Josephine opened her eyes after Ethan left the room, feeling a little disappointed in his reaction. After all, she had decided to pretend to struggle a bit before giving in and offering herself to him if he made a move on her. To her surprise, Ethan was a gentleman.
Her hands circled the edge of her blanket as she cursed herself for having a dirty mind. In the meantime, she was fascinated by Ethanâs character. Heâs an excellent man. Iâll cherish such a kind man like him from today onward. After tossing and turning on the bed for a while, sleep finally took her.
She snuggled under the blanket and fell asleep.
The next morning, Josephineâs preset phone alarm woke her from her sleep without mercy. She groggily reached out a hand from under the blanket and turned the alarm off. A moment later, she realized that it was another working day. At that, she reluctantly opened her eyes. Why do I have to leave my bed? I donât want to go to work!
Even though Josephine was reluctant to wake up, she was dedicated to her job. After rolling out of her bed, she applied light makeup on her face. The bruise on her face had faded and her skin had been restored to an intact state. Everything seemed fine, aside from the little scrape at the corner of her lip.
Josephine thought to herself, Iâll just go to work without bothering anyone. I should let Ethan sleep. I bet he stayed up late last night. When she opened the door, the sight of a well- groomed man on the couch greeted her. She blinked in surprise. âWhy are you up so early?â
âI want to give you a ride to work.â Ethan smiled at her. However, Josephine turned down his offer.
âThereâs no need. Iâll take a cab to work. You should go back to sleep.â Ethan rose to his feet. âNo way.
I wonât allow it on my watch.â
At last, Josephine had no choice but to allow him to send her to work in his eye-catching sports car.
She thought about the matter over on the way to the office. Now that everyone knows Ethan and I are seeing each other, I donât think we should do it in secret anymore as if we are ashamed of our relationship. Thatâs right! Iâll make our relationship public.
The sports car eventually rolled to a stop in front of the company. Ethan wasnât able to accompany Josephine due to him having an appointment with the realtor later. And so, she got out of the car and waved goodbye. âBe careful on the road.â Ethan nodded. âIâll pick you up after work.â
With that, he took his leave. Meanwhile, tons of envious eyes fell on Josephine. Holding her head high, Josephine walked into the company lobby at a steady pace. Her colleagues from other departments, whom she seldom dealt with, approached her and greeted her. âGood morning, Josephine!â
âCongratulations, Josephine!â âIâm looking forward to your wedding!â âMr. Quarles is a handsome guy.
Youâre so lucky to have him.â The statements took Josephine aback. Whatâs next? Are they going to urge us to start a family? She cleared her throat. âCalm down, everyone. Letâs not discuss personal matters at work.â
After that, Josephine returned to her seat. Just as she sat, people gathered around her. âJosephine, why did Mr. Quarles leave the group chat?â
âDo you think heâll rejoin the group chat?â Josephine chuckled and replied, âIâm not sure. Letâs get back to work, everyone. Weâve got a long day ahead.â
Wren got Josephine a cup of coffee to go and set it on the table. After taking a seat beside her, Wren smiled. âMr. Quarles did a good job! The way he announced himself in the group chat and told Katrina off was like a slap in the face to her! Even her supporters didnât dare contradict him.â
Josephine had to admit that Ethanâs behavior was satisfying. After all, people around the office didnât dare stand up against Katrina. Even Josephine herself got ridiculed by Katrina a few times. Katrina had it coming!
Later, Josephine headed to the copy room. Katrinaâs voice caught her off guard. âJosephine, you must be very proud.â Josephine turned around and queried, âWhat do you mean?â
Iâm the victim in the story. Itâs all thanks to Ethan showing up in the group chat and backing me up, or else they wouldnât have stopped in the first place.
âDid you take Mr. Quarlesâ phone and make everything up? A man like him will never bother to join the group chat, so it must be you! You have access to his phone, so you mightâve taken it and pretended to be him in the group chat.â Katrina allowed her imagination to run wild and she was confident with her theory. After all, she remembered Ethan as a man of few words from their encounter back then.