Chapter 5
Edmund seemed so righteous. As Kaneeta stared at him, the anger in her heart was suddenly replaced by calmness.
She had already seen through him. So, what was there left to be disappointed about?
If he wanted Nyasia to have the project, fine.
But Nyasia might not have what it took to lead it.
Noticing her sudden calmness, Edmund fell silent for a second. His expression softened as he walked over to her and held her cold hands.
“Neeta, she’s my sister. We gotta help her, right?”
Kaneeta pulled her hands away and said flatly, “If you say so.”
He frowned, displeased with her attitude.
But since she’d stopped pressing him about the project lead position, he held back any reproach and said softly instead, “Nya has just taken over the project and needs a lot of guidance. You’ll help her, right?”
A few minutes ago, he had claimed he didn’t want her to wear herself out.
And now, he expected her to help Nyasia.
Probably seeing the undisguised mockery in her eyes, he cleared his throat awkwardly and changed the subject. “You went to the hospital today. Well? Is everything OK?”
His belated concern didn’t move Kaneeta at all. Instead, she even wanted to let out a cold laugh.
“Yeah,” she said perfunctorily, “I’m heading out.”
Watching her retreating figure, Edmund was once again overwhelmed by uneasiness.
But the feeling was gone as Nyasia pushed the door open and entered.
“Ed, Ms. Drayton wasn’t upset, was she?” she walked toward him and asked tentatively.
“No,” he smiled at her reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Neeta’s always been understanding.”
“Alright. I’m so glad to hear that.”
Despite her claim, Nyasia was deeply annoyed.
How could Kaneeta still be so calm? She had snatched Kaneeta’s project away!
What she wanted was for Kaneeta to have a big fallout with Edmund. In this way, he’d be upset with Kaneeta, and things between them would worsen.
Apparently, Kaneeta was better at containing emotions than she’d anticipated.
Her eyes flickered as an idea hit her.
“Ed, it’s my first day. How about we invite everyone in the CEO’s office to a dinner party tonight? I’ll get to know them better.”
“Sure,” Edmund agreed without hesitation. “I’ll have someone book a place right now.”
Soon, the news reached everyone’s ears.
“A dinner party? Why?”
“Why do you think? To welcome Ms. Kuntz, of course.”
“Who exactly is she anyway? She shares the same surname as Mr. Kuntz. Are they related?”
“I don’t think so. Haven’t you noticed the way they look at each other? The chemistry between them is electric. The same surname is probably just a coincidence.”
“So, she’s Mr. Kuntz’s girlfriend? I used to think he and Ms. Drayton were together…”
“No way! If they were, they would’ve announced it by now.”
Kaneeta’s phone kept buzzing with messages from the chat group.
She glanced at her phone screen expressionlessly.
It had been less than a day since Nyasia came here, yet someone had already noticed the spark between her and Edmund.
Their love for each other was so touching.
She remembered that when she wanted to make her relationship with Edmund public, he had said, “Neeta, we should always separate work from personal matters. Don’t you think?”
She had agreed, figuring he simply didn’t want to expose his privacy to the others.
Now she realized how wrong she had been. After all, Nyasia had been his wife all along.
She didn’t want to attend the dinner party at first, but her colleagues insisted and wouldn’t let her leave the office. She could only surrender and went to the restaurant with them.
Everyone knew the party was for Nyasia, so someone proposed a toast to her right after the party began.
To their surprise, Edmund blocked the glass. “Nya isn’t in good health. I’ll drink for her.”
With that, he picked up the glass and gulped down the wine.
Then he thoughtfully ordered a glass of juice for Nyasia.
The entire room immediately buzzed with teasing cheers. Probably because they weren’t in the office, those who were terrified of him became less restrained.
“Mr. Kuntz is so nice to Ms. Kuntz!”
“I wish my boyfriend could be half as considerate as Mr. Kuntz.”
Nyasia blushed. “Guys, stop it… Mr. Kuntz just feels sorry for me because of my poor health.”
“Come on, Ms. Kuntz. Clearly, Mr. Kuntz cares about you a lot.”
“Mr. Kuntz, are you gonna drink every toast we propose to Ms. Kuntz tonight?”
Smiling, Edmund glanced at Nyasia, who sat next to him and said, “Yes.”
“Wow…”
The crowd buzzed, surprised at this romantic side of Edmund. After all, he had always been cold and aloof before Nyasia showed up.
Kaneeta, sitting in the corner, gazed at the glass of wine in front of her.
In the past, when she accompanied Edmund to business dinners, he had never drunk on her behalf. Instead, he had simply watched her gulp down those strong drinks one glass after another.
And she had been such a fool back then, deeply touched when he merely said a few caring words and had someone send over soup for her hangover.
Today, she finally saw how he acted when he truly cared about someone.
He couldn’t bring himself to see Nyasia take a sip of alcohol, even though it was just low-proof beer.
“Ms. Drayton.” Suddenly, Nyasia’s hypocritical voice rang out.
Looking up, she saw Nyasia standing in front of her with a glass of wine.
“I heard that you’ve been leading the team over the years, and everyone looks up to you. Since I’m new here, it’s only right that I propose a toast to you.”
Saying this, she handed Kaneeta the glass.
Kaneeta said calmly, “Sorry. My stomach’s been acting up these days, so I’m afraid I can’t drink.”
“Ms. Drayton…” Nyasia immediately looked aggrieved. “Did I upset you somehow? I just wanted to toast to you. Please don’t get me wrong.”
Kaneeta almost wanted to roll her eyes. She was telling the truth—Nyasia was reading too much into it.
Noticing her silence, Nyasia turned to look at Edmund with a pout.
He frowned immediately.
“Ms. Drayton,” he said, his voice glacial, “Nya is your new colleague. Don’t be rude.”
