SWNOVELS Chapter 33 He’s Already Married!
Herring had cock blocked him... There was no other way to put it.. If it hadn't been for his interruption, he would have been with his wife last night. Damn Herring had ruined it all. He'd have to have his revenge "You're Shelly's brother, shouldn't you at least research this model guy before you let them date? You don't know anything about him!" This was the only excuse Herring could think of to prevent Colin calling Shelly, and to prevent Shelly being with another man.
Colin raised his eyebrows and squinted down at Herring. "My uncle already investigated his background. He went back three generations. His parents are president and vice president of a bank, and his grand parents were distinguished teachers. His family background is as squeaky clean as it gets."
Shelly's father didn't have particularly high expectations for his son-on-law. As long as the son-in-law came from a decent family and was good to Shelly, he was happy. Financial background was unimportant to him.
Herring cast a pensive glance at Colin. "Why are you on this guy's side?"
"You think I should be on your side? Really? You think I would introduce my sister to a man who flips through girls like pages in a book? To a man who is after a forest, not a single tree?" Colin pulled his phone from Herring's grasp and set it aside.
He pulled out two cigarettes, lit both, and handed one to Herring.
Herring, clearly in a bad mood, smoked silently. Likewise with Colin. Depressed for different reasons, both men were already having terrible days.
About 10 minutes passed in this manner. Both men remained silent, quietly smoking their cigarettes.
"Knock, knock, knock!" There was someone at the office door.
"Come in!"
It was Serena. She pushed the door open, and with a nervous look she said, "Mr. Colin... Miss Chiao and Miss Lo are in a fight.. Miss Ji isn't around.. So I had to come to get you.." Colin and Herring traded looks at each other, then quickly trotted out of the office.
When they got to the secretaries' area, Sophia's scream pierced Colin's eardrums like an ice pick. "... Ah! I guess I forgot to mention that he's already married! Yeah, that's right! If you really want you can have him.. But you'll never be more than his mistress! I wonder what his wife would do to his new little side thing.."
The atmosphere in the secretaries' office was chilly to say the lest. Jamie looked at Sophia with a look of bewilderment. "What did you say? He's married? Sophia, did you hit your head? How could you say such a thing about our company CEO? I'll tell Mr. Li and he'll fire you, bitch!"
Sophia tried to fix her hair, and turned to mock her adversary, "Oh Miss Chiao, you're just 18! And look at your bleached white skin.. You think Colin will love you?"
The two men stood in the back of the room, Sophia failing to notice their presence.
The other secretaries, noticing the presence of Colin and Herring, dutifully closed their mouth, bowed their heads, and got back to work. Jamie likewise, dropped her combative attitude, turning friendly and upbeat. "Sophia, how could you say such a thing? Mr. Li would be furious about this rumor."
Sophia looked at Jamie in surprise. How was she actually surprise? Why had her tone changed so suddenly. This was the same girl who had just raised her hand and slapped Sophia.
"Let him be angry.. I don't care!" And she really didn't care. Sophia was full of thoughts about divorcing the man and didn't care about her husband anymore. "I'm just telling the truth to protect you. He lies about his marriage so he can get away with running around with women like you. All body and no brains. Looks like you already took the bait.."
Sophia honestly believed this to be true. This explained why Colin concealed his marriage with her. It made it easy for him to sleep around.
Jamie's face was flush and red. "Miss Lo, how dare you say such a think. I am not an 'all body no brains' kind of girl! And I don't care what you say about Colin. Maybe I did take his bait. But I don't care, because I... love him very much."
Jamie's boldness made the other secretaries uneasy. She was youth embodied - courageous but rash.
"You loving him has nothing to do with me. Even if I did try to seduce him. Don't worry. He is the last man I could ever love." Sophia meant it too. After all, Colin was a man who told his friend's to seduce his own wife.
Following this confrontation, the office fell silent. Even Jamie pulled her jacket tight around her shoulders, scarcely breathing.
From the behind her, Sophia suddenly heard a laugh.. She immediately recognized the voice - it was Herring!
Herring.. was here the whole time. And, what about Colin?
He had to be back there too. Likely with a heavy grimace on his face, Herring smirking at his side. Sophia mouth opened and then closed. Why on earth were they here?
He should've been in the meeting room. It was meeting time after all!
At that moment, it seemed that everyone in the room was enjoying the train wreck she had caused. Caught spreading a rumor about the CEO.. By the CEO! Jamie waited for her punishment. "Sophia Lo."
"Yes." Sophia kept her head low and answered in a weak voice.
It was better to be cooperative now. There was nothing to be gained from defiance now.
"Why were you fighting with Miss Chiao?" Colin's demeanor was cool and collected. It was impossible to read his mood.
Sophia replayed what had just happened in her mind. She answered him in an honest way.
She had come here to get a document from Miss Tao. Meanwhile, Jamie had been over there sneering at her the whole time.
Jamie had accused Sophia of trying to seduce Colin and of being a cheap woman who would kneel to Dorothy.
Sophia couldn't stand for Jamie's slanderous tongue. She rebuked her, calling her, "a crazy little girl." Sophia had gone on to say that there must be something wrong with the girl's brain. She ought to go to the doctor immediately for testing.
Jamie had then tried to slap Sophia, but missed. Dodging the blow, Sophia had caught Jamie's hand, and returned fire. Showing the younger girl how to properly slap someone on the face.
Sophia might not have a protector, but then again, she didn't really need one.
Jamie, refusing to back down, had grabbed Sophia's hair and landed a few blows herself.
"Miss Chiao started it! She said that Mr. Li loves her and that I should drop any plans I had to get with him." Although in truth, that statement might have been an exaggeration.
For Sophia, she hadn't really slandered Jamie at all. She had merely expressed her true feeling on the issue.
"Miss Lo, that's a big lie.." Jamie was beginning to tear up. Any man seeing her like this would have instantly tried to comfort her.
Colin cooly stopped the two women, preventing further conflict.
But Jamie and Sophia shut their mouths and sat in silence.
"Miss Lo, you got into a fight in the workplace. Do you have no regard for our company's rules?" Colin's icy stare focused on Sophia's astonished face.
Sophia clenched her first and set her jaw, apologizing to him begrudgingly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Li."
It was the same as the last time. Nothing happened to Jamie even though Colin had learnt all the facts.
He was showing obvious favoritism.
"I want you to go back to your desk and copy the company HR guidelines ten times. Hand it to me by tomorrow morning."
Ten times!
Sophia recalled the HR guidelines. It was simply a manuscript! She suddenly felt dizzy.
Finished with Sophia, Colin turned to Jamie. "And, Miss Chiao."
"Yes, Mr. Li?" Jamie's tone was soft and flirtatious.
Sophia felt sick. She never understood what men liked about this type of woman.
"When you joined the company, who interview you? Who brought you in?" Before this moment, Colin hadn't reflected on the fact that Jamie was only a high school graduate. A low-tier high school graduate.. For Sophia's sake, Colin had done a little research on Jamie. He had been very surprised at learning this about Jamie. What luck, it seemed, for Jamie to find herself at such a prestigious company? ☐☐☐