Chapter 6

A flash of gloating satisfaction crossed Erik's eyes. He immediately jumped in and reprimanded Paul with a look of shock on his face.

"How do you guys even run this place? Don't you know our company strictly prohibits transferring employees who are married or have children overseas? Both the applicant and the person who approved it will be penalized for this!"

Paul looked completely baffled.

"But none of them are married," he blurted out in explanation.

Natalie furrowed her brows slightly. She pointed at me, her lips curling into a cold smile.

"Didn't this man take marital leave a while back?"

"He did apply for marital leave at first," Paul answered honestly. "But it must have been a mistake, because he later changed it to bereavement leave. His mother passed away."

Hearing this, all color drained from Natalie's face. Her outstretched hand froze in midair as she stared at me in complete disbelief.

As if suddenly realizing something, her eyes darted around nervously.

"Why didn't you tell me…" she whispered. "Why didn't you tell me that your mother passed away?"

I found it hilarious.

Mom had always thought highly of Natalie being her daughter-in-law. She even said that I must have done something amazing in my past life to be able to marry Natalie in this one, and she eagerly looked forward to the day Natalie would officially call her "Mom".

Instead, all Mom ever got to see was Natalie marrying someone else and affectionately calling another man's mother "Mom".

"I didn't think that was necessary, Ms. Crenshaw. Does headquarters really need to involve itself in a regular employee's family matters?" I asked flatly.

Feeling like something was rapidly slipping out of her control, Natalie gritted her teeth as her anger flared.

"Why isn't it necessary? I'm her daughter-in-law, aren't I?"

"Whose daughter-in-law are you?" someone asked.

Just as everyone stood there looking utterly bewildered, the front doors of the office swung open.

An elderly woman walked in, the faint lines around her eyes giving her an air of sharp, formidable authority. It was none other than Natalie's mother, LeAnn Crenshaw, and the woman at the helm of Crenshaw Group.

Everyone snapped out of their shock and greeted her in unison.

"Good morning, Ms. Crenshaw!"

LeAnn gave a slight nod. Then she turned to Erik with a smile.

"Erik, I sent the two of you young newlyweds around to make the rounds at our various branch offices so you could get acquainted with the staff. What? Don't tell me you ran into trouble?"

Remembering what Natalie had just said, everyone in the room kept their mouths shut, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

Erik's face turned pale, then flushed. After forcing out a strained smile, he answered, "Nat's best friend happens to be Robert's wife. When she heard Robert was being transferred overseas, she wanted to stand up for her friend."

Hearing this, Natalie bit her lip and stayed silent, lowering her head with a conflicted look on her face.

LeAnn's expression hardened.

"Someone dared to violate company policy?" she asked, her voice sharp. "I'd like to see who had the nerve!"

"Ms. Crenshaw, it's a misunderstanding," I answered calmly. "I'm not married. My ex-girlfriend and I broke up amicably a long time ago."

She raised an eyebrow and scanned me up and down before turning to Natalie.

"I've seen Robert's personnel file, and he is indeed unmarried. Did you remember wrongly? He has a flight to catch today, so it's best not to delay him."

Natalie's eyes widened when she heard the phrase "a flight to catch". When she turned and saw how calm I looked, her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Panic flashed across her face.

"Mom! It's not my best friend. It's me! I'm Robert's wife! How could I possibly remember that wrongly? We got our marriage registered on November 3. He's obviously lying! We went to the city hall together and got our marriage certificate in person!"

Everyone in the room swallowed hard. They couldn't believe that they had stumbled into this kind of family drama involving the city's elite.

Natalie's expression relaxed somewhat, apparently convinced that this meant that there was no way I could be sent overseas now.

But the crease between LeAnn's brows only deepened. Her gaze shifted back and forth between Natalie and me before she made her judgment.

"What are you on about? Even if he were your ex-boyfriend, your birth certificate has been safely locked away in my safe this whole time. Our state requires birth certificates to register a marriage, so how exactly did you manage to get a marriage certificate with him?"