Chapter 10

"Good morning Mr. Franck," Adele greeted as she walked into her superior's office. She wanted to ask him about the article to be sure that it had truly been canceled.

"Good morning, Adele. I hope I'm safe?" he inquired, looking up at Adele and that made her laugh.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you never come into my office or anyone else's office in the morning. You always just crawl into that hole of yours called your office and shut everyone out for the entire day," Mr. Franck explained and the accuracy of his words made Adele feel very guilty.

That was what she did every day of her life.

She only got out of her office when she wanted to get something from a colleague, when she was going out for lunch or when she was going out for outdoor work.

"Well Mr. Franck, I promise everything is alright. I just came to get some clarifications about something, if that…is okay with you" She explained and her voice died down towards the end of her statement.

"Of course, Adele, go ahead."

"Well, it's about the article about the business tycoon, Thomas Richardson. Is it true that it has been canceled?" Adele asked and she could see the cheerful look on her superior's face get replaced with a gloomy one. His head dropped down sadly and let out a heavy sigh of frustration before looking up at her again.

Adele immediately understood that the article had indeed been canceled by her husband.

"I got a call last night from Jamal King Dominick himself. He threatened to shut this company down if I dared to publish the article, so I had no choice. Adele I'm really sorry. I know how much I pestered you to carry out proper research on that guy, I know how much time and effort you wasted on it. I'm really sorry"

"It's okay Mr. Franck, it's not your fault." Adele said with a light chuckle. " I guess the rich will always trample on people like us" She mumbled in total disappointment.

She was truly mad at Jamal for doing this to her company.

"What can I say? That is the world we live in, but… how did you know? I haven't told anyone about this? I haven't told anyone yet" Mr. Franck asked curiously and Adele's eyes shot wide open when she realized the mistake she had made.

She did not even think of that before coming to run her mouth, now what was she going to tell the man? She could not tell him she got the news from Jamal. He will question her relationship with him and she will have absolutely nothing to say to him.

"Well… well… I… rumor! Yes, rumor. I heard a rumor about it so I said to ask you."

"From whom?" Mr. Franck asked, giving her a suspicious look.

"It… doesn't matter, Mr. Franck. It really doesn't. Now if you'd excuse me, I'd like to return to my office."

"You are not excused, Adele."

"Mr. Franck, I promise it was just a flying rumor."

"And I believe you. However, I'm just curious to know something, are you married?" he asked out of nowhere and Adele's heart fell into her abdomen. The question hit her eardrums like a huge church bell and her ears began to itch.

"Ma …ma…married?" she stuttered nervously. "Me married? Of course not! Why would you even think that?" she asked as she laughed hysterically.

"If you are not married, then why do you have a wedding ring on your ring finger?"

Bam!

Her eyes dropped down to her ring finger and indeed, there was a wedding ring on it. She instantly covered her finger and laughed harder as she looked at the impatient superior.

"This? Ah… this… this is nothing sir!" She said taking off the ring. "You see, lately I have this strange desire to put a ring on my finger to see how a wedding ring would look on it. It serves no purpose at all. I am not married! Hah! Married…. Ha-ha! How can I be married? Am I married?" She blabbered as she kept up with her hysterical laughter, hoping that her superior would get convinced, but he did not seem to be.

"Adele, are you hiding something from me?" Mr. Franck asked with a rather very serious tone and Adele stopped laughing and locked down at home, faking a confused look.

"I… don't understand"

"You know, you did not apply for this job. You were recommended by someone I have never known till today. I have never really bothered to put much thought to that because you did not disappoint. You are an excellent editor and this company is blessed to have you. However, Adele, none of us here know anything about you. Not where you live, not any of your relatives, nothing at all. The only thing we know about you are your two names, the fact that you went to England when you were ten years old and only got back one year ago and also the fact that you are an excellent editor. That is all and to tell you what? That is very fishy. Tell me what you are hiding "

"I… promise I'm hiding nothing from you Sir. I just haven't given out any personal details about me because honestly, there is nothing interesting about me" Adele lied smoothly.

"We don't want to know your personal information because it is interesting, we just want to know because it is important. What if something happens to you someday? Who are we going to call?" he asked, perplexed and she simply smiled.

"Well then, when that day comes, you will know. For now, just know that I'm Adele Mackenzie. I think that is enough. I will be in my office." She explained as she hastily walked out of the office, leaving the poor man confused like a dream.

She really wanted to tell them all who she was, but from the beginning, grandma had suggested she hid her identity.

For some odd reasons, both grandma and Jamal were preventing the public from knowing that she was related to that family.

She had no idea why and it really never bothered her until that moment.

She wanted to know why they wanted her to keep her identity a secret from the public.