Chapter 221
As soon as he finished speaking, Garret instinctively clammed up. He knew all too well that was the last thing Daron wante to hear.
Sure enough, the moment he fell silent, Daron shot him a frosty glare.
If he weren’t already laid up with a
ork injury, Garret would’ve sworn Daron was about to ship him off to Claset
He quickly forced a sheepish grin and tried to smooth things over,
“Daron, you’ve actually got two options right now. Option one: just come clean and tell her how you feel,” Garret said.
Daron shot him a cold look. “And option two?”
Garret replied, “Fire Ms. Finley.”
Daron let out a cold, mocking laugh, his gaze turning downright menacing as he looked at Garret.
Garret hurried to explain, “If you fire Ms. Finley, she won’t be your subordinate anymore. You two would be equals, at least in some ways, which makes it a lot easier for something romantic to happen between you.”
Daron reached out and flicked Garret on the forehead.
“If I ever took your advice, I’d have to be bewitched or something,” Daron said.
He couldn’t help but recall that night when Marina, tipsy and thinking she was still dreaming, wrapped her arms around him and called him “husband.” The memory made the corners of his lips curl up ever so slightly.
Garret rubbed his forehead. “Daron, I’m really trying to help you out here. If you keep dragging things out with Ms. Finley, it’s not going to get you anywhere.”
Daron’s eyes were unwavering. “I believe she’ll come to me.”
Garret scratched his head, totally baffled by where Daron got all that confidence from.
“If Ms. Finley was really all in for you, she wouldn’t have kicked up such a storm about canceling the wedding in the first place,” Garret said.
As soon as he finished, Garret felt like Daron’s eyes could slice him in half.
Garret flopped back onto the hospital bed in a panic, but the sudden moye pulled at his injury, and he let out a howl. Dar that hurts!‘
Daron saw Garret looking like death warmed over and reached out to hit the call button.
Garret forced a big, toothy grin through the pain, his face still ghostly pale.
“Come on, Daron, when we get back, you gotta give me at least three months off to recover,” Garret said, still trying to play ith cool despite the pain.
Daron glanced down at him.
“Look at you, such a wimp,” Daron scoffed.
“Fine, I’ll give you six months off,” Daron added.
Garret’s eyes sparkled with surprise. ‘Six months? Man, maybe this injury isn’t so bad after all, he thought, suddenly feeling
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Chapter 221
like the pain waget nearly as bad
In the Zamora Group, Marina followed Daron’s instructions and made her way to the CEOs office at Zaimēra Clop looking for Chloe.
Chloe already knew Marina was coming. Daron had given her the heads–up, and she’d prepped an office for life its afritten by
Everyone in the CEO’s office had heard the rumors about Marina working in Daron’s office before.
So when Chloe led Marina into the workspace this time, the staff gave her these unreadable, almost judging looks, like they were trying to figure her out.
Marina could even pick up on some subtle shade in a few of those glances.
But since she was only sticking around the Zamora Group for three months, she couldn’t care less about any of that hostility.
Chloe clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention, cutting off the few who were still working. “Let’s give a warm welcome to our new teammate in the CEO’s office, Ms. Marina Finley,” she announced.
She started clapping to get things going.
The others just went through the motions, giving a few half–hearted claps for Chloe’s sake.
Seeing how awkward it was getting, Chloe leaned over and quietly reassured Marina.
“Everyone’s just swamped with work. It’s not that they’re not happy to have you,” Chloe said softly.
Marina just smiled calmly and said, “It’s fine.”
“So, where’s my desk?”
Chloe led Marina over to her new workspace.
When Marina sat down, she saw her desk was totally bare, not even a computer, not a single file or document in sight. She glanced up at Chloe, a bit puzzled. “So, what exactly am I supposed to do today?”
Chloe found herself in a bit of a bind, unsure how to respond.
After all, Marina was someone Daron had handpicked to join the CEO’s office.
“Mr. Zamora didn’t give me any instructions,” Chloe replied.
Having worked alongside Daron for quite some time, Chloe could sense he had a soft spot for Marina.
She had to be careful not to show any hint of disrespect. Unlike the other staff, she needed to treat Marina with extra courtesy.
Marina lowered her voice and said softly, “Since Mr. Zamora brought me here, I’m your employee now.”
‘Seriously, I can’t just sit here twiddling my thumbs until Daron comes back, can I?‘ Marina thought to herself.
Seeing Marina put it that way, Chloe finally gave her some tasks to do.
With her instructions in hand, Marina dove right into her work.
Since she was still new at Zamora Group, Marina didn’t really know her way around the CEO’s office yet. When she needed to print something, she had to ask one of the others nearby.
Chapter 221
“Excuse me… Marina said softly.
But before she could even finish, the colleague let out a loud teh and shot her an annoyed look clearly not in the need t help
Marina swallowed her words and kept quiet. Guess I’ll just figure it out myself she thought
She looked around the workspace, but there was no sign of a printer anywhere.
Just as Marina was about to get up and look for it, the woman sitting across from her stood up with a friendly smile.
“Looking for the printer?” the woman asked.
Marina nodded.
The woman smiled warmly. “I’m heading to the print room too, want to come along?”
Marina thanked her quietly and followed the woman into the print room.
‘Guess that’s why I didn’t see a printer out there. Turns out the CEO’s office at Zamora Group has its own print room. Marina thought.
While they waited for the prints, the woman looked over at Marina with a friendly smile and introduced herself.
“Hi, I’m Bella Holmes,” she said.
Marina gave a faint smile and responded with her own name, “Marina Finley.”
Bella started chatting about everyday stuff, mostly fishing for details about Marina, but Marina only shared what she wanted
- to.
“I heard Mr. Zamora personally brought you in. Are you, like, his relative or something?” Bella asked.
Bella’s gaze was probing, clearly curious but careful not to overstep.
Marina shook her head. “No.”
Bella raised an eyebrow, sizing Marina up, the same way the other staff had earlier.
She looked at her with obvious disdain, like she didn’t think much of her.
Good thing Marina was already on guard, so she kept her cards close to her chest, even though Bella was clearly fishi
info.
In a place like Zamora Group, it was a dog–eat–dog world, especially when it came to office politics. The internal competition here was downright ruthless.
You could be working side by side with someone every day, but you never know when they’ll turn around and stab yo
the back.
Bella just gave a noncommittal “oh,” and her curiosity about Marina faded noticeably.
Marina kept things polite but distant, and once her documents were printed, she headed straight back to her desk.
Bella soon returned to her desk with her own documents..
Once she sat down, she immediately started texting on her phone.
Marina noticed her coworkers were all glued to their phones at the same time.
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Chapter 221
“They’ve probably got some kind of group chat, Marina thought. Maybe it’s a work chat:
And the person they were all talking about was her.
Marina just ignored their little clique and quietly focused on her work at her desk.
Just before lunch, out of nowhere, someone called out in surprise, “Ms. Milner, what brings you here?”
Everyone immediately turned to look at the door, and a wave of eager, respectful greetings echoed through the room.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
