Chapter 9
Cecilia stood frozen in place, Rachel's words echoing in her ears.
"He needs a healthy, clean... womb."
She lowered her eyes to her smooth wrists. In this transaction, the only thing worth mentioning about her was probably this "cleanliness."
Back in her room, Cecilia carefully removed the pearl bracelet and tucked it into the deepest corner of her jewelry box. It didn't belong to her.
---
The next day, Cecilia did something completely out of character—she woke up early.
Edward was already seated in the dining room, leisurely sipping coffee and browsing a financial newspaper. Morning light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting an almost surreal golden outline around him.
Cecilia pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. A servant immediately brought her breakfast. Her mother's ultimatum and Winston's belongings had left her with no way out.
She looked at Edward sitting across from her, opening her mouth several times to ask for money, but couldn't get a single word out.
"I'm full," she finally said.
Edward glanced up from behind his newspaper, his gaze lingering on her face for two seconds before he said nothing.
---
Instead of going to the company, Cecilia took a taxi directly to Samuel's law firm in the city center.
Samuel seemed surprised to see her. "Need something?" he asked, his tone gentle as he sat across from her.
"Mr. Hughes," Cecilia got straight to the point, "I remember you posted about a part-time position before. Is it still available? I can handle any legal document organization, research, case analysis—anything you need."
The smile on Samuel's face faded slightly. "Aren't you interning at Summit Enterprises Group?"
Cecilia's eyes flickered. "I need money."
"Are you in some kind of trouble?" he probed carefully. "Cecilia, if you trust me..."
"I just want to earn extra money on my own." Cecilia forced a strained smile. "I can work on a per-item basis. Quality work at fair prices, guaranteed. If you don't need anyone, I'll look elsewhere." She deliberately kept her tone light, as if discussing a perfectly normal business deal.
Samuel watched her feigned cheerfulness, feeling a small pang somewhere in his heart. He didn't press further, instead picking up a file from his desk and handing it to her.
"As it happens, I have a commercial infringement case and need an assistant to organize the chain of evidence. This is an advance payment." He pushed an envelope toward her.
Cecilia opened it to find a thick stack of cash. She took out a few bills and pushed the rest back. "We'll settle the remainder when I finish."
She left with the materials.
Samuel watched her walk away, then picked up his phone and called his assistant, "Find out if something's happened in Cecilia Mellon's family."
---
Cecilia transferred her hard-earned money to the bank, then to her mother's account, and sent her a message.
[I sent you the money. Touch Winston's things, and you'll regret it.]
Her phone vibrated with a message from Rilla Wood, the only colleague in the legal department Cecilia could actually talk to—a straightforward girl.
[Cece, are you okay?]
[Image]
[Image]
Cecilia opened them to find screenshots of a group chat she wasn't in, named [Legal Department Casual Chat.]
[I knew something was off about that intern. Like mother, like daughter—both hunting rich men.]
[I heard her mom was a socialite who blew through her dad's money, then latched onto Ms. Thomas's father.]
[Latest news: her mom's borrowing money again, saying her daughter hooked up with some sugar daddy old enough to be her father, then switched to a younger one—our Mr. Clifford. Talk about skilled networking!]
Cecilia scrolled through the chat logs expressionlessly. She'd heard these nasty comments countless times before and had grown numb to them.
---
When she returned to the office that afternoon, she immediately felt the almost tangible hostile stares.
"Cecilia, these are archived files from ten years ago. Reorganize them by year and case number, and have them on my desk before you leave today."
This was hardly work for a legal intern—more like manual labor for an archive clerk. Muffled snickers came from around the room.
Cecilia silently pulled up a chair and buried herself in the work. Arguing would only make things worse; she didn't want to become the butt of their jokes.
Just then, a gentle voice rang out like a savior.
"Cece, why are you doing this?" Marlee's face was full of concern. She brushed dust from Cecilia's shoulder, her tone reproachful. "You're just an intern. How could you possibly finish all this? Is someone targeting you? Why didn't you come to me?"
Cecilia looked up at her. Marlee talked about helping but took no action.
"Cece, everyone at the company is quite nice. Maybe there's a misunderstanding? Like... about you and Mr. Clifford. If it's not true, I think you should clear things up."
Marlee's calculation was painfully obvious, and Cecilia couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
"Marlee, you're so busy. Instead of wasting time worrying about someone like me who's 'taking shortcuts,' maybe worry about yourself." Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "After all, I'm not the only one trying to climb the ladder around here. If you stumble someday, that would be truly embarrassing."
Everyone caught the implication. With those words, Cecilia had publicly torn off Marlee's mask of kindness.
Marlee's expression darkened considerably.
Cecilia ignored her, gathered up the files, and as she passed Dora's desk, she stopped and dropped them with a thud. "My internship duties don't include cleaning up someone else's decade-old garbage."
With that, she returned to her desk without looking back.
Marlee was trembling with anger. She went back to her office and called the president's office directly.
Edward's chief assistant, Teddy Scott, answered.
"Teddy, hello, this is Marlee Thomas from Finance. Cecilia Clifford... she openly bullied her superior in the office today and claimed Mr. Clifford would protect her. She threatened to fire everyone in Finance. The Legal Department is in chaos. Could you ask Edward to clarify the situation?"