Chapter 226
[Victoria escaped from the mental hospital.]
I froze for a moment as I looked at Jason’s message, a chill running through my body.
Last time Victoria was locked up in the mental hospital because she tried to kill me.
Now that she's escaped...
I instinctively held my breath, my fingers unconsciously gripping my phone tighter.
The phone vibrated twice.
Jason: “Don’t be scared.”
Jason: “Don’t leave after work today. I’ll come pick you up.”Even though we were separated by a screen, my heart gradually calmed down.
“I understand. I’ll be careful. What about Jessica?”
Jason: [I'll talk to her teacher. Until Victoria is found, Jessica won't go to kindergarten.]
Me: [Okay.]
Good thing Jessica doesn't really go to kindergarten much anyway.
Otherwise, suddenly keeping her home would definitely make her uncomfortable.
Worrying about Victoria, I was distracted at work all day.
Victoria had actually escaped.
What would she do now?
"Ms. Wilson."
Someone knocked hard on my desk.
I barely snapped back to reality.
I looked up to meet Ophelia's disapproving gaze.
"Ms. Blake."
I quickly stood up.
"Ms. Wilson, this is work time, not time for you to space out. If you can't handle this job, then I'll consider other candidates."
Ophelia spoke word by word.
I pressed my lips together. Although I knew this wasn't a good time, I had to speak up.
"Ms. Blake, I'm very sorry. I have some personal issues. I'd like to apply to work from home for a while."
"Work from home?"
Ophelia's brows furrowed deeply, her voice growing even colder.
"Before you took this position, I should have told you that this place isn't like when you were at DT Corp. This company is small, and there's a lot to do. Do you think you can handle working from home?"
I fell silent.
I knew it wouldn't be easy to ask for leave.
"Ms. Blake, I'm sorry, this is due to necessary family reasons."
I wanted to explain the situation to Ophelia, but then I thought better of it. She's my boss, not my friend—explaining too much probably wouldn't help.
Either way, working from home would definitely affect work efficiency to some degree.
I sighed inwardly.
If it really doesn't work out, I'll just have to quit.
I really hate to leave this job I worked so hard to find.
"Ms. Blake, I..."
"Ms. Blake, don't be angry! Everyone can see Ms. Wilson's work ability, and after spending these days together, don't you know what kind of person Ms. Wilson is?"
Before I could say I wanted to resign, Seraphine quickly walked over and interrupted me.
"If Ms. Wilson is asking for this, it must be because she has no other choice, right?"
Seraphine kept giving me meaningful looks.
I looked at her gratefully and nodded, then briefly explained Victoria's situation.
"That's basically what happened, so I'd like to apply to work from home for a while. I'll cooperate as much as possible with work."
I was thinking that if Ophelia still refused, I'd just quit directly.
But to my surprise, Ophelia actually nodded, "I understand. You can start working from home tomorrow. Don't let it affect your work."
"Okay! Thank you, Ms. Blake!"
Before work ended, Jason's message arrived.
Jason: [Honey, I'm waiting for you downstairs.]
Me: [Okay.]
After leaving the office, I saw Jason from afar leaning against the car door, with two very muscular bodyguards standing beside him.
I pointed at the bodyguards, "This is..."
"It's not safe right now. I specially arranged them to protect you and Jessica."
Jason explained with a serious expression.
For some reason, I felt a subtle sense of helplessness and amusement.
"Isn't this a bit much? I've already applied to work from home with my boss. If I don't go out, it should be fine, right?"
"It's fine at home, but you must have the bodyguards with you when you go out."
Jason stepped forward and put his arm around me, his voice gentle, "Honey, listen to me."
I sighed helplessly. Knowing he was worried about my safety, I still nodded and agreed.
Back home, Jessica was sitting in the living room drawing.
Looking at her natural and relaxed expression, she probably didn't know about these things.
That's good.
Working from home didn't have too much impact on my work.
Occasionally Jessica would come over curiously to watch me.
She was very well-behaved. Whenever I was busy, she would just walk over, look for a couple of seconds, then quietly leave.
Because Jessica wasn't going to kindergarten, the only times she could see Coco were on weekends and the one day she came to our house for math class.
I had just finished work and closed my laptop when Jessica poked her head in.
"Mom, Coco is coming to our house for class tomorrow."
I nodded, "I know. What's up?"
"She gave me a crystal necklace as a gift before. I want to give her something back as a return gift. Mom, can you go to the mall with me to pick something out?"
Jessica looked at me expectantly.
I hesitated.
With Victoria's whereabouts unknown, what if we went shopping and ran into her by accident?
Would Jessica and I be in danger?
"Sweetie, I need to discuss this with your dad first, okay?"
Jessica looked at me with some confusion, but still nodded gently.
Jessica left the room, and I called Jason.
The call connected quickly, and Jason's low, gentle voice came through the receiver, "What's wrong, honey?"
"Jessica wants to go to the mall..."
I told Jason about Jessica's request.
Jason readily agreed.
"Of course you can. Didn't I arrange bodyguards for you? Just have the bodyguards go with you."
Hearing him say this, I remembered.
To prevent Victoria from going crazy and hurting people, Jason had specially arranged bodyguards.
But because I didn't like having too many people at home, the bodyguards were arranged to stay in a nearby residence.
"Okay, then we'll go to the mall this afternoon."
"Call me right away if there's any problem. I'll come find you as soon as I finish my work."
After hanging up, I told Jessica the news about going out.
She was very happy, but soon looked at me with concern.
"Mom, did Dad go bankrupt?"
"What?"
I didn't react for a moment.
Jessica looked troubled, shaking her head like a little adult, "Mom, if something's wrong at home, you don't have to hide it from me. I'll face it together with Mom and Dad!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
I crouched down and looked seriously into Jessica's eyes, "Jessica, why would you think Dad went bankrupt?"
"Because Mom was acting really strange today."
Jessica held my hands with her little soft hands, "Before, Mom never needed to ask Dad's opinion when taking Jessica out."
She frowned, "Is it because Dad's creditors are everywhere outside now, so we can only hide at home?"
"Mom, don't worry. When I grow up, I'll definitely make money so Mom can live a good life."