Chapter 73 Believe It or Not, I'll Call Your Boss Right Now
Arabella's arrival on her first day of work caused quite a stir in the marketing department.
The department manager, Zane Wright, was a man in his thirties, average height with average looks, but his hair was slicked back with so much gel it gleamed, and his overly confident demeanor made him somehow off-putting.
After introducing Arabella to everyone, the manager led her to a cubicle with a beaming smile, "Arabella, this is your workspace. If you have any questions, feel free to ask your colleagues or me."
She responded politely, "Thank you, Mr. Wright."
"Don't mention it. Alright, get settled in!"
After Zane left, a nearby colleague leaned over curiously, "I heard you're already married despite being so young?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Then why is Mr. Wright being so attentive to you?"
"Oh..." She caught on, feeling a bit awkward, and smiled as she explained, "Maybe because I'm new, Mr. Wright is just looking out for me."
At her explanation, her colleagues exchanged knowing looks and smiles, then returned to their work without further comment.
After all this time, Arabella had finally achieved her goal of starting work and beginning a new life. Her heart was filled with emotion.
She sent Sophia a message and got a quick reply: [Congratulations! Wishing you smooth sailing in your career and may you become a powerful businesswoman soon!]
She pressed her lips together to suppress a smile.
A powerful businesswoman? That would never happen in this lifetime.
But having a goal to strive for was nice.
Sophia added that Zachary had proactively reached out to a subsidiary of Sterling Group, and thanks to hints from headquarters, they'd successfully established a partnership with the law firm.
Hearing this news, Arabella felt relieved, and her guilt toward Sophia lessened considerably.
On her first day, Zane assigned her some simple tasks, which she completed smoothly.
Around ten in the morning, feeling discomfort in her chest, she slipped into the break room, expressed some breast milk, sealed it properly, and stored it in the break room refrigerator.
At lunch, her colleagues formed groups to go out for meals. Calculating that the two-hour lunch break would barely give her enough time to get home, she grabbed the morning's expressed milk and hurried home.
Mary was surprised to see her return. "Mrs. Sterling, aren't you supposed to be at work? How come..."
"I missed the children, so I came back during my lunch break to see them."
"Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet."
Hearing this, Mary immediately had the kitchen prepare lunch for her.
Arabella quickly nursed both babies, without even having time to play with them, then rushed to eat.
When leaving for work again, Mary suggested having the driver take her to the company. After some hesitation, she agreed.
In the car, she leaned back in the rear seat and dozed off.
Suddenly, her phone rang, startling her awake.
Seeing it was Gabriel calling, she answered drowsily, "Hello..."
"Were you sleeping?" His voice was low and deep.
"Mm... just taking a quick nap in the car." She was too tired to be guarded and answered honestly.
Gabriel was curious, "In the car?"
"Yeah... I went home at lunch to check on the children, now the driver's taking me back to the company."
Gabriel was speechless, hearing this, about to make a sarcastic comment when she said, "I'm so tired, hanging up if there's nothing else..."
Before he could respond, she hung up and continued sleeping.
The car stopped at a red light one turn away from the company, and the driver turned around to ask, "Ma'am, you said to drop you off here, right?"
Arabella opened her eyes, looked outside to get her bearings, "Yes, thank you."
The short nap had restored her energy. After getting out, she jogged toward the company.
From a Bentley parked on the roadside, Gabriel sat in the back seat, watching Arabella hurriedly rush into the office building.
Ralph, in the driver's seat, was also puzzled by this scene.
"Mr. Sterling, why is Mrs. Sterling working so hard and rushing around like this?"
Gabriel's expression was cold as he replied irritably, "Why don't you go ask her? I'd like to know too."
Ralph fell silent.
Samuel, in the passenger seat, said, "Feminist thinking is prevalent these days. Mrs. Sterling has probably been influenced and thinks being a housewife has no value."
Gabriel said, "You certainly seem to understand women well."
"No, no, that's not what I meant..."
After watching Arabella's figure disappear, Gabriel finally looked away. "Let's go."
He had a three o'clock meeting and happened to be passing by her workplace, so he thought he'd call to check on her.
Who knew she'd actually gone home for lunch?
If she was so worried about the children, why bother with this exhausting routine? Getting so tired she had to nap in the car—what was the point?
And she didn't even dare have the driver drop her at the company entrance, instead running under the blazing sun to rush into the building.
He simply couldn't understand why someone would choose to be a nine-to-five office worker instead of a pampered, wealthy wife.
Arabella returned to the company just in time for a project meeting.
She thought as a newcomer, she wouldn't need to attend, but Zane specifically invited her to join.
This move drew more sideways glances from her colleagues.
Arabella noticed but could only pretend not to, thinking she had nothing to hide.
The meeting was about a new company project that was about to launch, which meant more work for the marketing department.
Zane selected several experienced veteran employees, then suddenly looked at Arabella and added, "Arabella should join this project too, as a learning experience."
As soon as he finished speaking, employees began whispering among themselves.
Arabella hadn't expected to be given important responsibilities on her very first day.
She'd spent the morning studying the company's successful marketing cases, trying hard to learn, but being asked to create a promotional plan so quickly did seem rather rushed.
After the meeting, colleagues efficiently got up and left.
Arabella was still organizing her meeting notes.
"You're Arabella, right? I'm Ella Martinez. As a senior colleague, I'm kindly warning you—don't think being favored and promoted by Zane is a good thing. That man... you'll understand after working with him for a while. Just watch yourself." A young woman with a sharp bob haircut and crisp professional attire dropped this comment coolly as she stood up.
Arabella turned to look at her, but before she could respond, Ella had already left.
Her mind was in turmoil for a moment before she quickly calmed down.
Returning to her workstation, she continued studying the company's past successful cases, working until closing time without finishing.
Colleagues gradually left, with only a few who'd taken on the new project remaining.
After some hesitation, she decided to stay and work overtime, which would also help her avoid rush hour.
————
Gabriel returned home at seven in the evening.
Learning that Arabella still hadn't come back, he was shocked, then secretly furious, and immediately called her.
Arabella was completely absorbed in her work when the sudden phone ring startled her. Glancing at the screen, she quickly grabbed her phone and stepped away from her workstation.
"Hello..." she answered in a lowered voice.
Gabriel was displeased, "You're still not off work? Do you know what time it is? Both children are crying from hunger. Is this how you're being a mother?"
His rapid-fire questions came with an extremely unpleasant tone and attitude.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Arabella explained gently, "I got assigned a task on my first day, so I wanted to work overtime to get more done. But I'm almost finished, I'll leave soon."
"You leave right now, immediately!"
She was in a difficult position, "I estimate... about another half hour—"
After studying cases all day, she'd finally found some inspiration and wanted to outline her ideas before going home.
Gabriel's anger flared as he threatened, "Believe it or not, I'll call your boss right now!"
"No! Don't!" Arabella was indeed scared and immediately gave in, "I'll pack up and leave right away, immediately."