Chapter 173
The car stopped at the entrance, Josephine got out, not letting Cedric see her off. "I'll head in now. You should get home and rest too, Mr. Getty. Everyone worked hard today."
"You worked hard."
Cedric remained in the car, watching her silhouette backlit by moonlight, her figure slightly bowed. The light in her eyes seemed to merge with the stars—breathtakingly beautiful.
"Actually, I feel really bad about all this." Josephine had been holding these words in for a long time. She hadn't wanted to say them, afraid of seeming overly sensitive.
But guilt won in the end. "Even though it was my subordinates who made the mistake, as their supervisor, I can't escape responsibility either. And I've troubled you by making you spend the whole day with me at Starlight Group... Actually, you don't need to come with me tomorrow."
Cedric raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you saying I can't help you at Starlight Group? Worried I'll cause you trouble?"
"I mean that you're incredibly busy every day with so many things to handle. Now you're wasting time with us at Starlight Group..." Josephine quickly explained.
"Is that the only reason?"
Josephine froze.
Wind swept across the ground, scattering fallen leaves. The sun gradually set. Darkness descended.
Cedric's eyes were deeper than the night itself, as if seeing right through her. "If you're worried that seeing Gideon and me together will cause him to misunderstand..."
"That's not it either..." Josephine ran her fingers through her hair and said quietly, "You know what his personality is like..."
The two of them together would only create conflict. Gideon had never liked Cedric.
And she only wanted to solve problems, not create them.
Of course, there was one more important reason.
She steeled herself and told the truth. "I just got divorced after all. If I'm seen getting too close to you, it'll invite unpleasant gossip. I don't care about that for myself, but I don't want to drag you into it."
Cedric glanced at her, his tone flat. "So you're thinking of me."
But Josephine got the distinct sense that he was unhappy. She studied his expression, yet couldn't read anything. Cedric was practiced at concealing his thoughts—it was nearly impossible to glimpse what he was really thinking from his face alone.
Josephine straightened up, smoothing her windblown hair. "Given my current situation, there are certain things I need to be mindful of."
Night had fallen. The wind picked up. The temperature dropped.
Cedric said, "Go inside."
Josephine's lips parted slightly, but in the end, she simply turned and headed silently back into Clearwater Ridge.
As she stepped through the door, she heard the engine outside. She glanced back.
The car gradually drove away.
The next day, Josephine arrived at Starlight Group with Emma and the others. As they entered, Emma grumbled, "Please tell me that annoying woman won't be here today!"
"Hard to say," Aiden muttered.
The group entered the building and made their way to Frank's office with practiced ease. The office was quiet, empty of others, with laptops already set up and ready.
Kenneth walked behind the group, looking at Josephine's back with something he seemed to want to say but couldn't quite voice.
Once seated, Josephine looked at Kenneth. "You know I hate it when people beat around the bush."
Kenneth sat down across from her. "There's more than one person we hate that we might run into here."
Emma had a realization. "Oh, right—there's also Gideon."
Josephine opened her computer, pulled up the files, and began working with practiced efficiency. "We'll finish reviewing the remaining data today. Once we fix everything, we won't need to come back."
Kenneth breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Though he knew they were divorced, he still worried Gideon wouldn't let go. The man's obsessiveness was well known to everyone—he might use this work opportunity to stir up trouble.
What if...
He stood to pour himself water, sneaking glances at Josephine's profile. She was beautiful when working seriously—that focused intensity drew the eye involuntarily.
"He won't let go."
The words were spoken so quietly that Aiden and Emma didn't hear.
But Josephine did.
It wasn't until Kenneth had returned to his seat that Josephine, still typing, said simply, "We just need to do our own jobs well."
"Right." Kenneth lowered his head, lips curving slightly upward.
Yes—as long as they did their jobs well, what others did was their business. As long as they stayed firm, no one could shake them.
Today's work went exceptionally smoothly. No annoying interruptions. They quickly eliminated all the data errors and made corrections, finishing everything by noon.
Emma stretched luxuriously. "So happy! Finally free from this nightmare."
Josephine's lips curved slightly. "You all worked hard."
They could have taken the work back to their own office, but Gideon hadn't agreed. He needed them to provide a perfect solution right in front of him.
Whatever his motives were, Josephine had no desire to analyze them deeply. Completing the work was what mattered most.
Before leaving, Opal—the female colleague from yesterday—actually came over to greet them. "All done? Looks like you won't need to come to our company tomorrow."
Emma snorted. "Of course. We can finally get away from this place."
Opal returned a cold smile. "Don't talk like we're some kind of hell. If it weren't for the carelessness of your company's staff causing problems, you wouldn't have had the chance to step through our doors."
"How can your mouth still be so sharp? When you had to apologize yesterday, you weren't nearly this bold." Emma fired back.
Opal's expression darkened. She was about to respond when Josephine glanced at her. "You probably haven't escaped your colleagues' gossip, have you?"
Opal went silent.
They could complete their work and leave, but Opal had to stay and endure the strange looks from her coworkers. She glared fiercely at Josephine. "A twice-married woman kicked out of her home—I don't know what you have to be proud of."
She quickly walked away after saying that.
Emma was so angry that she gritted her teeth, immediately wanting to chase after her. Josephine stopped her.
"Ms. Kennedy! Even if you can endure this, I can't!"
Josephine's expression remained detached. "Endure what? Someone just ran their mouth a bit. You can't handle that? Ever heard the saying that those who achieve great things don't get hung up on small details?"
Emma couldn't help pouting, saying viciously, "You're right! We'll do this project really well and slap them in the face with our success!"
Aiden scratched his cheek. "Speaking of which, why haven't we seen Mr. Getty today?"
Emma instinctively looked at Josephine.
Josephine said coolly, "Alright, stop chatting in someone else's company. Let's head back."
At the company entrance, she didn't return with the other team members. After parting ways with everyone, Josephine drove to the hospital.
She'd specifically found out which room the volunteer was in. Pushing open the door, she saw a woman in her twenties—quite young—lying in bed looking listless.
A man's voice suddenly spoke behind her.
"You came to see her, too."
Josephine frowned slightly. She'd deliberately chosen this time to come alone precisely to avoid running into Gideon. Murphy's Law in action.