Chapter 137
Chapter 137
“That’s not for you to ask.” Paul opened his computer and got busy with work.
Edana wouldn’t let it go. “You’re not falling for her, are you?”
Paul pushed his mouse away and looked up at her with a mocking smile. “Your sister’s influence isn’t a free pass for you to cross the line.”
Edans choked on her words and gripped the files tightly. Her eyes looked hurt. “Paul, you know how feet
Paul held up his hand to cut her off, then pointed toward the door
Edana wanted to say more but didn’t dare to actually fight with Paul. She bit her lip and walked out, looking back every few steps.
Audrey noticed Edana giving her strange looks but didn’t have time to deal with it. She gathered all her materials and called Tiffany to come with her
“Tiffany.” Paul opened his office door. “Come with me in a bit.”
go with you instead,” Edana stood up. “Tiffany needs to go out with Audrey.”
Tiffany looked at Audrey, and Paul looked at her too. “Do you have plans?”
“It’s fine, I’ll go see Ms. Hale myself” Audrey said.
“Alright, get ready and head out now.” Paul went back to his office without giving Edana so much as a glance.
Edana was furious. She’d gone from head secretary to regular secretary, and now even Tiffany could boss her around. She grabbed her water cup and moved it from left to right, making noise on purpose to show how annoyed she was.
Tiffany waved her phone at Audrey to show they’d stay in touch.
Audrey drode to Cecilia’s temporary office, but Cecilia wasn’t there. When she called, an assistant answered and said Cecilia was too busy to discuss the project right now.
Audrey had a pretty good idea what was going on.
Amelia had made her move to get ahead and scared off Cecilia’s potential grandson. Now Cecilia was either too busy looking for him to deal with the project, or she knew about Amelia’s tricks and was deliberately giving her the cold shoulder as punishment.
Their competition had dragged Audrey into the mess as collateral damage.
Audrey had just gotten back to her car when Ivan called. “Ms. Henderson, my mom went out yesterday and she still hasn’t come home.”
“Did you try calling her?” Audrey connected her phone to the car’s Bluetooth and pulled her seatbelt across.
There was silence on the other end before Ivan’s flat voice came through. “No point. She said she regrets having me, regrets giving up her career for me, and that I don’t appreciate anything. Then she blocked both me and my dad.”
Audrey leaned back in her seat. She remembered how down Ivan had seemed lately, and now it made sense. He and Brooke must have had another fight. “You two had another argument?”
“Not with me. With my dad,”
What happened was Brooke had decided to surprise her husband at work. She showed up at Miguel’s office and saw his secretary coming out, giving her this challenging look
Brooke suspected something was going on between them and stormed into the office to confront Miguel.
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Chapter 137
Miguel tried to explain. “We just have a professional relationship.”
Brooke lost it. “Yeah, a professional felationship where you’re on top and she’s on bottom
Miguel snapped and told her to get out. When Brooke got home, she had a complete meltdown.
at home mom hard ruined her body and made
She cried about how she shouldn’t have had kids so young and missed her career prime, how being a stay at hereld before her time.
Brooke said han was part of the system that benefited from everything, so he couldn’t understand her Utuation. thought she was making a big deal out of nothing.
“Let me make some calls, I’ll text you when I find her.” Audrey hung up and dialed Brooke’s number.
The phone was ringing but no one picked up. Wher it went to voicemail, Audrey tried again,
This time, someone answered. A hoarse voice came through the speaker. “Hello?”
“Brooke, it’s Audrey”
“Oh.” Brooke sounded like she had just woken up, her voice muffled and gropty. “What time is it?”
“Eleven. Want to grab lunch? I can come pick you up.”
tead of feeling sorry for her, he
There was rustling on Brooke’s end for a while, then her voice got distant as she put the phone on speaker, “Sure, my treat. I’ll send you the location.”
When Audrey arrived at Brooke’s hotel, she was about to call when Brooke walked out. She was wearing a face mask and huge sunglasses. If it wasn’t for the outfit Audrey had helped her pick out before, she might not have recognized her.
Audrey honked the horn and rolled down her window. “Brooke!”
Brooke hurried over and got in the passenger seat. What do you want to eat?”
“Whatever you’re in the mood for. I’m fine with anything” Audrey looked at her face. “Are you having an allergic reaction?”
Brooke took off her sunglasses to show her, and then put them back on. Her eyes were so swollen from crying they were barely slits, and her cheeks were puffy too.
“Let’s get something nice” Brooke gave her an address and buckled her seatbelt. “It’s Monday. Don’t you have work today!”
“I was on my way to see a client.” Audrey turned the car around and crossed to the other side of the road. “Ivan was worried about you and called me.”
Brooke snorted and slipped her fingers under her sunglasses to wipe away
When they got to the restaurant, Brooke ordered her favorite dish and told Audrey to pick something too. Audrey randomly chose an item from the menu and handed it back to the server.
She didn’t ask Brooke what had happened because Brooke started pouring her heart out on her own. She talked about how she and Miguel first mat, how she gave up a chance to transfer out of town for a regional manager position just to support her husband’s career
Back in the day when they went out together, people used to tell Miguel how lucky he was to marry such a wonderful woman like Brooke. Now, when they went out, everyone told Bracke how lucky she was to be married to such a successful man like Miguel.
“I’ve sacrificed so much to keep this family together.” Tissues were piled up in front of Brooke as she sobbed. “The higher he climbs, the mus emptation he faces. Every guy’s a cheater at heart.”
Audrey asked the server for another pack of tissues and said gently, “Did you catch him in the act?”
“When Clayton betrayed you, did you catch him?” Brooke immediately apologized after saying this. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way”
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Chapter 137
Audrey waved her hand to show she wasn’t offended. “Wier Clayton and I got married, we kept our finances separate. First, he let Valerie move into my house without asking me.
Second, he wouldn’t listen to my side of the story. He just believed whatever Valerie told him and decided I was violent and tried to stab her with
“Most importantly, he ignored my wishes and forced me into Ashwood Mental Hospital to control my freedom.
Audrey finished speaking and looked directly at Brooke. “What exactly did Mr. Gomez do that makes you think he betrayed his family?”
Brooke was speechless. Clayton had made mistakes that Miguel never did, but she could clearly feel the secretary’s challenge.
“We know each other, so I’ll share a table with you guys.” Valerie appeared out of nowhere and shamelessly pulled out a
The restaurant was packed and the main dining area was full. Audrey and Brooke were sitting at a table for si
“Did I say you could sit!” Audrey stretched out her leg and kicked the chair away.
chair
Valerie almost fell as she tried to sit down. Anger flashed in her eyes for a moment, then she deliberately exposed the hickeys on her neck to provoke
Audrey.
“Clayton told me you’re like a dead fish in bed. With such a stubborn attitude, no wonder he doesn’t like you.”“”
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