Sabina’s face went ghostly pale, her pride stung as if Jonathan had publicly slapped her,
the humiliation burning
beneath her skin.
Jonathan leaned back in his chair with an air of languid authority, his voice a chilling blade,
“Focus on your work,
Sabina. Don’t waste your time on trivialities. I need an assistant who can get things done,
not someone who’s
just trying to cozy up to the boss. If you’re aiming to be the latter, you’re on the fast track
to being shown the
door. Got it?”
Sabina clenched her palms, embarrassed to the point of wishing the ground would swallow
her whole. Without
daring to meet Jonathan’s gaze, she murmured a mortified, “Understood.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Then out you go,” Jonathan dismissed her with a tone devoid of any warmth.
Sabina spun on her heel and left the room.
Once outside his office, her face was still a mask of anger and shame, making her have a
momentary impulse
to immediately go and resign and never appear in front of Jonathan again.
Why was it that Estelle seemed to win Jonathan’s favor with nothing but flattery, while
Sabina herself was met with scorn? Kally approached, frowning in concern as she took in
Sabina’s troubled expression. “What happened? Did Mr. Lamont chew you out?” He had
indeed been in a foul mood these past few days. Sabina shot Kally an icy glare, “Mind your
own business and focus on your work. Less gossiping!” Kally’s eyes widened, watching
Sabina storm off in a huff. She muttered under her breath, “What’s gotten into her?” Back
in the office, Kally handed Jonathan some documents to sign, asking softly, “Mr. Lamont,
why hasn’t Ms.
Macclain been around?”
Jonathan’s pen paused, his reply succinct, “She went home.”
“Oh!” Kally realized, understanding why her boss had been so off-kilter – he was
temporarily separated from his
girlfriend.
After Jonathan finished signing, Kally gathered the documents and respectfully said, “The
executive meeting
starts in ten minutes. I’ll go prepare the materials.”
“Okay,” he nodded.
The morning flew by, and Jonathan had a lunch meeting which kept him until three in the
afternoon. Taking a
phone call, he stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, noticing how the weather had turned,
snowflakes beginning
to drift down.
Glancing at the clock, he figured Estelle would be up from her nap by now and sent her a
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmvideo call.
On the screen, Estelle was wrapped in a shawl, sitting on the porch seemingly cracking
hazelnuts for Coco.
“Why are you calling now? Shouldn’t you be working?”
Jonathan chuckled, “Just got back to the office. Thought I’d chat with you for a bit to
unwind.”
“What?” Estelle looked up.
“Bye!”
Jonathan powered down his phone, his gaze returning to the intensifying snowfall. A
nagging feeling crept in.
Something felt off.
Jonathan stood up abruptly, his thoughts seeming far-fetched even to himself. But once
the seed of doubt was
planted, it refused to be tamed.