Free Web NovelChapter 24: Chapter 24: The Sister-in-law Rescues Her Little Sister-in-law
"It’s not like her company is some major corporation. Why does she have to work overtime every single day?"
"Her boss requires it," Mrs. Preston said, sighing on the other end of the line. "I don’t know what’s wrong with her management. They don’t assign tasks during the workday, but right as it’s time to clock out, they tell her this needs to be finished today, and that needs to be finished today. They also keep her late for meetings all the time. She hasn’t had a single day off in over a month."
"Is her boss insane? Not even Bishop the Skinflint was this exploitative," Sonia Quincy couldn’t help but snipe.
Felix Preston met her gaze in agreement before continuing the call with Mrs. Preston. "So what’s the reason she has to stay and work overtime today?"
"I’m not sure," said Mrs. Preston. "She just called me, and she sounded like she was about to cry. It must be another demand from her boss."
"Felix, listen, I think you should convince Lynn to find a new job. This one is too hard on her, and it’s like her bosses are targeting her specifically. There are so many people in that office, yet she’s the only one who has to work overtime every day. She’s come home from work in tears several times."
"What?" A chill fell over Felix Preston’s face.
Sonia Quincy cut to the heart of it. "It’s not ’like’ anything. That worthless boss is deliberately bullying her. Those people... they probably saw the Preston Group go bankrupt, figured Lynn has no support system anymore, and decided to start causing trouble."
"Where is Lynn’s office? We’ll go there and pick her up."
"I know where it is!" Evan Yates suddenly raised his hand. "Sister-in-law, I’ll take you guys there."
Felix Preston nodded. "Alright, got it. Sonia and I are heading to her office to get her now."
He hung up the phone, saved his work with lightning speed, and shut down his computer. "Let’s go. We’re all going."
Sonia grabbed her jacket from the bed and stood up. "Let’s go!"
Lynn Preston’s office wasn’t far from Felix Preston’s studio, only a little over ten minutes by car.
Sonia sat in the passenger seat, cursing out those piece-of-shit bosses the entire way.
Felix Preston, while driving, made sure to respond to her every comment.
When it came to Sonia, he was always extremely attentive. Even if she was just spouting angry, meaningless words, he would respond to every single thing she said, never letting her feel unheard.
Sonia cursed for ten minutes straight until she finally wore herself out.
"Drink some water." She’d been talking so much that Felix, worried she was thirsty, thoughtfully handed her a bottle of water.
It was the bottle Felix had been drinking from, but she took it without a second glance, unscrewed the cap, and drank straight from it, not bothered in the slightest.
The light ahead turned red, and Felix slowly braked to a stop. A few seconds later, Evan Yates’s car pulled up alongside them.
"Sister-in-law," Evan Yates said, rolling down his window to pick up the conversation from before. "Lynn’s boss is a total blockhead..."
Sonia had just caught her breath, but his words got her started all over again. "Tell me about it..."
Felix let out a soft sigh, a smile playing on his lips as he watched her rant. She had woken up and rushed out with them without even fixing her hair; a small cowlick was still sticking up at the back of her head.
When Felix saw it, he reached over and gently smoothed it down for her, his eyes crinkling with a smile.
"We’re here."
The car stopped in front of an office building. Felix unbuckled his seatbelt and was the first one out.
Sonia was right behind him.
She stood in front of the car, tilting her head back to look up at the imposing office building before shaking her head in disgust. "In my years of job-hunting experience, companies located in fancy office buildings like this are usually trash."
"Get rid of the ’usually’," Evan Yates said, coming to stand beside her. "The people who work in here are either making spam calls or acting as paid internet trolls."
"Yup!" Sonia agreed wholeheartedly, then turned to ask Felix, "So what does Lynn do in there? Make spam calls or work as an internet troll?"
Felix started walking toward the building. "Neither. Lynn was relatively lucky; she found a gig as a financial assistant."
"Oh." Sonia and Evan Yates hurried to keep up with him.
While they waited for the elevator, Sonia glanced at the time. It was almost seven o’clock, yet most of the employees in the building hadn’t left work. The offices were brightly lit and buzzing with noise.
"DING—"
The elevator doors opened. The three of them walked out shoulder-to-shoulder and marched straight into Lynn Preston’s office.
Lynn Preston’s desk was near the entrance, and Felix spotted her immediately. He was about to walk in, but Sonia beat him to it.
"I’ll go get Lynn. You two just wait by the door."
"No." Felix stopped her, his brow furrowed tightly. "You’re still pregnant. You shouldn’t get involved in things like this."
"Hmph." Sonia suddenly smiled, a sly and defiant look on her face. "’That’s exactly why I have to get involved—because I’m pregnant. No matter what a piece of shit that boss is, he won’t have the guts to play hardball with a pregnant woman.’"
"Just wait for me here. If I can’t handle it, I’ll call for you."
With that, Sonia pulled her hand from Felix’s grasp and strode toward Lynn Preston.
"Sister-in-law, is she really going to be okay?" Evan Yates asked, staring after her with a doubtful expression.
Felix shook his head. "I don’t know. But since she’s taking the lead, we might as well let her try..."
"Lynn."
Sonia walked straight to Lynn Preston’s desk and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Isn’t it past quitting time? Why aren’t you heading home?"
Lynn Preston looked up, freezing the moment she saw Sonia’s face. "...Sonia? W-what are you doing here?"
Sonia beamed. "I’m here to pick you up. Didn’t we make plans to eat together tonight?"
"...Ah." At the mention of leaving work, Lynn’s spirits instantly sagged. She frowned in frustration and turned back to her keyboard.
"I can’t leave today. I still have so much work to do. Sonia, you should go eat. Don’t wait for me. I’ll just order some takeout for myself later."
Sonia didn’t move. "We agreed to eat together. How could I not wait for you?"
As she spoke, she glanced around the nearly empty office. "Besides, don’t you guys get off at six? It’s almost seven now. Your colleagues have all left, so why can’t you?"
Lynn’s face was a mask of misery. "Because my work isn’t done... I want to leave on time, too, but my boss just had to give me more tasks right before the end of the day..."
"Lynn Preston, why are you slacking off and chatting instead of working?"
Speak of the devil. The words had barely left Lynn’s mouth when a grating male voice cut in from ahead.
Sonia looked up at the man, and the sight of his shiny bald head and greasy potbelly made her instinctively want to gag.
"And who are you?" The man didn’t recognize Sonia’s face and knew at once she didn’t work there. He walked over, thermos in hand, and gave her a hostile up-and-down look. He waved a dismissive hand at her. "You’re not an employee here. What are you doing sneaking in? Scram, scram, get the hell out! Stop distracting my employee from her work!"
