Chapter 6

Connor remarked, "You're impressive."

Vanessa saw the deep admiration in his eyes, which was the reaction she'd expected. After all, Russell Group was collaborating with Harry's lab. If Harry's project succeeded, Russell Group would naturally benefit.

Vanessa had returned to Dalea with one goal in mind—to be the key figure in cracking the code of this core technology. She had complete confidence that she would be able to do it.

This was no longer an era in which sweet, naive women could cook a few meals and turn on the charm to win a man's heart.

Men would only spare women their attention if the women were outstanding enough. That was exactly what Vanessa wanted to be.

…

After a busy morning, Phoebe went to the pantry to make a cup of coffee, grabbing one for her colleague as well.

Suddenly, she received a call from Valerie Jones, Connor's secretary. The only time they'd had anything to do with each other was when Phoebe had called her to find out where Connor was.

Phoebe didn't want to have anything to do with anyone related to Connor anymore, but Valerie was kind. After a moment of hesitation, she answered the call.

"Phoebe, are you doing okay?" Valerie's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I'm fine." Phoebe didn't understand why she was asking that.

Valerie said worriedly, "Mr. Russell had just shown another woman around our company, and it caused quite a stir. All the senior executives treated her as if she were Mr. Russell's future wife… I wanted to tell you about it in case you weren't aware. Her name is Va—"

Her voice cut off abruptly. Then, she gasped. "Mr. Stone! I…"

Valerie had hidden in a corner before making this call. She hadn't expected Lance to sneak up on her from behind.

Lance snatched Valerie's phone from her and glanced at the screen. Then, he scowled. "Did she call you to find out about Mr. Russell's whereabouts again?"

Valerie spotted Connor and Vanessa standing behind him. She was so terrified that her mind went blank, leaving her speechless.

Lance didn't wait for her to reply. He turned to Connor and said briskly, "Mr. Russell, it's Phoebe on the line. She was asking about your whereabouts again."

He didn't end the call as he wasn't afraid of Phoebe hearing him.

On the other end of the line, Phoebe frowned. She didn't care that Lance was accusing her of something she hadn't done. She was about to hang up when she heard Connor's icy response. "Ignore her."

That was how he'd always treated her, so she wasn't surprised. However, she didn't like that he'd assumed the worst of her without bothering to find out the truth.

The old Phoebe would've scrambled to explain because she was deathly afraid of Connor misunderstanding her and getting mad at her. But now, they were divorced. She no longer needed to care about how he felt, nor did she need to find out about him and Vanessa.

A second later, she heard Connor's voice ring out again, frostier than before. "Don't bother coming in tomorrow!"

Phoebe was taken aback. Was he firing Valerie?

She remembered now—Connor had already wanted to fire Valerie the first time Phoebe had contacted her. Phoebe had pleaded with him for a long time to make sure that Valerie got to keep her job, but he'd warned her that there wouldn't be a next time.

As expected, there wasn't a next time. Connor wouldn't show Valerie any mercy.

"Connor, there's no need to get so mad over a secretary," a woman said.

Phoebe guessed that it was probably Vanessa's voice. She sounded gentle and gracious.

Vanessa continued, "How about this? I'll buy you lunch later, and you have to promise not to be mad anymore. Do it for me."

A few seconds later, Connor said, "Okay."

His tone was cool, but it was much gentler than the frosty one he'd used earlier.

Vanessa chuckled. "Let's go, then."

Their voices then disappeared from the other end of the line. Phoebe curled her lip self-deprecatingly, feeling bitter. She had always thought that Connor wasn't easy to please. She had always had to spend days doing everything she could to placate him before he would be civil toward her.

The process was psychological torment for her. She would lose her appetite and go for nights without sleep. For as long as he remained upset, she wouldn't be able to focus on anything she did.

But with Vanessa, a single sentence was enough to soothe him. It was so effortless for her.

Lance looked at the ongoing call, knowing that Phoebe had heard everything. He knew that she didn't like troubling others, so she would no doubt be weighed down by guilt, knowing that Valerie had been fired because of her.

Although the punishment would fall on Valerie, Phoebe was the one who would feel the psychological reprimand. Lance felt that this was the only way to ensure that she wouldn't do anything strange behind their backs anymore.

He believed that if anyone was to blame, it was Phoebe. It was her fault for constantly checking up on Connor. Lance put himself in Connor's shoes and imagined what it was like to have a woman keep tabs on him at all times. He felt suffocated on Connor's behalf.

He waved a hand, and the chief secretary, who was waiting nearby, stepped forward. She said, "The termination will be processed and dealt with by the end of the day."

Lance made a soft sound of acknowledgment before leaving. Vanessa's birthday was on Wednesday, and Connor had instructed him to book out a restaurant called Luminosity, located on Bayview Avenue, for the celebration. He also needed to speak to the restaurant's owner about preparing a birthday surprise for Vanessa.

He was busy, so he didn't have time to monitor the termination of a mere secretary.

The chief secretary took Valerie's phone from Lance. She was about to return it to Valerie when she caught a glimpse of the caller ID and saw Phoebe's name.

She frowned, taking a few seconds to remember who exactly this was. Then, she said in frustration, "You're really something else. She's just a maid who delivers Mr. Russell's lunchboxes! Did you have to upset him over someone like her?"

Valerie had been too stunned to speak after getting caught red-handed by Connor himself. Now, she returned to her senses, but her voice still shook as she said, "S-She's not a maid. She's Mr. Russell's wife…"

"Are you blind? Didn't you see that Mr. Russell and Ms. Somner wore matching rings? There's no doubt that she is the future Mrs. Russell!"

"No, I—"

"I've heard enough. Hurry up and hand over your work!"

Valerie didn't dare say anything else. She silently took her phone and looked down at it once the chief secretary left. Then, she realized that her call with Phoebe was still ongoing.

She jolted and asked, "P-Phoebe, are you okay? You didn't hear what just happened, did you?"

She prayed that Phoebe hadn't heard a thing, but she knew it was impossible. She continued miserably, "Don't listen to their nonsense. You're not a maid. I'm sorry about this. I'm so, so sorry…"

Connor had kept his marriage a secret and forbade Phoebe from entering his office. Each time she brought his lunchbox, it would be handed off through a secretary. So, it wasn't surprising that she was mistaken for a maid.

Phoebe didn't care about that. The only thing that surprised her was that Connor wore a ring matching Vanessa's, even though he rarely wore his own wedding ring.

He had beautiful hands that were slender and well-proportioned. They were delicate yet strong, and the wedding ring on his left ring finger added an indescribable charm.

Whenever Phoebe had the chance, she would steal long glances at it. Unfortunately, she could count on one hand the number of times Connor had worn his wedding ring.

She had always thought it was because he disliked the feeling of restraint that came with wearing accessories, but she had read too much into it. He just didn't want to wear his wedding ring.

She pulled herself out of her reverie and said, "I'm sorry. I can't do anything to save your job now."

Although Valerie had spoken to Phoebe only once before, she could tell that she was a genuinely kind person. She'd been worried about Connor suddenly being so attentive to another woman, so she'd informed Phoebe about it to give her some notice. However, she'd messed up.

Valerie was wracked with guilt. "It's fine, really! I've told you before that I planned to return to my hometown to help my parents, haven't I? Getting fired isn't a big deal to me. I was already halfway through drafting my resignation letter, anyway!"

Phoebe felt relieved to hear that Valerie genuinely meant it and wasn't just trying to comfort her.

Valerie lowered her voice to a whisper as she said, "I still don't get it, though. You're Mr. Russell's wife. Why would he treat you like this?"

He wouldn't even let Phoebe into his office, yet Vanessa could come and go as she wished. Valerie couldn't understand why.

Even if Connor wanted to keep the marriage a secret, he could just tell everyone that Phoebe was his relative or friend. No one would think much of it.

Phoebe worked hard to prepare those lunchboxes and bring them over during her lunch break, only to be denied access to Connor's office. Valerie believed that his actions were far too hurtful!