Chapter 44
Chapter 44 She Saw Luke Looking At Him
Anna was being wholly unreasonable. She yanked Bianca back and forth, messing up the latter's hair and even scratching her on the neck several times. Bianca’s face was still smarting from before, too.
Anna grabbed Bianca's hair and refused to let go, cursing, "A woman like you should wear a scarlet letter! Are you that desperate for money? Will you give up your dignity for money? If you like having a sugar daddy, no one would care, but don't pull my son into this! How are you gonna pay my son back for the past five years of his youth?!"
Bianca could not stand it anymore. Wincing from the pain, she pulled her hair out of Anna's grip and then shoved the woman away forcefully. ‘That's enough!"
Anna was shoved more than a meter away, her face and neck scarlet with anger. Her finger trembled as she pointed at Bianca, "You're a despicable, shameless hussy! How dare you act like you're in the right!"
More people started crowding around them, watching the spectacle.
One of the older ladies tried to stop the fight, holding Anna back as she said, "Don’t be too mad, sis. You can't just listen to a one-sided accusation and decide that your daughter-in-law is cheating on your husband, right?"
Anna knew the woman who was holding her back.
She was one of the women that had been with Daisy that day, gossiping about Bianca’s immoral affair.
"I'll decide for myself if she’s guilty!" Anna glared at the woman. "These are my family matters, stay out of this."
The woman saw that Anna was being completely unreasonable, so she looked at her awkwardly.
By then, Bianca had returned to her unit. She did not want to engage Jean's family in any more pointless squabbles.
Once she got home, the first thing Bianca did was log into a house rental site and look for a new place.
Her phone rang beside her.
The caller was Nina.
Bianca picked up.
Nina sounded utterly flustered on the other end. "Bea, are you okay? Did my mom go to you? Did you bump into her?”
"I did, but it's alright now." Bianca knew that Nina was worried about her, and she did not want Nina to worry.
"I'm so freaking mad at my mom and brother right now!" Nina's voice was choked with sobs, i’ll come over right now. Wait for me."
Before Bianca could tell her not to, Nina hung up.
Instead of calling Nina again, Bianca sent her a WeChat message. "Don't be mad. It'll all pass."
"You’re so kind, Bea. My family is in the wrong here." Nina responded quickly and even added a crying emoji.
Bianca lowered her head. What else could she do but be kind?
After almost an hour, Nina finally arrived at Bianca's neighborhood.
When she rang the doorbell, Bianca opened the door for her.
Nina went in and changed into the slippers. Soon enough, she saw Bianca's face and went forward to look at her closer in surprise. Her eyes widened." Did my mom... hit you?"
Bianca nodded.
"She's crazy!" Nina frowned, speechless. Sounding utterly confused, she continued, "I'm really starting to think that my brother and mother have lost their minds. They would rather believe a resident gossipmonger instead of their closest family. I mean, they don't even believe me."
The two of them went into Bianca's bedroom.
Nina saw the website on Bianca's computer. It was a site for rentals.
"Are you going to move?"
"Yeah. That's the only way I can get some peace and quiet," Bianca said helplessly.
Nina went to the fridge to grab a drink. When she returned to the bedroom, she looked at the rental information and said, "Why don't you get a two- room place? I can move in with you, and we can watch each other's backs."
Bianca looked at Nina. She did not want Nina to move out of her house and stay with her.
That would probably alienate Nina from her parents and brother.
Nina seemed to be able to read Bianca's concerns. She said, "Don't worry, I'm not moving out just for you. I’ve actually wanted to get out since the second year of college. My parents got into fights every day..."
Bianca had never seen her parents together in her life.
How was it like to have both parents? Was it peaceful and wonderful? Or was it filled with fights? Either way, she would not get to see it. It was a rare sight that she might never witness in her lifetime.
That afternoon, Bianca and Nina settled on a house.
The next day, the two of them checked the place out, signed the contract, paid the deposit, and moved out. It was all settled within a day.
The third day, Bianca wanted to clean up the place.
Nina was worried that Bianca did not feel up to it, so she went online and hired a cleaner.
"Ah, I finally have my own space..." Nina could not help but sigh happily.
Bianca was glad to be in a new environment too. The frustration that had piled up in her heart seemed to vanish as well.
Her week-long break passed in the blink of an eye.
Bianca had no choice but to gather herself and perk up before returning to work.
To Bianca's surprise, though, she had barely set foot into the design department when she saw Jean sitting at his workstation. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
Jean seemed to notice her gaze on him. He looked up and glanced at Bianca.
His gaze immediately made her feel extremely uncomfortable!
That night, Jean had yelled at her from outside the door, calling her an " adulterous pig". That was exactly what his gaze seemed to be calling her today!
Soon, Sue Carter sent everyone an email. 'There will be a meeting at 9.20am sharp today."
Hence, everyone in the design department gathered in their dedicated conference room at twenty minutes past nine. The head of the design department was a strong-willed woman who never bent to any man, so she inevitably had a preference for the competitive women in the team.
During the meeting, they settled on an important project. The head of department ordered Sue to handle it with a handpicked team, and Sue was fond of Bianca, so Bianca was fortunate to join in the project too.
The meeting ended.
Bianca left the room with everyone else.
"Sue, take Bianca with you to the conference room on the 62nd floor.
Hurry!" The head of department was about to enter the elevator when she had to take a call, so she turned around and pointed at Sue and Bianca, who had walked out together.
Sue did not have enough time to ask why, but it had to be something good, so she immediately led Bianca into the elevator and up to the 62nd floor.
As for Jean, who wanted to talk to Bianca, he had no choice but to return to the design department.
There was someone waiting at the door of the 62nd-floor conference room. When they saw Sue and Bianca, they let the two women pass. The women walked into the room quietly and settled in an unassuming corner to listen in on the proceedings.
The atmosphere in the room was quite solemn. Bianca looked up, too afraid to even breathe too loudly. First, she saw the higher-ups of the company, but she was relatively new so she did not recognize all of them. 1
There were nametags on the table. Aside from the top dogs at the company, she also saw that the others were the partners they were supposed to work with for this project.
At the forefront of the room, a woman was presenting the project proposal. Right now, she was explaining the advantages of this particular plot of land. On her right, there was the big boss, as noble and collected as usual.
Bianca hurriedly pulled her gaze back.
She could still remember all those scandalous moments with Luke at her place.
The meeting went on for two hours.
When it ended, it was just time for lunch.
The top dogs left first, followed by the employees in order of their ranks. When Bianca walked out, she did not expect to meet Luke again.
Outside the conference room, Luke was talking to two men and a woman.
If Bianca remembered correctly, all three of them were in positions of power.
Just then, Jason looked over at them, stopping Sue and Bianca with a few words. "If I'm not mistaken, Miss Carter is a decent drinker. You should attend the lunch meeting later too."
His tone made it a command, not a request.
After that, Jason looked at Bianca and purposely invited her. "You should come along too, Miss Rayne. Why don't you listen in on the bosses' design plans?” 1
As long as Bianca was an employee at this company, she had no reason nor right to refuse such an invitation.
While Bianca was feeling lost and flustered, she felt a sharp gaze on her. She turned around and saw Luke looking at her, his gaze unbelievably deep and filled with an unfathomable emotion.