Chapter 133
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I woke up before dawn, my mind still foggy from restless sleep. After taking a shower, I noticed a reminder from Ashton telling me to pick up the breakfast he had left at my door.
He didn’t ask why I hadn’t eaten his breakfast the previous times and continued to prepare it for me.
I appreciated his thoughtfulness and ate the breakfast before heading to the office.
Since I arrived early, the office was still empty. Even after organizing my day and reviewing the team’s recent performance reports, it wasn’t time for work to start.
To kill time, I scrolled through social media on my phone.
My feed wasn’t particularly active since I had only a few friends. It was mostly a way to check in on their lives without needing to call or text.
Caleb had posted about participating in a billiards challenge. Nora, as usual, had documented her latest delivery–this time for her 5,566th baby.
I liked her post, leaving a thumbs–up sticker in the comments.
Then, as I continued scrolling, I saw Logan’s latest post.
“Fatherly duties for the rest of my life.“”
Attached to the post was a cartoon drawing of a mother and child.
My chest tightened. I knew exactly what it meant–Logan had accepted Selene and her baby.
The post had been made in the middle of the night, and it had already gathered numerous likes and congratulatory comments. Some people, unaware of our breakup, even tagged me to congratulate us.
I chuckled bitterly. After a moment of hesitation, I replied to one comment: “Congratulations. Best wishes.”
With that, I closed the app and set my phone aside.
I stared at my computer screen, my mind blank.
I didn’t feel sad, exactly. It was more like a heavy weight pressing down on my chest–a feeling l couldn’t quite describe.
My phone rang, breaking my thoughts. Seeing it was Alex, I glanced toward his office. He hadn’t arrived yet.
I picked up the call. “Mr. Hall.”
“Ms. Hart, you don’t need to come to the office for the next couple of days,” Alex said, his voice carrying a lazy, just–woke–up tone.
I frowned, confused. “Mr. Hall, what do you mean?”
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s nothing serious. I just think you’ve been working too hard lately, so I’m giving you two days of paid leave,” Alex explained.
Working too hard? Me? I had taken more days off recently than I cared to admit. Was this a subtle
hint?
“Mr. Hall, I’ll make sure to limit my days off in the future,” I said carefully.
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Alex immediately responded, “You’re overthinking. I wasn’t hinting at anything. It’s just to give you a break. We take good care of beautiful employees here, especially ones like you.”
I wasn’t naive enough to be fooled by such flattery.
Thinking back on everything that had happened recently, I asked, “Is this another order from the boss?”
Alex coughed, clearly startled by my question. “You think he’s that idle?”
He denied it, but the whole situation still felt strange.
“Ms. Hart,” Alex continued, his tone turning serious. “I’m formally notifying you of your leave. If you don’t take it, you’ll be disobeying my orders as your superior. That’ll result in a salary deduction.”
He was using his authority to force me into taking leave. This was a first in all my years of working. Since I had already handled my tasks for the day and taking two days off wouldn’t affect much, I dec ided to agree. “Sure.”
After hanging up, I quickly reached out to the team supervisor to share my plans and highlight any iss ues he should oversee in my absence. Then, I left.
Once I was in the car, I sent Caleb a text:
“Caleb, look up information related to the boss of my current company.”
