Chapter Four

Arrienne Pov

"Wait, he's your boss now? How did that happen?" Jacky asked in amazement.

"Didn't I tell you? The previous owner migrated after his wife died and he didn't want to handle the company anymore, so he sold it. The rumor is he doesn't plan to come back." I explained.

"Wow! So you're the boss there too! If Jace owns the company, that means it's yours too! You'll be called 'Ma'am' by your supervisor." Jacky looked at the ceiling as if imagining what would happen when I was called Ma'am.

"You're crazy! Remember, Jace and I are separated? All we need is an annulment. And I'm sure he's already arranging that at this very moment."

It's true. I left Jace almost three years ago, even before we had been together for a year. I was forced to get married. My future depended on it.

I was still in my third year of college when we got married. My dad threatened to disown me. I was still weak-willed back then. I didn't know where I would go if my dad followed through with his threat. I was afraid of losing my inheritance. I didn't really know what to do with my life.

So, I just went with the flow and got married.

"Hey Arrienne! You're spacing out." Jacky snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked at her and thought, "I wish I hadn't agreed to get married. Then there wouldn't have been any problems and I wouldn't be having problems now."

"You're crazy! Do you think you would have graduated if you hadn't gotten married? And besides, even if you had refused, you wouldn't have had a choice. Knowing Tito Lance, he would have done everything to make you follow his wishes."

"You're saying 'crazy' too much!" I pouted at her. "Tsk. But you have a point." I looked into space, still thinking about what to do about my problem with Jace.

"You really are crazy." She laughed loudly.

"You're so happy while I'm worried!" I narrowed my eyes at her.

She stopped laughing and looked at me. "What's the problem, you witch?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Helloo? Didn't you hear me earlier? I said Jace is my boss, right?"

"So what? What's the problem if he's your boss?"

"What do you mean? What if he makes things difficult for me? He could fire me and not give me a clearance? Or maybe he'll transfer me to the facilities and make me a janitor. Oh my!" I said, close to tears.

"Your imagination is so wild! He wouldn't do that! That only happens in movies. It's different in real life. And besides, you two have a history, right?" She looked like she wanted to pull my hair for being so stupid.

"You're right, you can't blame me. After what I did to him, he's probably angry at me. He even scolded me earlier."

"Stop thinking about things that aren't there! You're just going to stress yourself out!"

I didn't answer. Maybe I was overreacting to what was happening. Jace wouldn't be that kind of person. But I don't think I could handle being in the same company as him, knowing that I owe him a lot.

"That's it!" I stood up, inspired by my thought. I snapped my fingers in front of Jacky. "That's what I'm going to do." I said like I was going crazy, nodding my head.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this is serious. Should I call a psychiatrist? Just tell me." Jacky said.

"Ayyy Jacky! Why didn't I think of that earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" Her voice was starting to get irritated.

"I'll just resign." I said to her with a smile.

She stared at me, trying to figure out if I was serious. It's a good choice, right? So I won't have to be with him and he won't be able to do the things I think he will, I'll just resign.

"Why? Do you have another job lined up if you resign? Hey, it's hard to find a job these days!" She said seriously.

I was stunned. That's right, I didn't think about that. To be honest, it was hard for me to get my current job.

I just frowned and sat back down on the couch.

"Oh, you have no answer to that, do you? If you resign, what will you eat every day, pay for water, electricity, transportation, men..."

My eyes widened as I interrupted her. "Men? You're paying for men?" I looked at her from head to toe. "Eww."

"Hey, I didn't say men! Don't make accusations!"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

She smiled broadly, "I'm just kidding. Don't take it seriously." She stood up and walked towards her room, but she turned back. "By the way, don't forget, Saturday. We're going to watch Vince's concert." She said and went into her room.

"Okay." I said, even though I knew she wouldn't hear it.

Vince is the ex-boyfriend of another friend of ours, Aya. Now he's famous. Imagine that. We used to hang out with him, and now we can watch him on TV.

Back to Jace. I remember when we first got married. He looked like Jacky, a NERD. But that gradually changed. I pushed him to take care of himself.

We didn't actually live together as husband and wife back then. We had separate rooms. Our agreement with our parents was that we would only share a room after I graduated.

We didn't have a problem with that arrangement. It was actually more convenient for us.

I looked at my phone when it rang. I checked who was calling, but it was an unregistered number. I waited a few moments before deciding to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Arriene" the voice on the other end said.

My heart suddenly started to race. I recognized that voice. Even with my eyes closed, there was no doubt. It was him.

"Meet me at 7pm. I'll text you the location." He hung up, leaving me staring at the phone.