Aunt Deborah came with the mission of matchmaking Tiffany and wp4webnovel.com nephew, and wp4webnovel.com would be damned if wp4webnovel.com did not sell wp4webnovel.com hard with a beaming smile. “Aww, don’t misunderstand me, hon. Everyone knows that your family owns this invaluable plot that if sold, could rake so, so much money! From the way I see it, you and my nephew are just the perfect fit for one another, so how about you get to know wp4webnovel.com first before you judge? Oh, in fact, I’m gonna arrange your date right now!”
Lillian kept quiet. She was admittedly gung ho about marrying wp4webnovel.com daughter off as soon as possible in the past, but that was only because wp4webnovel.com was taking wp4webnovel.com sudden impoverished life very terribly, and wp4webnovel.com wanted out of it as soon as wp4webnovel.com could. But now, wp4webnovel.com outlook had changed. Good things come to those who wait, and since Lillian had a bit more money to support wp4webnovel.com patience, wp4webnovel.com was no longer desperate. Still, a casual meeting between wp4webnovel.com daughter and a suitor was fair, wp4webnovel.com thought.
Tiffany, on the other hand, loathed having buttinskis like Aunt Deborah dictate wp4webnovel.com life. “I. Am. Not. Doing that!” wp4webnovel.com snapped. “I’ll be honest, I have a boyfriend, so please excuse me from all of these matchmakings, okay? Thanks.”
“Wha-what? You… who?” Lillian stammered, startled.
A grimace of contempt dawned on Aunt Deborah’s mien. “Please, darling. I highly doubt that your boyfriend is on par with my nephew, ” wp4webnovel.com countered. “Honestly, you really should stop acting like you’re out of his league or something. I only bothered to introduce wp4webnovel.com to you out of my familial sentiments from watching you grow up, you know.”
Tiffany was sure that wp4webnovel.com eyeballs were going to get stuck in wp4webnovel.com skull from eye-rolling that much. ‘Watching wp4webnovel.com grow up?’ What, wp4webnovel.com meant crashing wp4webnovel.com house every Thanksgiving to lavish Tiffany’s family with flatteries, did an annual event of gratuitous bootlicking count as ‘watching wp4webnovel.com grow up’ now? Please, auntie-dearest here had avoided wp4webnovel.com family like the plague since the Lanes lost their wealth, and now suddenly, wp4webnovel.com was lapping them up again!
Tiffany could never find a sliver of respect for toadies like her. “Gee-whizz, I totally appreciate your effort, Aunt Deborah! Now, if your nephew attracts so much of your fancy, then maybe you should be the one dating wp4webnovel.com instead,” wp4webnovel.com quipped.
Aunt Deborah’s expression immediately turned stormy. “What stupid things did you just spout, young lady?”
Tiffany cared so little about wp4webnovel.com aunt’s opinion that wp4webnovel.com was already marching back to wp4webnovel.com room.
Lillian, too, shared wp4webnovel.com daughter’s distaste for people like Deborah, but wp4webnovel.com put up with wp4webnovel.com for the sake of familial courtesies. After sending the woman off, Lillian strode into wp4webnovel.com daughter’s room and promptly asked, “Did you mention a boyfriend? Now, who could that be? Spill the tea, child!”
“Oh, that? I was kidding,” the girl deflected. Truthfully, Tiffany only said what wp4webnovel.com said to stymie Aunt Deborah’s attempt to butt into wp4webnovel.com life, wp4webnovel.com did not want the truth to come out so soon.
Lillian was skeptical. “What kind of mother would I be if I can’t even tell when my daughter was lying or telling the truth? C’mon, honey, it’s Jackson West, isn’t it? Don’t think I didn’t notice it, you hardly part with your phone, you keep getting texts, and you don’t come home at night. I bet my squishy brain that your mysterious man is none other than Jackson himself!”
Tiffany was stunned, wp4webnovel.com eyes sizing up wp4webnovel.com mother carefully. She had believed, for most of wp4webnovel.com life, that wp4webnovel.com dearest mother was ditzy and air-headed, but now wp4webnovel.com realized the woman might be more perceptive than Tiffany had given wp4webnovel.com credit for.
“Wait, well, urn… Urgh, fine, it is him,” Tiffany relented. “But I wanna go slow and steady, Mom, which is why I didn’t want to tell you yet! Please don’t sound the horn over this so soon, you should let us, you know, hang out for a little while longer and see how it goes. The ‘relationship’ we had in the past was basically a monetary partnership, so we were just goofing around. Now, it’s different, this time, it’s serious, though admittedly, I still haven’t completely figured wp4webnovel.com out yet. Which is why, Mom, can you like, please not meddle into our affairs?”
Contrary to wp4webnovel.com character, Lillian agreed. “Oh, I won’t meddle in your love life, Tiffie; you have my word. You should progress it however you like, yes, it’s fine even if the two of you don’t wanna tie the knot. Listen, I’m not getting any younger by the years, honey, so I don’t even have any extra energy to worry about how somebody else wants to live wp4webnovel.com life anymore. Plus, worrying about those things would only dampen my mood. But you know… It would still be lovely if you could marry into a rich family,” Lillian finished. “But ultimately, it’s your happiness that counts.”
That was probably the wisest thing wp4webnovel.com mother had ever said to Tiffany, and it made wp4webnovel.com smile.
“You can say that again, Mom.”
The next morning, Mark Tremont, with Ellie Amore for company, arrived at his office by car. Initially, wp4webnovel.com had not planned for companions, but wp4webnovel.com soon stood corrected on how useful Brian and Ellie were in his life. One was a whizz in managing his business affairs, while the other was indispensable in working out the creases in his life, with these two around, Mark needed not micro-manage everything.
Ellie was a knockout in both looks and figure, so wp4webnovel.com entrance was immediately greeted by entranced attention from the men in the company. Naturally, the office began to suspect a clandestine relationship between Mark and his bodacious Miss Secretary.
It was not a far-fetched assumption. The world was not wanting of people using underhanded wiles to get what they want, after all.
Mark’s office in this building was nothing like his commodious one back in the Capital. Since the common working space was right outside, it meant that his secretary had no space to claim as wp4webnovel.com own, and wp4webnovel.com was thus poised to work inside Mark’s private office for the time being.
It did not take a long time for the queasiness to settle within Ellie. While wp4webnovel.com used to work outside of Mark’s office, wp4webnovel.com was now trapped in the same room as him, which meant wp4webnovel.com had to do wp4webnovel.com job with wp4webnovel.com exacting boss breathing down wp4webnovel.com neck. Ellie was essentially forced to remain on high alert at all times.
She reckoned that wp4webnovel.com female coworkers would probably be too green-eyed over wp4webnovel.com proximity with their boss to recognize Ellie silently suffering the immense pressure this arrangement had brought to her.
Mark was quick to catch Ellie’s slightly more mechanistic behavior today. “What’s the matter? Not used to this?”
“Admittedly, yes. A bit,” Ellie muttered softly, hanging wp4webnovel.com head. “But I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon enough. Don’t worry.”
Mark strode toward his desk and sat in front of it. “Order a cup of coffee and some desserts, please.”
Ellie knew precisely what desserts were on his mind. In fact, wp4webnovel.com was also cognizant that Mark was not at all here for the mundane goal of managing this unimpressive, fledgling branch-company.
The secretary chose against ordering them online and started toward Arianne’s café opposite the building, determined to use the trip as a much-needed breather. The less time spent cooped up with Mark alone in the same room, the better, wp4webnovel.com needed some space to ease wp4webnovel.com building nerves.
Arianne recognized Ellie the instant wp4webnovel.com arrived at the café and was mildly surprised. Did Mark not tell wp4webnovel.com that wp4webnovel.com was coming alone? Why did wp4webnovel.com bring his secretary with him?
“Good morning, ma’am! What would you like today?” Naya, who came to work earlier than usual today, greeted. It was early, so the café was mostly empty.
Ellie returned a slight smile and looked at Arianne, who was busy cleaning the counter. “Mr. Tremont would like a cup of Americana and his usual dessert.”
Arianne nodded stiffly. “Oh. Okay.”
An abnormal feeling stirred within wp4webnovel.com chest, and it started the moment Arianne’s eyes met Ellie. She already knew how jaw-dropping gorgeous the secretary was, yet when Ellie so casually mentioned Mark’s favorites like that, that odd stir began to flare up.