Chapter 469 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“I handled it already, so you don’t need to know their names. If it repeats itself, then I will personally submit their names to you,” Celsie promised, but Harry wasn’t having that.

“Rumors like that do not only harm you, they also harm the image of the company, and we have to make an example out of anyone that spreads such rumors for others to learn from it. If you won’t give me their names, I can as well check the security footage of the passageway and find out those who went into the restroom at the same time as you,” Harry said, and Celsie looked at Benne with pleading eyes before turning them to Harry.

“Please don’t do that. Benne already fired an employee last week. If you fire those two as well this week, it’s going to put me in a difficult position as everyone would think I’m the reason you’re both doing this. No one is going to really care about what they did wrong. Please let it go just this once.”

Harry exchanged a look with Benne before looking at her, “What difference is it going to make if we let it go this once and then discipline another set later when they speak ill of us in the future? I don’t have to handle this myself. I could relay it to the human resource department and have them take care of it,” Harry said, but Celsie shook her head.

“It’s not necessary. Let’s not concern ourselves with things like that. We have more important things to worry about,” Celsie pleaded.

“Just let it go,” Benne told Harry as he slapped his arm, “We will stop by after work tomorrow if you’re unable to make it to the office. Goodnight,” Benne said before leading Celsie away.

Once they got into the car and had strapped their seatbelts, Benne turned to her, “Are you going to tell me what is wrong?” He asked, looking at her with curious concern.

“Did I say anything was wrong?” Celsie asked as she reached into her handbag for her phone, and once she took it out, she was surprised to see that she had two missed call notifications and a text.

“You don’t have to say anything. You looked sad and uncomfortable when you returned from Aaron’s bedroom,” Benne pointed out, but Celsie’s gaze was focused on her phone.

“Lucas called. I forgot that I placed my phone on silence during the meeting at the factory,” Celsie said as she clicked on Lucas’ text.

‘I’m on my way to the airport. I’m stopping by Serenopolis to see you before leaving for my vacation. I will be at the hotel I stayed at the last time with dad.”

“He is on his way to Serenopolis,” Celsie informed Benne as she dialed Lucas’ line, but the call did not connect.

“Really? Is everything alright?” Benne asked, and Celsie gave him a nod.

“He said he wants to see me before leaving for his vacation,” she explained.

“That’s good then,” Benne said as he turned on the car’s ignition and drove off.

Celsie fell silent and glanced out the window as she pondered on all she had heard in Aaron’s bedroom and tried to reconcile it with what she had overheard Benne and Harry talk about. She had a lot of questions to ask, but there was nobody to ask.

She contemplated whether or not she should tell Benne about what she had heard or just keep it to herself.

Although she felt that she should probably tell Benne about it, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure it was right to tell him all she had heard. This was Aaron’s private business which he had let out during a moment of vulnerability, and she had just been there by chance to hear it. It wasn’t her place to tell Benne or anyone else about it. She knew for a fact that she wouldn’t like anyone to do that to her.

She also knew that Benne and Harry would probably not be happy with her if they learned that she had seen Aaron in that state or got to know all she had heard him say, yet had kept it to herself.

Benne noticed her silence but said nothing as he continued to drive, believing that she would tell him what was on her mind when she was ready to do so. He had done his part by asking, making it clear that he noticed something was wrong. All he could do now was wait for her.

Unable to hold back her curiosity anymore, Celsie turned to Benne, “Why did Aaron never remarry?” She asked out of the blues, and Benne turned to look at her, surprised by her question.

He shrugged, “It’s understandable. According to Harry, his father deeply loved his mother, and he was devastated by her death. He didn’t want anyone else, so he devoted his life to loving and taking care of their love son. Why do you ask?” Benne asked, and Celsie shrugged.

“I’m just curious. It must have been tough for him,” she said with a sad sigh, and Benne looked at her in confusion before returning his attention to the road.

What was going on in her mind? Why was she suddenly thinking about Aaron and feeling sad that he had raised Harry alone? Benne wondered. &n

bsp;

Before Benne could say anything, she spoke again, “I guess Harry was an only child? He doesn’t have siblings, does he?” She asked, wanting to know about the daughter Aaron had mentioned.

Benne spared her another glance, “No. Harry is an only child.”

“Do you know the name of Harry’s mother?”

“What is going on? Did something happen while you were in his bedroom?” Benne asked, wanting to understand exactly what was going on in her head. If there was one thing he knew about Celsie, she wasn’t a busybody that got involved in other people’s business unless it affected her, and something told him she wasn’t asking merely to satisfy her curiosity.

“Where are we going to?” Candace asked as Jade drove the car out of the hotel’s parking lot.

Immediately after Jade returned from her appointment at the law firm, she had asked Candace to dress up so they could go out, and every attempt by Candace to find out where they were going had proved futile.

“Don’t worry, you’ll find out when we get there,” Jade said with a secret smile.

“You are not taking me to Jero, are you?” Candace asked suspiciously, and Jade sighed as she shook her head.

“Relax. We are not meeting with Jero until he has fulfilled his end of the agreement. I noticed you’ve been rubbing your back and shoulder as though they’re stiff, so I thought you needed to relax. I booked you an appointment at a friend’s spa,” Jade assured her, and Candace relaxed a bit.

“Do we have the time to do this? Aren’t you supposed to be there when Jero leads the police to the Cartel lords?” Candace asked after a little pause.

“I changed my mind about going. I thought it might be too risky, so I alerted different state security agencies of the plan. That way, there won’t be any foul play. Don’t worry, Jero and the legions will be apprehended as planned tonight,” Jade assured her with a confident smile, and Candace gave her a nod.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jade said dismissively as she fixed her eyes on the road.

“About last night… I’m sorry if I was too hard on you,” Jade said, and Candace looked at her.

“You weren’t. I was wrong to have done what I did without speaking with you. I would have done the same if I was in your shoes,” Candace assured her.

She had thought long and hard about her conversation with Jade concerning asking Benne and Celsie to become Jamal’s guardians, and she agreed with Jade for calling her out on her bullshit.

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