Chapter 18
Chapter 18 A Raise
“Don’t have to worry about it, okay? If you like it, then that’s all that matters,” Zion gave Helene a small glance, his expression as apologetic as it was grateful.
The three took the elevator up to the ground floor. As they passed one of the basement levels, the door suddenly opened, revealing a massive lot that was filled with all kinds of luxury cars. It must have been tens of thousands of square feet, and every inch of it was occupied.
Zion gasped in pure shock at the sight. Was this where all of the executives‘ luxury cars were stored?
Carlisle had just parked his car and walked toward the elevator. It was a special elevator that only the president could take, installed right beside the normal employee elevator, which couldn’t stop on this floor. Today, however, the elevators were malfunctioning.
Helene watched as a man was walking toward the elevator and was about to get in. But suddenly, he turned around and left. The elevator closed, giving her only a moment to glance at him in the dim lighting of the enclosed parking lot. Helene could have sworn he looked familiar, but she quickly denied herself.
That must have been the president of the Bamford Group. Carlisle couldn’t hold a candle to a man that powerful.
Meanwhile, Carlisle stood in the distance, a cold sweat forming across his brow. The way Helene had looked at him.
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so intently sent a chill up his spine. Needing to catch his breath, he took a seat in his car and waited for a few moments before taking the elevator to the first floor.
At this point, Helene and Zion had already left.
Lavinia couldn’t wait to get changed into the chic mocha blazer that she had just been gifted. Having just offended the CEO earlier, she at least wanted to give him a good
impression once they inevitably ran into each other. They had both driven into the underground lot, after all.
Carlisle emerged from his personal elevator in a dark blue suit and a matching pair of sunglasses. His strides were long and urgent, reminding her of the wind, and he had an air of authority about him that demanded the attention of everyone he passed on the first floor.
“The president’s here! Stop whatever you’re doing!”
There were eight turnstiles by the elevators, the first of which was reserved solely for Carlisle’s use.
As Lavinia rushed out from the front desk to say hello to Carlisle, she was disappointed to see that he didn’t even glance at her. But then, he seemed incredibly interested. He walked toward the gate only to suddenly turn around, staring a hole into her clothes.
Perhaps there was a stain on the new blazer that she didn’t catch. But when she looked down, it was spotless. That was the exact same garment, one–of–a–kind, that he had bought Helene, only for her to give it to another woman. A
complicated expression flashed on his face, one that couldn’t be described.
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He pointed at it and demanded, “Who gave you that?”
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Thinking Carlisle had taken a fancy to her outfit, she happily explained, “It’s a birthday present from my boyfriend.””
“Is that so? You should tell your boyfriend that it doesn’t suit you at all. You look awkward in it.”
When Carlisle returned to his desk, the first thing he did was call Vice President Duke and ask him to transfer Lavinia to one of the branch offices. She was an eyesore.
Upon receiving his instructions, Duke felt even more distressed. Something was wrong with the president, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. The CEO was standing at odds with the front desk recently, and the company had changed hands twice already within the past two weeks.
Helene left the Bamford Group building and drove directly to the hospital. There, she had dinner with her grandmother before returning home. As soon as she had returned to her estate, she began to pack her things to stay at the hospital for a while.
As she was folding a change of clothes, Matilda knocked on
the door and walked in.
“Ms. Lopez, a word, if you will.”
Helene put down what she was holding and followed Matilda to the yard. Once they were outside, she urged Matilda to say whatever she was speaking.
With some embarrassment, the caretaker admitted, “I know it might not be inappropriate for me to bring it up with you, but working here is exhausting. I’d like to change jobs if that’s
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okay with you. One that pays better and has fewer responsibilities.”
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Helene was taken aback by this sudden request. For a moment, it was unclear to her whether Matilda was asking for a raise or if she was just trying to quit.
“Do you have somewhere else to go?”
Matilda shook her head. “I’m in the screening process for a few promising positions, but nothing’s been finalized yet.” Then, she paused for a moment before saying, “I haven’t had a raise while working for the Bamford family all this time. It’s been three years. I used to only take care of Franco, but now that you and Mr. Bamford have also moved in, my workload has been ridiculous. Could you raise this issue with him and see if he can increase my salary if he wants to keep me?”
“How much are you asking for?”
“Another family is offering me a little over 2000 a month after deducting my living expenses.”
Helene wore a sly smile as she asked, “Matilda, do you have a problem with me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Then your memory must be failing you. As soon as I moved in, you told me that I’d be responsible for three meals a day for the entire house. Look, I’ll admit that my attitude toward you wasn’t great. That being said, Carlisle showed me the contract that you signed when you were first hired,” Helene explained.
“Anyways, the contract clearly states that all of the housework
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here, including those meals you tried to push onto me, is your responsibility. Not once did it say that you were only
responsible for taking care of Franco. And not only that, but I heard Carlisle’s aunt’s family used to live here while you were employed. There were just as many people in this house back then. ”
Matilda’s expression froze, and she struggled to find a
response. “That’s… That’s true, but before you came, I already told the old master that I wanted a raise. He said that he first wanted his grandson to find a bride and mentioned how she could take care of him instead. That way, my job wouldn’t be so demanding.”
“And then you came, just as promised. I figured that since you agreed to marry Mr. Bamford, you must have agreed to take care of the old man. Was it so wrong of me to ask you to cook for your own family? If you aren’t even willing to do that much, why did you even agree to marry Mr. Bamford? Were you just in it for the money? You never actually planned to take care of his grandpa, did you?”
Helene was rendered speechless by Matilda’s grandstanding, and she couldn’t figure out what to say in defense. There was something wrong with this confrontation.
“Is that why you stole our marriage agreement and snuck it into the newspaper? Were you trying to frame me?”
“When did I do that? Enough of this nonsense! You took the paper that morning and asked me to give it to Carlisle’s grandpa! How was I supposed to know that you hid it inside? I didn’t even know that you signed something like that with Mr. Bamford.”
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“What are you two talking about?” Carlisle suddenly called out as soon as Matilda finished speaking.
He emerged from the door, leaving Helene stunned for a moment. Carlisle didn’t seem to be in very good spirits. Maybe he was tired because of work, so Helene hurried over
and tried to take the briefcase in his hand.
But Carlisle moved away from her and once again asked, “Why was Matilda getting so worked up?”
“She thinks we aren’t paying her enough, so she wants to find another job.”
“I didn’t say that! Ms. Lopez always loves to twist my words,” Matilda hissed, never missing a chance to discredit Helene in front of Carlisle. “Mr. Bamford, there are more people in the house now, and frankly, there are much easier jobs that I can do that pay me much more. You know how hard it is to find someone of my expertise who actually knows what they’re doing. I was just asking if I could be paid a bit more to reflect that. I only think it’s fair.”
Carlisle gave Helene a sideways glance and said, “I think she’s right. You should pay her what she wants.”
“And how much is that?” Helene asked angrily, wondering how Carlisle could say such a thing so casually. If they paid her as much as she asked, then she alone would eat up half of his monthly salary.
“You’ll pay her whatever she asks for.” Carlisle had spent the day furious since he knew that Helene had given away her clothes. And yet, this woman was pretending like she wanted to save money for the household as if she hadn’t just turned around and given her expensive clothes to someone else.
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Carlisle couldn’t have cared less about the money. This was his first time giving her a gift. This was his first time trying to please her. And she thought nothing of it.