Chapter 157 Greed
Colin let out a heavy sigh, his hand pounding the armrest. The room fell into deathly silence, only Marlee's sobbing filling the air.
"Mr. Jennings, didn't you have an appointment this afternoon?"
Quinley suddenly spoke up. Three pairs of eyes turned to Zachary simultaneously. A flash of surprise crossed his deep eyes, but he quickly caught on.
"Time's almost up. We should go."
He glanced at his watch and naturally draped his arm around Quinley's shoulders as they headed out. Marlee tearfully insisted on seeing them off, unstoppable. She followed them all the way to the car before finally speaking hesitantly.
"Mr. Jennings, I have a favor to ask. For Quinny's sake, please help my son."
Quinley's heart sank. She never expected her mother to ask this.
"Let me look into the situation first."
Zachary didn't agree but didn't refuse either, his tone neutral as he slowly rolled up the window. Outside, Marlee's tear-filled eyes brimmed with gratitude. Quinley stared at those tearful eyes through the window, an indescribable heaviness settling in her chest.
Marlee had never begged anyone in her life, but now, to help Dennis, she naturally bent down, naturally pleaded. All because he was her biological son.
The drive back was quiet. Zachary glanced at Quinley. She looked listless and dejected. His heart ached as he took her hand.
"What's wrong? Worried about your brother?"
How could she not be worried? These were the parents who raised her, the brother she grew up with. Even without blood ties, she still cared about them. If she were still alive, she should've wrapped her arms around Marlee, wiped the tears from her cheeks. But now she was dead, and dead people couldn't do things like that.
"No."
Quinley lowered her eyelids, her gaze drifting to the scenery flashing by outside.
"Don't worry. I'll help him."
Zachary's grip on her hand tightened. He'd grown up lacking family warmth but had always craved it deep down. Before, he didn't know about Quinley's family situation. It was only after she left, when he investigated, that he realized they were actually the same kind of people. The only difference was that he chose to run away, while Quinley chose to face things head-on.
"Don't. He made his choice. He should take responsibility for it."
Quinley's words caught Zachary off guard. "You're sure? He's your brother."
Quinley hadn't told Zachary about her lack of blood relation with Dennis, so he didn't know they weren't related. She was quiet for a moment. When she raised her eyes again, the hesitation was gone.
Everyone needed to learn to grow up, not use others as their crutch.
"This is his life. He needs to learn to stand on his own."
The next morning, Marlee showed up at Apex Global Group Building. She made a scene in the lobby, insisting on seeing Zachary. The receptionist called up to the secretary's office, but Zachary was in a meeting. Marlee refused to leave, just waited there.
By the time Zachary's meeting ended, it was nearly noon. He had a lunch appointment, and the receptionist called again to inform him. Zachary had no choice but to have someone bring Marlee up.
"Mr. Jennings, please, I'm begging you to save my son."
The moment Marlee saw him, she dropped to her knees with a thud.
"I'm completely out of options. I didn't know who else to turn to, so I came to bother you. Mr. Jennings, please, for the sake of my dead daughter, save Denny. He's Quinny's only brother. If something happens to him, how will we old folks survive? How can Quinny rest in peace in heaven?"
She said a lot, tears streaming down her face. Zachary reached out to help her up, frost settling over his eyes.
"Please stand up first."
He helped Marlee sit on the reception sofa and quickly dialed Lucas's number. Lucas came in shortly.
"Mrs. Elikin, this is a small gesture from Mr. Jennings. Please accept it. Mr. Jennings has a lunch meeting with a client and needs to leave now."
Lucas handed Marlee ten thousand dollars. She took it immediately.
"Mr. Jennings, thank you, thank you so much."
Marlee kept bowing repeatedly. Zachary's expression darkened as he gave a slight nod.
"Excuse me."
The secretary came over and led Marlee away.
In the underground parking garage, Lucas drove toward the exit, feeling indignant on Zachary's behalf.
"Mr. Jennings, how did Ms. Elikin's mother become so... mercenary?"
Zachary let out a slow breath. "Every family has their problems. Don't tell Quinley about what happened today."
"Why not?" Lucas didn't understand.
Zachary shot him a look. "When I say don't tell her, just don't. Why so many questions?"
However, by the time Zachary finished his business meeting and returned, Marlee was still camped out in the company lobby. The moment she spotted Zachary, she jogged over.
"Mr. Jennings, all done with work?"
She approached with a shameless smile. Zachary's brow furrowed.
"Mrs. Elikin, is there something else?"
Marlee wore a grin. "Mr. Jennings, I wanted to discuss something with you. Your company is so impressive—so big, so many employees. I asked around, and the salaries here are the highest in Rosewood City. My son didn't finish college, but he did attend for two years, so he's basically half a college graduate. Could you possibly help arrange a position for him? If he could work here, his future would be set."
One scheme after another—she had quite the imagination. Lucas rejected her on Zachary's behalf.
"Mrs. Elikin, Apex Global Group requires at least a master's degree for new hires now. Your son didn't even finish his bachelor's—he probably wouldn't qualify even for security."
He was being honest, but Marlee didn't like hearing it.
"How could my son possibly be security? Young man, you worked your way up from being new too. My son is smart and eager to learn. As long as Mr. Jennings is willing to teach him, he'll definitely make something of himself within a year."
"Mr. Jennings, for Quinny's sake, please mentor our Denny, won't you? He's very smart—won't give you any trouble at all."
Marlee kept pushing. Zachary's expression had gone dark.
"Mrs. Elikin, when the company has an opening, I'll have someone call you."
"Wonderful! Mr. Jennings, you're such a good man. It's my dead daughter's misfortune—otherwise, you'd be Denny's brother-in-law right now, and arranging a job for him would be nothing, right?"
Lucas couldn't stand listening anymore. He couldn't help rolling his eyes.
"I need to go—have another meeting coming up."
Zachary nodded at her and walked away quickly. Lucas immediately followed.
"Mr. Jennings, you should tell Ms. Elikin about this. Her mother is completely out of control—who knows what she'll come up with next."
This family was clearly pushing their luck. After Quinley's death, Zachary had been very generous in looking after her family under various pretexts. But now they were getting greedier.
"Go investigate Dennis's scam situation."
Zachary ordered.
"Mr. Jennings, you're planning to help him?"
Lucas looked reluctant.
"Whether we help or not, we need to know the truth first."
Lucas took the order and got right on it.
That evening, when Zachary finished his work and came to the South District apartment to find Quinley, he was surprised to discover her submitting job applications online.
"You're job hunting?" he asked suspiciously.
"Yeah. I've been out of the workforce for a while now. I don't want to just sit around—I want to try finding work."
Zachary's brow furrowed as he glanced at Quinley's current resume. Cindy, female, 28 years old, high school dropout.
"Come back to Apex Global Group. The chief secretary position is open now. You should take it."
Zachary extended the invitation. For Quinley, this was a huge temptation. But she had her reservations.
"Let me think about it."
"What's there to think about? It's settled. Tomorrow you'll come back to work as Quinley."
Zachary made the decision for her.
"No—"
Quinley immediately refused. Over the past six months, she'd forgotten about being Quinley, never once considering returning to her old identity.
"You'll have to restore your identity sooner or later. Quinley, don't be afraid. This time, I'll stand firmly by your side."
Zachary declared with conviction.
But before he could get Quinley to agree, he discovered her old identity was gone again.