SWNOVELS Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Edith began to work overtime day and night.
Everyone in the laboratory had left, but the light on her desk was still on.
Gideon’s car passed by the roadside, and he saw a bright light inside, which attracted his attention.
Ray slowed down the car, sighed deliberately, and said. “Mrs. Peterson worked really hard to restore that clay statue. She is still in the laboratory at such a late time.”
“You mean Edith?”
Gideon murmured subconsciously, forgetting to correct Ray’s address toward Edith.
He motioned for Ray to pull over and said in a deep voice, “I’ve told Victor that the staff in the project team don’t have to work overtime.”
The work intensity of archaeological members was different from that of ordinary office workers. In the early stages of the project, the senior management would set the working time to ensure the staff members were fully engaged in work and didn’t work overtime unless necessary.
The lights in the laboratory were always on these days. Gideon thought the security guard had forgotten to turn them off, but he didn’t expect Edith to be inside.
Ray said helplessly, “You should know Mrs. Peterson. No one can persuade her, and she is working so hard for you.
“I heard the members from the project team that Mrs. Peterson didn’t want you to be deceived by the expert panel, so she took the initiative to take over the work. She couldn’t bear to let you down, so she worked overtime every day in the laboratory to restore the cultural relics.”
The last part was made up by Ray.
No one on the project team had said it, and everyone knew Edith was a workaholic.
A trace of surprise flashed across Gideon’s eyes. He retrained himself and said indifferently, “Does she think she can make up for what she did in the past?”
“Mr. Peterson, shall I buy some food for Mrs. Peterson?” Ray asked, pointing to the diner on the roadside.
Gideon glanced at him expressionlessly.
The atmosphere in the car tensed up.
Ray thought he had said something wrong and immediately started the car. He asked, “Shall we leave then?”
“I’ll go upstairs. Stay in the car.” Gideon opened the door and walked to the laboratory.
He hesitated for two seconds, walked around to the other side of the road, and bought a hamburger before going upstairs.
The takeout bag with cartoons created a sharp contrast against Gideon’s dignified and aloof temperament.
He just wanted to throw the takeout bag on Edith’s desk quickly.
He didn’t even know why he walked to the diner before going upstairs.
Gideon remembered Edith seemed to be fond of hamburgers in the past.
Edith once caught a cold and had a high fever. She lay in bed at home for several days and didn’t
have any appetite, making her lose a lot of weight. In the middle of the night, she suddenly wanted to eat a hamburger and begged him to buy it.
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Even though Gideon complained a few words, he still went to buy hamburgers for her. The temperature that night was only 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but he drove for nearly an hour to go to Edith’s favorite restaurant in the university town and bought a hamburger. Then, he put it on the bedside table with a look of disgust.
In order not to admit that he had done such a stupid thing, he even lied to Edith that it was a takeout.
Gideon couldn’t help but smile as he recalled.
It seemed he had some nice memories of those years of their marriage.
Gideon thought Edith was the only one in the laboratory, so he went straight in without knocking on the door.
“What are you doing?” He caught Shane’s hand on Edith’s shoulder, and they stood very close.
Edith was startled and pushed Shank away instinctively.
She felt guilty for no reason and changed the subject. “Why did you come in without knocking?”
Gideon said with a gloomy face, “The door is not closed.”
If he had knocked on the door, he might not have seen this.
The atmosphere seemed to freeze.
Edith noticed Gideon was holding something in his hand and glanced at it. “What are you doing here?”
‘Did he come to inspect my work at such a late time?‘ she wondered.
Gideon noticed her gaze and hid the takeout behind his back.
He looked at Shane and Edith standing side by side and then said after a while, “Someone reported that the lights are on in the office every night, so I came over to take a look.
“What? Did I interrupt your date?”
Gideon’s tone at the end sounded a little mocking.
He thought Edith was concentrating on restoring the cultural relics and was worried she would be
angry.
Simmering with rage, he really wanted to throw the takeout away.
The smile in Shane’s eyes faded a little when hearing Gideon’s aggressive tone.
Shane casually put his arm around Edith’s shoulders again, making them look very intimate. “Edie has been working hard recently. I came to accompany her. Mr. Peterson, you won’t even interfere in the employees‘ private lives, right?”
Edith wore an unnatural expression and wanted to push away, but Shane held her shoulder more tightly.
She simply gave up as Shane did it to stick up for her.
The intimate scene riled Gideon, and he clenched his fists behind his back.
“The laboratory is not a place for you to have a date. Don’t let me catch you again…”
He paused and said sternly, “Or you will be fired.”
Being dissatisfied with his authoritarianism, Edith took several steps forward and retorted, “Is there a rule that no romance is allowed in the laboratory? Besides, it’s not up to you to decide whether to fire
me or not.”
She didn’t realize her words caused a bigger misunderstanding.
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Gideon had already mistaken Shane and her as a couple passionate in love.
Otherwise, Edith’s reaction wouldn’t have been so strong.
Gideon looked at her condescendingly, his voice forbidding. “I know you have some skills at work, but I can also invite other restorers over.”
He felt irritable to see Shane and didn’t want to waste time arguing with Edith, so he straightened his back and left.
Gideon got into the car and threw the hamburger to Ray in the driver’s seat in a rage.
Feeling his anger, Ray swallowed and asked tentatively, “Mr. Peterson, did you have a quarrel with Mrs. Peterson again?”
“She is no longer my wife!” Gideon said through gritted teeth.
Seeing he was furious, Ray didn’t dare to say anything more and hurriedly started the car.
The tense atmosphere in the car made Ray can barely breathe.
He sighed in his mind, ‘I must say it’s risky to be Mr. Peterson’s special assistant!”
Only when Gideon got out of the car did Ray dare to breathe normally.
Ray looked at the hamburger in the car, feeling it was a waste to throw it away.
As he hadn’t had dinner yet, he got out of the car with the takeout bag and sat on the roadside to eat the hamburger.
A stray dog passed by and stared at him for a while.
Ray covered the hamburger and said, “Go away. This is mine! Go rummage through the trash by yourself!”
“Woof! Woof!” The dog barked disdainfully and then left.
On the other side, Edith and Shane also left the laboratory.
The bright street lights illuminated the sidewalks on both sides, and their shadows were stretched.
Shane walked outside and asked, “Will what happened tonight affect your subsequent work?”
“It’s okay. He’s always like that.” Edith waved her hand to indicate to Shane not to think too much.
In Edith’s view, Gideon had never liked her, and she had gotten used to it.
Shane hesitated for a few seconds before finally asking what he was thinking.
“Edie, tell me honestly. Do you really have no feelings for Gideon anymore?”
Men knew men best. Shane’s intuition told him that Gideon seemed to haven’t moved on yet.
It was not a good thing for Shane.
“Of course not!” Edith raised her voice, eager to prove her determination.
In order to prevent Shane from asking further questions, she pointed to the diner on the roadside and said, “I was thinking about having a hamburger in the lab just now. I’m so hungry. Let me buy you some food!”