Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Henry choked on his words.

"Sharp-tongued woman."

He left in a huff.

I raised my eyebrows, feeling particularly good.

I had to tell Mom about Henry's ugly expression today!

I drove straight to the hospital.

To my surprise, when I reached the hospital room door, I heard Mom and James laughing and chatting inside.

I stopped in my tracks, hesitating whether to go in or not.

Before I could decide, Mom had already seen me and waved, "Anna's here! How was your first day at work? Are your colleagues easy to get along with?"

I instinctively looked at James.

James was clearly smiling, but when he looked at me, it always made my heart uneasy.

"Come in, why are you standing there like that?"

James waved at me.

I immediately snapped back to reality, not daring to make Mom suspicious, and quickly walked into the room.

Sitting by the hospital bed, I described my day at work in detail.

Mom had a proud smile on her face.

"Our Anna is so capable. But that Mr. Phillips you just mentioned, is he the younger son of the Phillips family?"

James's eyes suddenly turned cold, like a blade shooting toward me.

I felt inexplicably guilty.

But then I thought, I was just going to work, not having an affair. What was there to feel guilty about?

So I nodded, "Yes, that's him."

"I remember he has a bad reputation. He didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

Mom looked at me with concern.

I shook my head, "No, Mr. Phillips just gave me a big project to work on."

After talking with Mom for a while longer, she finally felt reassured.

But James's presence beside me grew colder and colder, making my heart panic.

I nervously clutched at my clothes, trying my best to maintain a normal expression so Mom wouldn't notice anything wrong.

I spent about ten minutes chatting with Mom in fear, until the attending doctor came to remind us, "The patient needs to rest now."

"Okay, doctor. Mom, we'll leave now. I'll come see you again tomorrow."

After saying this, I quickly stood up and practically fled from the hospital room.

I ran in such a panic that I didn't notice James's increasingly sinister expression.

He clenched his teeth, anger surging in his heart.

It was actually Henry?

Henry was Joshua's sidekick—didn't I know that?

Or did I know and deliberately chose to work as Henry's assistant to oppose him?

I didn't relax until I got in the car. Just as I was fastening my seatbelt, the car door was suddenly pulled open.

Someone grabbed my wrist and yanked hard, pulling me straight out of the car.

"James, what are you doing?"

I looked up in panic, and my head unexpectedly hit the car door frame, hurting so much that tears almost came out.

James's movements paused almost imperceptibly, then intense anger flooded his eyes as he shoved me into the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt.

All his movements were done in one smooth motion, not even giving me a chance to resist.

Jesse stood far away watching all this and shook his head.

James's face was dark as he floored the gas pedal, and the car shot out like an arrow from a bow.

My face turned pale, my whole heart nearly jumping out of my chest with tension.

I gripped the handle tightly with both hands, my voice trembling, "James, slow down, don't be angry, we can talk about whatever it is... Car! Watch out for the car!"

James said nothing, his expression cold as he raced all the way back to Moon Bay Villa.

"Get out."

The man got out of the car and stood outside the door, staring at me coldly.

I instinctively swallowed, the feeling of surviving a disaster making my hands tremble.

I struggled to unbuckle my seatbelt, "James, I can explain about the job. Listen to me, okay?"

Getting out of the car, I looked at James with pleading eyes.

I thought James was angry because of Henry's bad reputation as a playboy.

But I clearly had no intention of leaving him or betraying him.

Looking at James radiating coldness, my heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, unbearably uncomfortable.

I didn't want to keep hurting each other anymore.

Constantly stabbing each other in the heart was completely pointless.

James sneered, "Fine, you talk, I'm listening."

"I only found out today when I went to the company that my direct supervisor was Henry. All the previous interviews were conducted by the supervisor and department manager."

I bit my lip as I explained.

James's expression grew even colder.

He scoffed, "Anna, are you taking me for a fool? You applied for the position of executive assistant—such an important position and Henry didn't personally review it? You think I don't know the interview process? Have you forgotten how Jesse got into the company?"

Jesse had gone through layers of selection back then, and only became James's assistant after James approved.

The direct supervisor had to approve before work could begin.

I opened my mouth, somewhat unable to defend myself.

But James was standing right in front of me, so I could only continue to explain helplessly, "I really didn't see him. You know Henry's personality—how could he personally interview for an assistant position?"

"No wonder you've been so happy lately. Turns out you found yourself a backer."

Clearly, James hadn't listened to a single word. He stared at me with a half-smile, "Don't think that just because Henry has a good relationship with Joshua he can protect you. Don't forget, you're James's wife!"

With that, he didn't wait for me to speak and strode away without mercy.

Watching him walk away, my legs finally gave out and I collapsed to the ground.

The cold temperature of the ground gradually helped me calm down.

I thought back through the interview process myself.

The interview was indeed simple, but for someone as casual as Henry usually was, it was pretty normal.

Just like on my first day at work, Henry said if the work wasn't good, I could leave anytime.

Wasn't that also Henry testing my work abilities?

After figuring this out, I finally went into the villa.

As soon as I reached the living room, I saw James with his suit jacket draped over his arm, not even sparing me a glance, striding out the door.

Soon, the sound of a car starting came from outside.

He was angry and didn't want to see me.

My heart clenched, but I couldn't help feeling relieved.

It was good to let James cool down—that way I could think carefully about how to explain things so James would believe me.

As expected, James didn't come home that night.

The next day, being new to the job, the first thing I saw when I opened my phone was a trending news headline.

#JamesLateNightRendezvousWithLucyRumoredMrsSmithCompletelyOutOfFavorLeftAlone

This headline was like a sharp knife stabbing straight into my heart.

I pressed my lips tightly together but still clicked on the news.

A photo of James and Lucy practically leaning against each other appeared before my eyes.

In the photo, Lucy's cheeks were flushed but her smile was radiant, as if she was flirting with the man beside her.

My hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

I almost masochistically enlarged the photo and looked at it over and over several times, trying to convince myself that the person in the photo wasn't James.

But I knew him too well.

Especially since James's profile in this photo was particularly clear, making it impossible for me to even deceive myself.

James, how could you do this to me?