Chapter 17
"I want to watch her make a fool of herself." Marshall sneered.
A rookie who knows nothing couldn't possibly complete this kind of task. What did she know about data? About accuracy rates? About drug solubility?
Marshall kissed her quickly. "Once Josephine messes up, I'll have the perfect excuse to tell Mr. Getty that we don't keep dead weight in R&D." Getting rid of Josephine was his ultimate goal.
"But what if she actually completes it?"
"Impossible." Gideon had specifically told him that Josephine knew absolutely nothing about research and to keep an eye on her. He was just waiting to see Josephine humiliate herself before being kicked out with her tail between her legs.
The next day, Josephine arrived. Marshall looked at her with fake sympathy. "You're just a newbie who doesn't understand anything. It's understandable if you can't complete it. But this data is something Mr. Getty specifically requested. If you can't deliver, I'm afraid Mr. Getty won't let it slide. Looks like you're really not cut out for R&D."
He opened his drawer to pull out a resignation form.
"Who said I didn't complete it?"
Josephine returned the file exactly as it was. Marshall opened it and couldn't believe his eyes. "How is this possible? How could you possibly understand all this?"
Not only had she completed it, she'd done an impeccable job. There wasn't a single error in the data. Even if he'd assigned it to someone else, they couldn't have done it this well.
"You should take the file to Mr. Getty now." Josephine had deliberately timed her arrival. If Marshall didn't leave immediately, he'd be late, and Gideon was a stickler for punctuality. Marshall didn't dare be late, so he grabbed the file and ran.
An hour later, he returned, beaming with satisfaction. Josephine stared at him.
Marshall walked over, looking down at her. "Thank you so much. If you hadn't helped, I couldn't have completed this data set so quickly or received Mr. Getty's praise."
"Helped?" Josephine's expression turned cold.
"Don't worry, there's a company dinner tonight. I'll make sure you're invited."
Marshall was gloating. He'd just been praised in the office. Since joining R&D, he'd never accomplished anything significant. Given his complete lack of research knowledge, not making mistakes was the best he could hope for. This was the first time he'd independently completed a data set.
Gideon had even encouraged him to keep up the good work. He was thrilled. Maybe Josephine's presence wasn't entirely a bad thing.
"Keep up the good work. When I get promoted, I'll definitely tell Mr. Getty about your daily performance."
Josephine stood up abruptly, her voice icy. "Stealing someone else's work is pretty shameless, don't you think?"
"Ms. Kennedy, you should watch what you say. Whose work did I steal? When did I steal anything? I haven't done anything dishonest." Marshall denied everything three times, showing the height of shamelessness.
Josephine laughed bitterly. "You're really something else." She'd thought Lorelei was shameless for destroying someone's marriage, but apparently her brother was just as bad.
"You think I stole your work? Do you have any proof? Without proof, that's slander. If you want to tell Mr. Getty, go ahead. We'll see who he believes."
After he left, Josephine sat in her chair. She had no intention of going to Gideon. Marshall was Lorelei's brother—she already knew whose side Gideon would take.
At the end of the day, she spotted that familiar Bugatti parked by the roadside. She didn't want to acknowledge it, but the car was too flashy to ignore. Passing colleagues all recognized the boss's car.
Josephine walked toward the corner, with the Bugatti following behind. Once around the bend, she quickly got in and immediately met Gideon's eyes. "I told you I don't want people knowing about our relationship."
Gideon smiled. "Nobody saw you sneaking into the car."
She ignored him. He didn't mind and continued, "How's work been these past few days? Going smoothly?"
He'd assumed that since Josephine hadn't worked in so long, she wouldn't be able to handle the regular office hours and would quit within days. He hadn't expected her to stick with it.
"It's fine."
Fine, which meant not great. Gideon frowned. "Is someone bullying you?"
Josephine asked in return, "If I said yes, what would you do?"
"Tell me who it is."
Josephine looked up, meeting his gaze. "Marshall Kelly."
Gideon paused. "How did he bully you?"
"Did he give you a data set today?"
"Yes."
"If I told you I was the one who completed it, would you believe me?"
Gideon stared at her for a long time, then laughed softly. "I know you don't like him, but you don't need to make up stories like this."
Josephine had expected this. She wasn't surprised at all.
Gideon sighed at her stare and reached out to pull her into his arms. "If you don't like Marshall, then don't go to R&D anymore. If you don't see him, you won't feel annoyed."
"You don't believe me at all." Josephine said just this one sentence and refused to speak to him again. Every additional word would be a waste.
Gideon tried to comfort her. "It's not that I don't believe you. If you told me he was making things difficult for you at work, I'd believe that. But Jojo, you know nothing about research. How can I believe you completed that work?"
Josephine closed her eyes, not bothering to explain.
He sighed. "How about this—R&D has an important project right now. Once it's finished, I'll transfer him to another department." No matter what he said, he wouldn't let Marshall go.
The car stopped in front of Evercrest Manor. She refused to get out, frowning. "I don't live here."
"This is your home."
Gideon pulled her out of the car without discussion and carried her into Evercrest Manor. Josephine gritted her teeth. "My home is at Clearwater Ridge."
"Don't forget, that's my property too."
Hearing this, Josephine's heart went cold. That's right. Before marriage, they both had nothing. They built everything from scratch, and every property was in Gideon's name. Back then, she thought they were inseparable, with no distinction between "yours" and "mine." Now she realized what a hopelessly stupid decision that had been.
"Yes, your property. If you wanted to, you could throw me out anytime."
Gideon stopped in his tracks. "You know that's not what I meant."
She didn't care what he meant. She just wanted to go home. Even if it was Gideon's property, it was her only sanctuary.
Gideon patiently tried to soothe her. "You've been so temperamental lately. I promise, after this period, I'll fire Marshall. Then I'll hire a professional to manage R&D, and you can be the deputy director. You can drink coffee in the office, go out for dessert in the afternoon. Wouldn't that be nice?"
He only talked this much nonsense with her.
Josephine wasn't interested. "Since I've started working, I have no intention of being just the CEO's wife anymore."
Gideon loosened his tie and sighed. "I let you go to the company because I was worried you'd be bored at home. I didn't really mean for you to work. I just want you to be happy."
At first glance, it seemed like he was considering her feelings, but in reality, he just thought she lacked the ability to handle any real work at the company. She was just a pretty face.
"I used to think you understood me. I was wrong." Perhaps their entire relationship had been a mistake from the beginning. No wonder they had no real connection.
Gideon's breath caught.