Free Web NovelChapter 346: Thanks, But No Thanks
Wendy walked off for a distance before turning around, but she did not see Todd.
That surprised her.
She had assumed he would run after her.
Frowning slightly, Wendy’s expression grew grimmer.
Was Todd angry because she had refused to listen to him?
If so, what secret was HG hiding?
Why would it cause Todd to have such a big reaction?
Wendy had pretended to be angry by walking away. She anticipated Todd to run after her, and then she would question him about what was going on.
Todd might tell her everything to stop her from getting angry.
But that obviously was not the case.
Wendy lowered her head and was deep in thought.
She walked all the way home, took out her keys, and opened the door.
Leah heard the door opening and immediately said in a saccharine voice, "Mummy, you’re home."
"Yes, Mummy is home," said Wendy as she bent down to pick Leah up. That action took a little more effort. Wendy laughed and said, "Leah, you’re growing. It’s getting harder for me to carry you."
"Let me down then," Leah struggled to get down. She was afraid that Wendy would get tired out.
Jake walked in at that moment and placed a glass of water on the table, and smiled at Wendy, "Mummy, have some water."
These two children would always be a light in Wendy’s heart.
Seeing her two obedient and mature children, Wendy felt all her day’s worries and weariness disappear like a puff of smoke.
"Sit down for a bit before dinner," said Zess as she brought out some food from the kitchen. "There is still one more dish coming up."
"Thank you, Zess," Wendy smiled as she nodded at Zess.
Soon dinner was ready, and they gathered around the dinner table.
Zen served some food on Wendy’s plate. "You should eat more," she said. "You haven’t been looking too good recently. Is work tiring you out? Don’t work too hard. As they say, work is never done."
Hearing Zen talk about work, Wendy quickly swallowed the food in her mouth. She looked up at Zen and asked, "Do you still want to enter HG?"
"Yeah," said Zen, her eyes lit. "I’m so bored at home every day. If there is a chance, I really want to work at HG."
"I had thought that since you’re pregnant, you shouldn’t work too hard, but should stay at home and rest," said Wendy. "But today Mr. Woods asked about you."
"What did he ask about me?" Zen asked. "Does Mr. Woods still know who I am?"
Wendy nodded. She placed a piece of meat on Zen’s plate and continued, "Mr. Woods thinks quite highly of you. He asked if you were willing to work at HG."
"Really?" Zen was surprised.
She had not expected Timothy Woods to know her.
They had met a few times before because they worked in the same industry.
But Timothy Woods was a big name in the design world.
Zen used to be the head of design at DR, and though they did well, designing was not DR’s core business.
And Zen’s reputation was only well-known in Lake City.
Why would someone like Timothy Woods mention her?
This made Zen feel very excited. This meant that she had gained the approval of a top designer.
She was finally seeing some results after working so hard for many years.
"Yes, really," said Wendy, nodding with a smile on her face. "What would you like to do? You can pick any position under me."
"Oh no, no, no," said Zen, shaking her hands. Instead, she said happily, "I’m already over the moon to be able to get into HG. Let me be your assistant or understudy designer."
...
Zen’s reason for getting into HG was not to work there.
Her motive was to complete the mission Christian had given her.
She had no connections with HG, nor with Timothy Woods, and so did not want to work her butt off for HG.
Plus, she was pregnant. The higher the position, the greater the level of stress.
Zen just wanted to focus on her unborn child.
She was afraid that if she could not do a good job at HG, she would be depriving someone else of the job and might even cause problems.
"You were DR’s head of design. Being an assistant or understudy would be too low for your talent," said Wendy. She put a forkful of salad into her mouth and chewed on it slowly before continuing, "But I have to warn you. I am in charge of the Moonlight project now.
"The Moonlight project is currently HG’s biggest project. You can imagine the level of stress.
"You are pregnant now. If you want to work hard, I can make you the assistant head.
"But you should know how much responsibility and pressure an assistant head gets.
"On top of that, as a high executive who got parachuted in, you’ll have to face quite a lot of things.
"Of course, if you can withstand all this stress, once the Moonlight project’s second collection has been launched successfully, you will be able to rise in the design world."
In the past, before getting pregnant, Zen would definitely have been willing to go all out.
But now, she was being inhibited by Christian and also wanted to protect her unborn baby.
She was not able to give her all to her work.
Zen rubbed her belly and gave a bitter smile. "In my present condition, I don’t think I’m suited for such an important position. But I am really very bored at home, so I think I’ll be your assistant. I happen to know design and know you well, so I should be well-suited to be your assistant."
"Do you really think so?" asked Wendy. She added deliberately, "Zen, I know you well too. You have your own pride. In the past, you could not stand being under me. Now, you’re willing to be my assistant?"
Wendy had to bring up this topic for discussion.
Talking about it openly would be better than sweeping it under the carpet.
"Things are different now," said Zen. Her smile looked more bitter.
"With you, I would be able to learn some new things again.
"During my years as the head of design in DR, I don’t think I really learned anything.
"Wendy, you might find it hard to believe, but I really miss our time in college when you made food for me and helped me with schoolwork.
"Every time you helped me with school, I would feel that you are so much better than me.
"And so, from then, I had always wanted to prove myself and also to do better than you.
"But now I finally understand. Talent is something you’re born with. There is no way for me to catch up with you."
Wendy’s eyes looked down at the mention of their college days.
Zen was so bent on working in HG that she was willing to be an assistant.
Wendy could not help thinking there was more than meets the eye.
She did not know if Zen knew the relationship between HG and Christian, but she was sure that Christian had arranged for Zen to enter HG.
Being Wendy’s assistant meant being around her all the time.
What was Christian’s motive?
"The decision is up to you," said Wendy. "If you’re all right with it, you can come with me to work tomorrow. But it is not that easy being my assistant. You have to go to work and knock off together with me, so I don’t think you’ll be able to get off work on time."
"That’s fine. I’ll go with you tomorrow," said Zen, nodding her head.
...
Wendy thought that Todd was angry with her and would not come to pick her up the next day.
However, not only did he still come, he actually arrived early. freewebnσvel.cѳm
After Wendy got out of bed, she saw a wonderful spread for breakfast.
She looked into the kitchen to see Todd busy in there and knew in her heart what was going on.
Actually, Wendy did not like Todd doing this because it made her feel like she owed him.
But before Wendy could sort out the relationship between Todd, HG, and Christian, she could not give him any answer.
Her heart was also not into that matter anymore.
"Good morning," Todd saw that Wendy was up and greeted her with a smile. He acted as if nothing had happened yesterday.
Since Todd did not mention it, Wendy also did not bring it up.
She gave a faded smile and replied, "Good morning."
It was Zen’s first day at work and, so she applied light make-up. She did not seem surprised to see Todd and greeted him with a smile.
After breakfast, Zen went out with them. Todd looked puzzled and asked, "Where are you going so early in the morning?"
"I’m going to work with Wendy," Zen said with a smile. "Today, I’m officially Wendy’s assistant."
"You’re officially Corrine’s assistant?" Todd was confused. He looked at Zen’s belly. He knew about her pregnancy, so he was surprised that she would apply to be an assistant.
"Weren’t you the head of design at DR before?" asked Todd. He thought that someone from such a position would unlikely be an assistant.
Zen nodded, "I was, but I had quit that a long time ago."
Todd felt that something was strange.
He looked at Wendy who was standing at the side looking calm as if she was not bothered at all by this.
Todd felt worried, and so he did not say anything on their way to work.
Because Zen was present, Todd thought it inappropriate to talk about it.
When they reached the office, Wendy said, "We’re here. You should go to work, too."
Wendy waved her hand to say goodbye to Todd.
Todd looked at Zen and wanted to say something but then stopped himself.
After that, Todd walked over to Wendy and pulled her back. "Corrine," he said, "could I have a word with you?"
Wendy followed Todd into HG’s office building and entered the lounge room on the ground floor.
Todd closed the door and went straight to the point. "Corrine, don’t you find it strange that Zen wants to be your assistant?"
"This was Mr. Woods’ idea. Yesterday, he said he wanted me to bring Zen in," said Wendy. "What I didn’t expect was that Zen only wants to be my assistant. She said that since she’s pregnant, being an assistant is less stressful."
"Since she’s pregnant, shouldn’t she be resting instead?" Todd asked. The more he thought about it, the fishier it smelled.
The fact that this was Mr. Woods’ idea made Todd worry more.
Yesterday, when Todd talked about this with Timothy Woods, Timothy’s attitude had made it clear to Todd that he did not intend to take back Wendy’s share in the company.
Wendy gave him an I-don’t-know expression and shrugged her shoulders. "I don’t know," she said. "Mr. Woods mentioned Zen and wanted me to invite her into HG, and she is also a willing party. I have to, at least, do this much for my mentor, right?"
"Corrine," Todd said with all seriousness, "I don’t think this matter is that simple. Listen to me, leave HG, ok?"
"My answer is still the same. Unless you give me a reasonable reason that I can accept, there is no reason for me to give up such a good offer," Wendy looked at Todd and shook her head.
"Why are you so stubborn?" Todd took the entire night to finally calm himself down but was now all worked up again.
He had been pacing around the room, and now he stopped and said, "Corrine, I am really trying to help you."
That was not what Wendy had wanted to hear.
She wanted to know what secret HG had.
"It’s getting late. Shouldn’t you be going to your office?" Wendy asked, giving a slight nod as if hinting that he should leave. "I’m not seeing you out."
Todd felt a sense of helplessness.
He sighed and said, "Since you insist on staying in HG, you must be more careful. You have to guard yourself against Mr. Woods and Zen, got it?"
"Thank you for your kindness, but one is my mentor who had groomed me to become what I am today; the other is my close friend from college. I think they are both people I can trust."
Of course, Wendy had said that on purpose.
She wanted Todd to become anxious and worried.
But unfortunately, Todd was still unwilling to tell her. All he said was, "Make sure you remember what I told you. You must, you must be very careful. At the first sign of trouble, you must inform me immediately. I will help you."
"Thank you," said Wendy. She added slowly, "I don’t think that would be necessary."
Todd felt himself feeling very frustrated at Wendy.
He let out a heavy sigh and then turned to leave HG’s building.
Wendy’s expression became gloomier as she watched Todd walk away.
What top-secret was it that Todd still refused to tell her about?
The more unwilling he was to share, the more serious the situation had to be.
Pursing her lips together, Wendy took a deep breath before leaving the lounge room.
She saw Zen sitting at one side of the ground floor. "Let’s go," she said to Zen. "My office is on the eighth floor."
Zen stood up immediately and followed Wendy.
This was Zen’s first time inside HG.
She was filled with envy when she saw Wendy’s office.
"Wow, Wendy, your office is huge!" Zen looked around the room. The furnishing was simple yet elegant and looked very comfortable.
She could tell that Wendy had a very high standing in HG.
Wendy had to be since she was the one supporting HG.
How could her standing not be high?
Wendy’s current position in HG as well as in the entire design world was one of great envy.
Zen felt a little jealous.
They were both from the same school and had worked hard together. When Wendy had given up design for Michael, Zen had continued to work overtime to complete many design drafts.
Yet now, Wendy had gotten so far ahead that Zen could not reach even if she stretched herself on tiptoes.
"It’s not too bad," Wendy answered simply.
Wendy sat on her office chair with a grim look on her face like she was focusing on her work. She reached out and hit the extension button on her office phone and spoke to it, "Please come in for a while."
Soon, a woman walked in and asked politely, "Miss Swift, what instructions do you have for me?"
She was Wendy’s personal assistant.
"Take her to complete her employment process and then help her familiarize with HG," Wendy instructed in a cool voice.
"Yes," the personal assistant nodded her head. She looked at Zen, and showing the way with her hand, she said, "Please come with me."
After Zen left, Wendy leaned back into her office chair, looking up at the ceiling.
Her mind was filled with thoughts about Todd.
What did she have to do to make him talk?
