Chapter 21
Racquelle slammed the door shut behind her. I picked up my suitcase and prepared to drive to a hotel for the night. However, to my surprise, she had even changed the garage door's passcode. Talk about ruthlessness. I had no choice but to spend the night in the garden shed.
At 7:00 am, a cold breeze woke me up, and I sneezed from the chill. When I touched my forehead, I noticed I had come down with a fever. Suddenly, the garden shed door was kicked open with a loud bang.
Racquelle glared at me disdainfully. “Why aren’t you at work yet? Are you just trying to play the pity card here?”
I coughed lightly. Then, I glanced at my phone and said in exasperation, “Today is my day off.”
“As if! Have you finished piecing together those shredded papers I asked for? You’re supposed to wrap that up before taking a break. Now, hurry up and get to the office!”
Racquelle stood there with her hands on her hips and glared at me with an air of authority. The butler couldn’t take it anymore and stepped in to defend me. “Ms. Smith, breakfast is ready. Why don’t you and Mr. Smith eat together before you head off to work? Skipping meals isn’t good for anyone’s health.”
Her anger flared as she clenched her teeth and hissed, “Breakfast? Do you think this lapdog deserves to sit at the table with me?”
“But… Ms. Smith…” The butler hesitated, unsure what to do.
“You won’t work unless you’ve had breakfast, right? Fine,” Racquelle stormed into the house in her high heels. She picked up a bowl of oatmeal, marched right up to me, and splashed it across…
The butler gasped in shock. He stepped aside nervously and wondered whether he should intervene. The scalding oatmeal soaked me from head to toe, and the searing pain on my cheeks made me instinctively stumble a few steps back.
Racquelle threw the empty bowl at my feet and looked at me scornfully. She said to me sarcastically, “So, are you awake now? Shouldn’t you be getting to work?”
I didn’t say a word. After taking off my jacket and wiping the oatmeal off my face, I turned and left the house. The butler looked at me with a mix of sympathy and helplessness. He probably couldn’t understand why Racquelle hated me so.
As I stepped onto the curb, I prepared to hail a cab to the office when Ariana’s call came through. “Joshua, where are you? I’ve finished piecing together your shredded documents. I’ll bring them over to you.”
Surprised, I asked, “That was fast.”
With a cheerful tone, she replied, “I didn’t hurry up and take care of this for you—when would you have the time to grab a meal with me?”
Half an hour later, I stood outside the Smith Group building and waited for Ariana. When she arrived, she handed me the neatly organized documents one after another. She looked at me with the eager expression of a child waiting for praise. “So, what do you…”
I looked at the neatly pasted documents and asked in surprise, “Did you… per… someone else to help you? What?”
Ariana smiled. “I got help from my parents’ employees. They have thousands of people working there. This task is a breeze for them, and they can do it within minutes.” I glanced at her apologetically and wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Stop roning out and get those materials back to the office. Then, let’s grab some lunch together.”
Seeing me stand there like a deer in headlights, Ariana took my hand and led me upstairs. After dropping off the documents, she pulled me into the passenger seat of her car.
The car sped off but soon pulled up at the parking garage of the largest shopping mall downtown. Instead of taking me to a restaurant, Ariana dragged me to a high-end suit shop. As soon as we walked in, she greeted the sales associate with a bright smile. “Lucy, can you help this gentleman find a suit that fits him…”