Chapter 11 Disqualified
Maddie had been waiting for Jake’s return for a long time at Hall Manor. After she took Jake’s jacket from him, she was surprised to see Sienna, who was trailing Jake from behind.
“Ms. Charles, I’ve already prepared your room for you. You can take the stairs over here.”
Sienna was about to follow Jake into the express elevator that led straight to his wing when she heard Maddie’s words, which caused her to halt in her tracks. Then, she looked at Maddie in disbelief.
“Are Jake and I not sharing a room?”
Since Jake agreed to her request to stay in Hall Manor, he must have acknowledged the fact that he’d be marrying her in the future. It was only natural for them to stay in a room together.
Jake frowned after hearing Sienna’s question.
“Um…” Maddie dared not say much. The reason why Sarah wanted her to clear out a guest room was due to the possibility of Gwen leaving traces of her existence in Jake’s room.
“I still have work to do. You should rest first.”
Jake shot Sienna a cool glance. Then, he gave Maddie a look.
“But…” As expected, Sienna was reluctant to accept the outcome, hence her follow–up question.
After noticing Jake’s look, Maddie quickly stopped Sienna. “Ms. Charles, please follow me.”
The doors of the express elevator soon slid shut, effectively blocking Jake’s story face from the rest of the world.
Sienna suppressed her dissatisfaction the best she could. She kept having a feeling that Jake had been treating her differently ever since she returned to the country.
He was still close to her, yet at the same time, he seemed so distant. She could never figure out what he was thinking.
Once Jake returned to his study, he took a shower and changed into his bathrobe. He spent some time flipping through the documents, yet he found it difficult to focus on the contents.
hat
Usually, Gwen would bring him a bowl of chicken broth at this hour. Then, she’d return to the bedroom and wait for
him there.
Sometimes, Jake would spend the night in the study. He’d occasionally return to the bedroom to spend the night with
her.
Even so, one of them would sleep on the bed, while the other took the couch. Still, Gwen never changed the habit of bringing him chicken broth every night.
Tonight, he had been waiting for a long time, yet he never detected any movement coming from the bedroom. The absence of the chicken broth stirred up an inexplicable sense of irritation within him.
At that moment, Jake’s phone began ringing. When he picked up the phone, he noticed Cedar’s name flashing on the
screen.
This elicited a small frown from him. He had no idea why he was feeling irritated just now.
“Mr. Hall, the organizer of Dornwick’s medical expo just called. He claimed that our company has been disqualified from the expo because our sponsored amount isn’t enough.”
Jake’s expression became stormy instantly. Gwen was originally in charge of this project. Since she had already quit her job, Cedar was the one who took over the project.
“The amount, you said? The medical expo always drafts a list of attendees according to the donations each company made to the Red Cross Society in the previous year. Last year, Hall Group’s donation reached a total of 300 million
1/2
dollars, yet the organizer claims that it’s not enough?”
Cedar could clearly feel that Jake was in a bad mood. Cold sweat began dripping down his back.
“I’m also perplexed by this reason. I called Ms. Lawson just now because I wanted to get to the bottom of this matter, but her phone number has been unregistered…”
He dared not continue his sentence after that.
The atmosphere in the study fell cerily silent. Jake frowned instantly, soon recalling the way Gwen had looked when she took off her uniform without hesitation. She was hell–bent on resigning from Hall Group no matter how much humiliation she had to endure.
That memory
itself was able to invoke unknown emotions within him.
If Jake remembered correctly, Gwen had claimed that she came from a farming village. She had worked extremely hard to get enrolled in a university so that she could stay in the city.
She had put her blood, sweat, and tears into opening a fashion boutique, but she was quick to shut it down shortly after marrying him.
Over the past three years, Gwen didn’t have any additional income other than the allowance she regularly received from the Hall family.
Where could a woman, who had nothing but the clothes on her back, possibly go?
“First things first, I want you to travel to a village.”
Jake still remembered the address of the farming village Gwen had given him. He refused to believe that he couldn’t track her down.
“Secondly, I want you to contact the organization in charge of the medical expo in Dornwick. I want to see the person in charge.”
Jake tossed his phone onto the desk after ending the call. His expression gradually darkened.
