SWNOVELS Chapter 6
Chapter 6 You’re Hired
“What are you talking about?” Helene asked in bewilderment. She could never tell what Carlisle was getting at.
“I’m talking about the stunt you pulled just now. That was uncalled for and very rude,” Carlisle said, left speechless by the lengths Helene would go.
Not wanting to explain in vain, she turned on her phone and played a recording of the conversation they had earlier. It captured Matilda repeatedly emphasizing how Carlisle was the one who ordered Helene to take care of the household’s
meals and ended with her arrogantly telling Helene off.
As she held such a high position in the office, Helene had become accustomed to protecting herself. She usually kept her guard up against sleazy higher–ups and backstabbing colleagues, so keeping a recording of conversations had turned into a professional habit. Something had put her off about Matilda that morning, so she started recording just in case. She didn’t expect it to save her.
The more Carlisle listened, the more his frown turned into a scowl. Shock filled his eyes, and he fell silent for a long time. Then, his tone softened as he explained, “My aunt referred Matilda to us, so even with this, I’m afraid you can’t do
anything about it. At least not right now. If you replace her so soon after you arrive, I won’t be able to justify it to my aunt. If you don’t want her here, I understand. Just hold off on it for now.“”
Helene could see Carlisle’s embarrassment and wanted to
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assure him that it was okay. But with a caretaker like this
around the house, she couldn’t see herself being able to care for Carlisle’s Grandpa properly.
“Then I’d like to install surveillance cameras around the
house.”
Carlisle could tell what Helene was worried about. She feared that Matilda would do something bad to his Grandpa.
“Well, matters pertaining to the house and our family are up to you.” Once Carlisle stopped speaking, he started his car and dropped off Helene at work, which was on the way.
Carlisle’s office wasn’t far from Helene’s, so in an attempt to keep it a secret, he stopped at an intersection nearby and told her it was as far as he could go without being late himself. Without giving it much thought, Helene got out of the car and walked the rest of the way.
As soon as she walked past the front doors, Freya stopped her by the front desk.
“Hey, I have good news I wanted to share with you. Diego was at the Bamford Group for an interview yesterday, and he left a good impression on the HR director. Once he lands this job, he’ll be that much closer to success. We’ll be shooting for the
stars.”
“Whatever’s going on with you and Diego has nothing to do with me anymore. Stop telling me about him from now on,” Helene stated coldly. She pushed Freya away and was about to leave.
“Hey, wait. Don’t go. I’ve got more to say than that. I heard you put your apartment for sale. Hell, I saw the listing. Now
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that it’s up for grabs, why don’t you sell the place to me and Diego?”
“I want the full amount up front. Can you do that?”
“Of course not, but we can give it to you in installments. Once Diego takes on a position at the Bamford Group, his annual salary will be more than enough to pay it off. So? What do you say?”
“No, installments won’t cut it. If I don’t get the total listing price right away, I won’t sell,” Helene refused.
“Why are you acting like this? You and Diego made precious. memories together, didn’t you? Can’t we at least sit down and discuss it?”
“You know what? Even if I lower the price of the house and you can afford to pay upfront, I’ll never sell it to you two.”
Not wanting to spare Freya any more attention, Helen quickly walked past her and into the office, leaving the woman to stomp her feet angrily. The place was in a good location, the furnishings and decor were great, and the price was so low. With conventional financing, Freya could have easily afforded it. But even then, it was out of reach, and she was infuriated.
That morning, there was a meeting in the Bamford Group’s executive conference room. Carlisle’s eyelids fluttered, and the corners twitched as he yawned deeply. The Bamford Group executives sat at the large table in the center of the space and looked at each other in confusion, wondering what the hell Carlisle must have been up to the night before. It looked as if he hadn’t slept at all.
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Perhaps he was working overtime? But he hadn’t left very late yesterday.
Was he out clubbing? He wasn’t one to go to places like that.
Maybe he was up all night playing video games? As far as anyone knew, he never touched them.
After a long moment of silence, as everyone guessed what the reason could be in hushed tones, everyone came to the mutual conclusion that he must have found a woman. Strands of long hair were stuck to his shoulder, swaying from side to side as the AC blew above.
The serious Mr. Bamford had indulged himself too much last night. It was a simple conclusion, but one that turned into a rumor that spread like wildfire throughout the company building. News of Carlisle picking up girls and spending the night with them was all anyone could talk about.
Back in the office, Carlisle flipped through a folder on his desk containing a report of Helene’s background. Stroking his forehead while he read the first two pages, he came across a document outlining her life with her ex, Diego. When he learned that they had lived together for three years, his hands. shook visibly.
To have a partner and live together for over three years without bothering to marry them first was scandalous. The blood drained from his face, and he could feel his skin becoming even colder than the air conditioning, which was set to a few degrees below room temperature.
Though he and Helene were only a couple in name, to read that she had lived with another man was unacceptable. Carlisle, for one, had been with his previous partner for five
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years, but they had never once crossed that line. It was only proper that a couple lived together only after they were married.
Helene’s greed, her innocent act, all those lies… Every
suspicion that crossed Carlisle’s mind since he had met her came back to him. He thought of how happy she looked when she learned that they would separate in six months.
In six months, she would walk away with the money from the contract, and perhaps she would fly away with her old boyfriend. And not only that, but she could technically flee with double that since she had borrowed money from him.
It would have been a great plan.
Carlisle’s hand slowly tightened as he held the report, and he dug his fingers into the documents. He had nearly balled up the entire thing when one of his staff knocked on the door and promptly stepped inside.
Carlisle let go of the document and raised his head slowly to see who it was. “What is it?”
Frightened by Carlisle’s face, the HR director who had stopped by hesitantly answered, “Mr. Bamford, yesterday, we interviewed two potential hires for the senior network engineer position we had open. Mr. Duke–ah, I mean, the VP -who was in charge of this project, just asked for leave. So he asked me to make an appointment with you, which is why I’m here. Now, I could hire them based on their technical level, or… Maybe I could send you their resumes and you could decide which one we’ll hire?”
As the HR director finished speaking, he slowly walked up to Carlisle’s desk and gingerly placed the resumes in front of
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Carlisle. Then, he left as quickly as he had come in. Irritable enough as it was, Carlisle was now cursing under his breath, asking why he had to concern himself over such a small
matter.
As he quickly swept over the resume, his eyes immediately fell on the name at the top. Diego Flores. He opened the resume.
Diego Flores, male, 24 years old. Majored in network engineering at an Ivy League school and held the title of technical director at Byterise Network Communications after graduating.
This man was Helene’s ex?
On a technical level, he was average. His certificates may have sounded fancy, but they weren’t enough to fool someone who knew what they were doing. Carlisle checked the address underneath Diego’s name, confirming that it was the same address that Helene had filled in at city hell.
So the two really had lived together. Carlisle felt even more fortunate that he didn’t use his real identity to find a woman. If a woman like this knew who he was, she wouldn’t walk away from him so easily. After all, she’d be able to get her hands on so much more than what was offered in her contract.
After giving it some thought, Carlisle picked up his phone and called the HR department, directing them to hire Diego with an annual salary of $85,000 a year.
Upon receiving the good news, Diego immediately told Freya. And, of course, Freya wouldn’t ever pass up on the chance to shove the news in Helene’s face. Over their entire lunch break, it was all she could talk about, boasting to Helene about how capable her new boyfriend was and how much money he was
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making now.
She was so loud that the whole office could hear her.
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That afternoon, exhausted by Freya’s constant droning, Helene found herself completely out of sorts. She made several mistakes in her calculations and had to stay late at work to fix everything.
Just as she was walking out of the office, Zion called again to tell her that their grandmother’s condition had gotten worse as soon as she was admitted to the hospital.
And so, Helene rushed to the hospital in the evening to learn from the doctors that her grandmother’s condition had become critical. She needed the surgery urgently.
Helene paid a deposit of half of the operation, the $70,000 she had received earlier, to start the operation. Once her grandmother had entered the operating room, Helene drove Zion back to college. He would be graduating later that year and needed time to work on his thesis. Then, she returned to the hospital to wait for her grandmother.
At half past nine that night, Helene’s cell phone rang. Carlisle was calling.
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