Chapter 41

The elevator doors slid open, and out stepped Bella alongside Jamie. Behind them, dressed in formal business attire, was Dawson himself. His tailored suit fit perfectly on his tall, impressive frame, and his flawlessly chiseled features, paired with cold, arrogant eyes, created an undeniably noble and commanding presence the moment he appeared.

Rachel froze in place, her expression caught somewhere between shock and awe. And it wasn’t just her. One by one, the other employees stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look. Long accustomed to being the center of attention, he didn’t even glance their way. He simply kept his gaze straight ahead.

Once the three of them disappeared into the CEO’s office, the rows of employees finally seemed to wake up from their trance. Even though most of them had seen Dawson before, every new encounter still stunned them like the first. They thought that while the job was demanding, Dawson’s looks were a daily consolation prize for surviving capitalism.

Rachel nearly dislocated Autumn’s shoulder with how hard she grabbed her. “He’s better looking than any movie star!”

Autumn couldn’t help but laugh at how giddy she was. Sachi was still buzzing. “I swear, I’m going home and grilling my husband for any gossip about Dawson!”

Autumn let her ramble in peace and turned back to her own work.

About half an hour later, Jamie left the CEO’s office and went off to handle other tasks, while Delta handed Autumn a small stack of files. She said, “Print these out and bring them to Mr. Faulkner.”

Autumn printed the documents and headed to the office, knocking gently on the door. “Come in,” came Damon’s cold, composed voice.

She entered and found that he wasn’t behind his desk but lounging on the leather couch in the office, looking completely at ease. He clearly wasn’t the rule-following type. Autumn set the documents down but didn’t move to leave. Sensing her lingering presence, Damon looked up, irritation flickering in his eyes. With a blank face, he asked, “Is there something else?”

Autumn collected herself and said, “I didn’t mean to bother you, Mr. Faulkner. I want to pay you back for the glass.” She didn’t even know him, and there was no way she felt comfortable accepting such an expensive gift from a stranger—it just didn’t sit right.

“Don’t talk to whoever gave it to you,” Damon said flatly.

“I don’t have his contact,” she replied quietly. She felt a wave of annoyance; being there was bothering him and she shouldn’t have dragged Dawson into this. She was about to leave when his cold voice came again.

“It’s just a glass. Rico won’t take your money.”

That much, Autumn had guessed. Though they’d only met briefly, Rico seemed extremely sociable and undoubtedly generous with money, so Autumn knew he probably wouldn’t care about the reimbursement. Nonetheless, she wanted to avoid any unnecessary connection, avoid owing favors, and the moral ambiguity of owing someone for no reason. She’d already come up with a way to handle it herself.

Back at her desk, she noticed Rachel looking strange. Rachel was the type who wore her thoughts on her face and couldn’t hide anything.

“What’s up?” Autumn asked.

Rachel leaned in and whispered, “So, I asked my husband, and it turns out Dawson’s got ties to the Caldwell Group!”

Autumn had never thought to ask who Rachel’s husband was, but clearly, he had access to some inner circle information.

Rachel assumed a knowing tone. “Caldwell Group’s CEO—Mr. Caldwell is Mr. Faulkner’s…best friend. I was floored! I literally just saw Damien recently!”

“In Mau Motalay when I took that day trip? It was a spontaneous event with my husband, and we happened to see Damien with his wife. They have such a great relationship.” Aalima’s hand on the mousepad paused. Rachel’s husband probably wasn’t in Damien’s circle; otherwise, he wouldn’t have mistaken Emilia’s identity.

She hesitated for a moment before adding, “How great is the relationship?”

Rachel implied, “My husband knows me pretty well, so I know what it’s like when a man is good to a woman. Damien takes photos of his wife and patiently finds flattering angles, being…” someone had heard of her before. Almost everyone who deals with a knows about Emilia, and many people secretly send her gifts, bypassing any contention with the Caldwell Group.