niamh.
It was the same table by the window. The only difference was that the person in front of her was no longer Kendrick.
Niamh ordered the dishes she had ordered before, but when she ate the food, she felt that even the taste was not as good as before.
She knew that it was all because of Kendrick who had left.
Seeing Niamh’s light appetite, Ryan asked with a polite smile, “Are the dishes here not suited to Mrs. Waldburg’s appetite?”
Only then did Niamh pull her thoughts back together after hearing his words. She smiled lightly, saying, “My appetite might have changed a lot because of my pregnancy. I used to like the food here.”
“It’s because you were with Mr. Waldburg all the times before that’s why the food here was delicious, yes?” Ryan’s words made Niamh dwell deeply in her thoughts again.
Seeing that Niamh had been struck dumb, Ryan apologized to her. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Waldburg. I’ve reminded you of something unhappy.”
Niamh shook her head as she came back to her senses. “It’s okay. Mr. Jones, you can go ahead and tell me about the request regarding the wedding ring design. I’ll change it later when I get back.”
She smiled and looked at the man in front of her.
Ryan was the only child of the Jones family, one of the four giants in Glendale.
This man had a blessed and superior appearance. He was tall and had good looks as well.
Coupled with his munificent family background, he was the dream lover of many ladies.
However, he got engaged a month ago. It was said that his partner was a rich lady from Advent City, a lady with both beauty and wisdom.
Niamh had been in contact with Ryan several times before. This man was indeed the same as what she had heard from others. He was gentle, polite, gentlemanly, and very fond of his fiancée.
That was why he invited Niamh to talk about the design of the wedding ring today.
Niamh noted down Ryan’s request one by one, then proceeded to pay the bill and was prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, the moment she stood up, she stepped on a small puddle by her feet and suddenly lost balance of her body.
Niamh instinctively protected her more than six months pregnant belly and held onto the table with her other hand. Yet, before she could grab onto the edge of the table, a palm held her hand tightly. Her body was then stabilized by a strong arm.
“You scared me there, Mrs. Waldburg. Are you alright?”
Ryan’s concerned voice rang in her ears, and Niamh breathed out a sigh of relief. She quickly thanked him. “Fortunately I had Mr. Jones. Thank you for your help.”
When the waiter saw this scene, he quickly came over to apologize and offered to give Niamh a waiver on her bill.
Niamh did not pursue the matter further. She went back to the company after she thanked Ryan.
After returning home, Niamh began designing the wedding ring seriously.
Then on the next day, she went to Waldburg Manor early in the morning.
In a blink of an eye, Kendrick had been gone for a month and today was the one-month anniversary of his death.
The moment Niamh stepped in through the door, however, Karen then said to her strangely, “Oh, it seems that you remember what day it is today? You’re actually putting on quite the comprehensive act for this affectionate scene.”
Many relatives and friends were currently offering their respects to Kendrick, and there was even a funeral conductor present.
Upon hearing Karen’s words, they all looked at Niamh in unison.
Not wanting to argue with Karen, Niamh silently went forward to give her respects to Kendrick.
Seeing that Niamh was ignoring her, Karen’s expression collapsed as her tone became even more aggressive. “Eveline, don’t pretend to have any affection for Kendrick here. You have long wished that something would happen to Kendrick. The happiest person when Kendrick died would be you.”
Winston, who had just returned from outside, heard Karen targeting Niamh again as soon as he entered the door.
He hurried over to stop her. “Karen, are you done? If Eveline really doesn’t love and care about Kendrick, why would she still carry Kendrick’s posthumous child with so much difficulty?! Stop going overboard with your words!”
“What posthumous child? Maybe this child doesn’t even belong to Kendrick at all!”
The words that Karen blurted out were completely thoughtless.
Niamh turned around swiftly and said, “Karen, you can question my feelings for Kendrick and you can look for things to pick on me all day long, but please have better control of your mouth and don’t insult my children.”
“You…”
Karen pouted, feeling dissatisfied.
Winston then became upset. “With so many relatives and friends here, do you have any sense of rationality? Do you have any idea what you’re talking about?”
“Of course I know! I even saw it!” Karen took out her phone angrily. She pointed to a news headline and threw the phone on the coffee table. “Eveline, I’m not wrongly accusing you! Kendrick has only left for slightly more than a month but you couldn’t even wait before hugging and cuddling other men publicly. And you’re still saying that you love Kendrick? Is this your love for Kendrick?”
Niamh looked down and saw the striking headline: [A month after her husband passed away, his wife threw herself into a new man’s embrace happily.]
There was also a photo attached to it, which showed the scene where Ryan was holding her back when she had almost fallen over at noon yesterday.
From the angle the photo was taken, they really seemed to be ‘hugging’.
Winston still trusted Niamh even after he was done reading it. “This must’ve been forged by someone else. If not, it’s probably a misunderstanding.”
“How could it have been forged? The man in the photo is Ryan, the only son of the Jones family!” Karen looked at Niamh contemptuously. “Huh, you’re pretty good at looking for a target and found yourself an engaged man. Is that how Mrs. Montogomery taught her daughter?”
After these words were spoken, everyone whispered and gossiped about Niamh.
“Kendrick had only left for so long and already she couldn’t bear being lonely.”
“I’ve heard Karen say that this woman isn’t obedient at all.”
“It’s really unfortunate for the family.”
Niamh listened to the slander directed at herself. She walked up to Karen calmly and said, “Even as Kendrick’s mother and my mother-in-law, I don’t expect you to treat your daughter-in-law well. But you don’t even have the slightest respect when it comes to being a human. Karen, I’ll immediately prove to you that the gossips on the internet are all imaginary fabrications. By then, I want you to apologize to me in public!”
“What? You want me to apologize to you? You were the one who did something that you should be apologetic to Kendrick for, and you dare to ask me to apologize?! You—”
“Stop it! Don’t you think you’re being shameful enough already?” Winston grabbed Karen who was criticizing Niamh non-stop.
Niamh did not want to argue with Karen any longer. She left right after she gave her respects to Kendrick.
The summer thunderstorm came suddenly. While Niamh’s car was stopped in front of the red light, she stared blankly at the wedding ring on her ring finger.
‘Kendrick, I’m so tired, I really miss you so much.’
Her eyes were warm. She then looked out the window, but this one look shocked her completely.
“Kendrick?”
Through the car window, Niamh saw the face that she had been dreaming of.
She hurriedly lowered the window and stared blankly at the man sitting in the passenger seat of the car next door.
Through the curtain of rain, the outline of the man’s resolute and graceful profile fell into her sight.
Niamh stared incredulously while her heartbeat gradually became faster. “Kendrick…” she softly called out, and the man in the car turned his face toward her.
However, the light had turned to green at this moment and the car drove away right past her with a swish.
It seemed that what happened at that instant was merely an illusion.
Niamh was in a daze until a honking sound came from behind, urging her to move. Only then did she step on the accelerator, but the car from just now was already nowhere to be found. She did not remember the license plate number of the car either.
Niamh immediately investigated the incident through her connections, but nothing was found.
‘Kendrick, is it because I miss you so much that’s why I’m having hallucinations?’
She asked herself, but no one could answer her.
The next day, just as Niamh had arrived at the company and before she could even enter the building, a group of gossip media reporters had already surrounded her. They started questioning her immediately.
“Mrs. Waldburg, I heard that you and Mr. Jones are dating privately. Is this true?”
“Have you forgotten your identity as Mrs. Waldburg?”
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.