She Inches In

The guilt in his eyes deepened and deepened.

At last, urged on by Maria's soft reminders, Alistair responded, "We'll visit your mom tomorrow. Then, we'll straighten things out in front of her."

I turned away without a change of expression. Straighten things out, he said? Well, he could deal with my lawyer instead.

The moment Maria appeared in that house, I no longer had any interest in discussing divorce with him at all.

…

Early the next morning, the people my mentor had sent to pick me up arrived ahead of schedule.

Before leaving, however, I still needed to go to the company to retrieve a photo of my mother and me. I wouldn't let that photo fall into Maria's hands.

…

The moment I stepped into the workplace, my colleagues looked at me strangely.

By the time I reached my own office, I understood the source of the uneasy atmosphere—Maria was sitting inside my office, staring at me with a provocative smile.

"Winnie," she said, "it looks like we'll be working at the same company from now on."

When I didn't respond, her expression grew even more smug.

"Dad invested in this company. From now on, our family will be a major shareholder of Yates Group."

"I'll be the vice president. And you—will be reporting to me."

I narrowed my eyes. "Invested? With the Granger family's assets, becoming a major shareholder of the Yates Group shouldn't be possible."

Maria let out a snort of laughter. "That's none of your concern. We have our own channels. I like this office, so I'm taking it. From now on, you'll report to me here."

I looked at her and smiled faintly. "Seems you and your mother really have a knack for eyeing other people's items. Honestly, you're not as smart as she is. At least she knows how to endure."

With that, I picked up my mother's photo and turned to leave.

Just as I reached the door, Alistair appeared. At the sight of the photo in my hands, his expression tightened. "Where are you going?"

"I—"

Before I could finish, Maria cut in, "She's clearing out the office for me. I like this one."

When Alistair saw me about to leave, he hurried forward and grabbed my arm. "No. This office has always been yours. No one else can—"

I cut him off before he could finish. "Since she likes it, let her have it."

After all, I had already submitted my resignation letter. Once he approved it, I would be gone.

His approval didn't even matter.

It was only a notice—just like how he hadn't bothered to notify me before letting Maria into the company.

Alistair froze, his expression unreadable.

Only after my figure disappeared down the hallway did he come back to his senses.

He shoved Maria—who was humming as she packed up the office—out into the corridor, then, in front of everyone, slapped her hard across the face.

"Didn't I warn you? You're here to cooperate with Winnie's work—to serve her. She's the head of R&D. The future development of the new drug depends entirely on her. Who gave you the illusion that you could bare your teeth at her like that?"

…

Downstairs, my phone buzzed with a message from Alistair. 'If you don't like Maria, I'll have her leave the company.'

'Your favorite classical orchestra is performing tonight. I got two front-row tickets. We'll visit your mother first, then spend some time alone together. I'll be waiting for you at the cemetery at 5:00 PM. Don't be late.'

I shook my head, pulled out the SIM card, snapped it in half, and tossed it into the trash. Oh, I felt disgusted by his messages.

I got into the car sent to pick me up and headed straight for the airport.

…