Chapter 200
Gideon got into the car and closed his eyes.
He hadn't originally planned to help Lorelei. Lorelei was making more and more moves—it was about time she learned a lesson. But the doctor said her body was weak right now. If he wanted to save the baby, she had to rest properly.
That's why he'd made that call, instructing his assistant to get the surveillance footage before Josephine could.
He'd paid an enormous price for this child—even losing Josephine, losing his family.
Having come this far, the child couldn't have any more accidents.
He had to be born safely.
But this meant... Josephine would definitely hate him again.
Gideon opened his eyes and stuck his hand out the car window, feeling the cold wind slice through his fingers.
Forget it. Let her hate him. Once the child was born, everything could finally end.
He would definitely win her back.
Josephine could only be his wife. No one could take her away from him.
The next day, Josephine was in a company meeting. After it ended, she heard people chatting in the main office area. A group of colleagues was sharing a plate of strawberries.
The strawberries were large and plump. But strawberries this big were rare this time of year.
"Who bought these?" Josephine asked curiously.
A colleague nearby picked up the biggest, best-looking strawberry and handed it to Josephine. "Try this first. These strawberries are so sweet and juicy."
Josephine took a bite. Sure enough, the juice was abundant, the sweet-tart flavor bursting on her tongue. Delicious. "These are good, but they can't be cheap."
"Special cultivated variety. Super expensive!"
Josephine finished the strawberry in a few bites and tapped the desk. "This afternoon we're having an internal department meeting about some project details we need to finalize. Teams A and B, organize the materials you're responsible for. I'll need to hear your reports then."
"No problem!"
The employees responded in unison.
Josephine turned and headed back to her office. When she pushed open the door, she saw someone sitting in her office chair.
The chair faced away from her. She couldn't see the person's face, only a tuft of hair visible.
"Who's there?"
The chair slowly swiveled around. Gideon's lips curved in a smile. "This chair isn't nearly as comfortable as the one I got you before."
Josephine frowned, then quickly regained her composure. "This is a workplace. It doesn't need to be too comfortable."
"But I remember your back isn't good."
While Gideon spoke, Josephine had already walked up to him. Gideon slowly rose, circled the desk, and settled onto the sofa by the window.
"I came today to discuss the project."
This was exactly why Josephine hadn't wanted to co-lead a project with Starlight Group in the first place—there was no way to avoid meeting and communicating.
"We have weekly reports. I'm not in charge of that. Today's Wednesday, not a reporting day. On Friday, I'll send one of our excellent employees to Starlight Group."
"But I don't trust them." Gideon looked at her. "I only trust you."
His words carried a hint of intimacy, but Josephine wasn't buying it. "Every employee in our company is excellent and talented. If you don't trust them, there's no need for us to cooperate."
Gideon sighed. "No sense of romance..."
"Is there romance for us to discuss?" Josephine shot him a cold glance. "I need to work now. Does Mr. Getty have anything else?"
Gideon stood. "No. Since Ms. Kennedy has already set the reporting schedule, I naturally have no objections. I'll be going."
After he left, Josephine breathed a sigh of relief. Dealing with him was exhausting.
She thought that was the end of it. But that afternoon, she suddenly received an enormous package—a long rectangular box.
The delivery person wheeled it in on a cart.
"Josephine, there's a delivery for you."
Josephine walked out of her office, puzzled. When she saw the package, her eyes widened. "What's in this? I haven't ordered anything recently."
"Check it and sign for it."
The delivery person didn't know what was inside either and handed her the delivery slip.
Josephine didn't want it. "This isn't mine—"
"Just sign for it, please. It has your phone number, your name, and your company address on it. If you didn't buy it, a friend must have sent it as a gift. This thing is huge—it wasn't easy for us to deliver. You can't expect us to haul it back."
Josephine didn't want to make things difficult for the delivery person, so she signed.
After the delivery person left, a group of colleagues gathered around the huge box. Someone curiously poked it.
Josephine borrowed a box cutter from a colleague and opened the packaging.
When they saw what was inside, someone gasped in amazement.
It was a chair.
"This chair is great! I've seen it online before. It's really expensive, but supposedly amazing for your back."
"Oh yeah, I've seen it too. The ad says people with lumbar problems can sit in this chair and it has healing properties."
"Wow, who sent this? What a generous gift. This chair costs at least tens of thousands of dollars."
Josephine stared expressionlessly at the chair. Facing her colleagues' curiosity, she said coolly, "It's not necessarily for me. Someone probably entered the wrong information when sending a gift."
She had Aiden and Kenneth help move the chair into her office, cutting off the other colleagues' curious gazes.
Kenneth looked at the chair and couldn't help asking, "Who sent this?"
"Wrong address," Josephine replied, then ushered both of them out of the office and closed the door.
Aiden and Kenneth exchanged glances.
Aiden said quietly, "I don't think it was sent to the wrong address. Looks more like someone did it on purpose."
Kenneth remained silent.
The two were good friends. Aiden naturally supported Kenneth winning the beauty's heart and knew his friend tended to get discouraged easily. He quickly encouraged him, "No matter what, I think now that the other person's made a move, you can't fall behind. Don't back down."
Kenneth nodded. "I know."
But inside, he had a suspicion. Someone who understood her this well and spent this kind of money—the person who sent the chair was probably Cedric.
Josephine sat on the sofa, looking at the chair in front of her, and pulled out her phone to text Gideon.
[You sent this, didn't you?]
Gideon: [You got it already? Try it out. Everyone says this chair is great for your back.]
[Return it.] Josephine replied.
Gideon: [I already bought it. Why return it? You work so hard at the company. A good chair will help with your work too.]
[I can buy my own.]
Gideon: [Anyway, returning it isn't an option. If you don't like it, just throw it away. Next time I'll send you a different color. I have a meeting now. Talk later.]
Then he stopped responding.
Josephine tossed her phone onto the sofa and stared at the chair. It was like a hot potato. She absolutely, absolutely couldn't use it.
If she accepted it, who knew what wild speculation her colleagues would come up with?
Should she throw it away?
No—Gideon had spent money on it. If she really threw it away, he'd come demanding she pay him back, which would just give him another excuse to bother her.
As she wrestled with the dilemma, the phone on her desk rang.
It was Cedric. "Come to my office."
Josephine looked at the phone, then at the chair. Suddenly, she had an idea.