Chapter 123
Hearing the answer she wanted, Ava felt relieved.
The car drove straight back to the underground parking garage of the Morgan Group building. Since the last time the two appeared together in public, company employees had been speculating about their relationship, mostly with good wishes.
William neither confirmed nor denied it, which was basically an admission.
There was no need to hide anymore. After getting out of the car, William took the suitcase from James and went upstairs with Ava, telling James to go back to SilkGrove Estates to drop off the stuff - the seafood in the car couldn't be left to spoil.
The elevator went straight to the top floor. When the doors opened, the HR manager was already waiting outside with a newly drafted contract in hand.
"Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Ava Morgan's contract... should we sign it now?"
Hearing the title "Mrs. Ava Morgan," William stared at HR manager Abigail for a few seconds without speaking. Abigail quickly corrected herself,
"I mean, Ava's contract, should we it now?"
"Yes, sign it. In the company, colleagues address each other by first names - that's our corporate culture. You, as the HR manager, especially shouldn't forget that."
Abigail was completely confused, thinking to herself, 'Did I get it wrong?' Yesterday, when William wanted to call Ava back, she clearly remembered how urgent yet nonchalant he seemed. He seemed to be in a bad mood today.
William pulled Ava's suitcase into the office and turned to scan Ava up and down,
"Your outfit is too casual. Go inside and change into business attire. The Morgan Group has dress code requirements for employees - no exceptions."
Ava said "okay," and seeing him put the suitcase directly into the restroom inside the office, she realized he meant for her to change clothes in there.
At this point, the couple didn't think anything of it, but Abigail felt uncomfortable all over, wondering if she was a bit unnecessary here.
"Mr. Morgan, I'll leave this contract here. After you're done and have signed it, I'll take it to be stamped."
Abigail wanted to slip away.
Ava stopped her. "Abigail, don't bother. I'll only be here a few days before I resign anyway. There's not much point in signing this contract."
William sat down in the leather chair at his desk, ready to dive into work. His work had piled up like a mountain recently, with a thick stack of documents on his desk that would keep him busy for a while.
Hearing Ava's words, he wasn't pleased.
"In the car, you complained about your position being too low. Now I give you a promotion, and you say it's too much trouble. What exactly will make you satisfied?"
Ava didn't want to argue with him in front of others - it would be like elementary school kids fighting, pointless.
"I'll be satisfied when you sign that resignation letter."
William tapped on the desk with one hand.
"How about we go back and tell Grandpa that you should be the CEO?"
"What I mean is, don't bother re-signing the contract. What's the point of doing meaningless things? After the press conference, I won't come back anymore. It's just a few days. Is that so hard to understand?"
Ava's temper flared up, too. Look at what he was saying - always going on about "you be the CEO" as if she was coveting his position. She wished she could stay far away from the Morgan Group.
She had joined the Morgan Group out of necessity in the first place. She had signed a non-compete agreement with Swan, and providing designs for the Morgan Group while still employed there was already a violation.
"Whatever you want."
William didn't want to argue anymore either. He'd wasted all this good time going back and forth with this woman, and his work hadn't progressed at all.
Seeing the two argue for so long, Abigail figured the contract probably didn't need to be signed after all. She quietly left with the contract, closing the door behind her.
Ava didn't go inside to change clothes either. She got her phone charger from the suitcase and went straight back to the design department. If she stayed with him any longer, who knew how long they'd keep arguing?
When she returned to her desk in the design department, Evelyn's face lit up with joy.
"Ava, I thought you weren't coming back. Someone said you resigned, and I was so sad."
Ava's mind was a bit messy. She sat down with a sigh.
"I did resign. Mr. Morgan didn't approve it."
Evelyn was shocked. "Do you have to keep things professional at the company, too?"
She thought Ava could basically do whatever she wanted at the company.
Ava rolled her eyes at her. "What are you thinking? Get to work!"
Evelyn had a gossipy look on her face, extremely curious about Ava and William's relationship.
"Ava, did you see the discussion on the company intranet about you and Mr. Morgan's relationship? Some people say you're getting married soon. Is it true or not?"
Ava shook her head. "If you want candy, I can treat you, but you definitely won't get to eat at a wedding banquet."
Right now, she and he weren't anywhere close to getting married - they were practically about to get divorced.
Evelyn was disappointed.
Howard had taken Jeremy to Shadow City for vacation, so at noon, Ava was free - she didn't have to go to the CEO's office for lunch. This was actually her first time freely arranging lunch since joining the Morgan Group.
She went to the employee cafeteria with Evelyn.
The cafeteria wasn't like a restaurant. At this time, everyone went downstairs to eat together, so it was quite crowded. Long lines formed at the popular food stations, and you had to save seats. Ava felt like she was back in college.
Evelyn found a seat by the window, put her bag there to save it, and pulled Ava to get food.
The Morgan Group employee cafeteria had pretty good food with lots of variety. Even the pickiest eaters could find something they liked.
Ava got lots of vegetables. She'd probably been eating too much seafood lately and wanted something light. What she really wanted most was the light dishes Lily made at home.
Today's cafeteria conversation topics were pretty limited - mostly gossip about William.
This was Ava's first time here, and she felt many eyes secretly watching and sizing her up. At this moment, she felt that William's initial idea not to go public was the right choice.
She had become the center of attention.
She quickly ate a few bites, wanting to leave quickly.
Just then, Jack called.
"Ava, there's a new discovery."
Ava quickly took her phone and walked to a quiet place to take the call.
"Jack, go ahead."
"At that abandoned car recycling yard I've been watching, someone is looking into the wrecked car from your mother's accident back then, and they want to buy the dashcam from the car."
Ava got anxious. "There's a lead on the dashcam?"
"Not yet, but that person is also looking for it. All I can say is that besides us, there's another group investigating your mother's car accident."
Ava was puzzled. "Can you find out who's investigating my mother's accident?"
She thought it over, but couldn't figure out who would be investigating this. Her mother didn't have many close friends when she was alive. Because she insisted on marrying the poor Steven, the Davis family cut ties with her.
Who exactly was investigating this?
Ava felt uneasy. She couldn't figure out the other party's intentions - whether they were friend or foe was unclear.
They might even be trying to confuse her and disrupt her search for the truth.
Jack tried to comfort her. "Don't worry yet. Let me check who the other party is. They're probably also trying to help find your mother's killer, otherwise, why would they bother digging into this old case?"
Ava's mind was restless.