Chapter 14

Yasmin watched Caleb warily, keeping a firm stance on the other side of the office desk. "Mr. Grant, if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. If I can't, I'll relay them to my supervisor. If there's nothing else, I'll leave the documents here and be on my way." She did not want to stay here any longer. Caleb chuckled, shaking his head. "Yasmin, you still don't realize what the problem is." Her feet were already pointed toward the door, but at his words, she hesitated and turned back. "What?" she asked. There was a faint smile on Caleb's face as he stared at her, but he said nothing. Instead, he picked up his coffee cup. He intended to take a sip but found it empty. His gaze shifted to her, his brow raised ever so slightly. Yasmin understood what he meant by that but stood her ground. "Mr. Grant, I'm not your secretary. Making you coffee isn't part of my job." "Ms. Whitmore, you're not one of my subordinates. I'm under no obligation to guide you in your work." Hearing that, Yasmin was rendered speechless. He was unbelievable! Her rationality told her to leave immediately as Caleb was not worth engaging with. But her strong sense of curiosity kept her in place. There was a problem? Where was the problem? Was the problem with her or with the document? After struggling for two minutes, she stomped off begrudgingly to the pantry to make coffee. Caleb was used to having his coffee black, so Yasmin deliberately made a cup of triple-sweetened latte and served it to him. Caleb saw that it was a latte and said nothing. He took a sip, finding it overwhelmingly sweet. The taste was downright offensive. His refined composure was the only thing keeping him from spitting it out on the spot. "My apologies, Mr. Grant. I'm not used to serving people, so I don't know how to do these things," Yasmin said sweetly, her eyes curving with a mischievous glint in them. Caleb didn't bother to argue with her. He let out a low chuckle, amused. "That's right. It's always been me serving you." Yasmin's smirk froze at once. She felt his definition of "serve" was not exactly pure. Their current relationship didn't even warrant that kind of remark. "Mr. Grant," she said sweetly, bringing the conversation back on track. "What exactly is the problem?" "Why haven't you been eating at the cafeteria these past few days?" he started asking seriously. "What does my work have to do with whether or not I eat at the cafeteria?" Yasmin's heart skipped a beat. Was Caleb worried about her? Or was he bothered by her? "Ms. Whitmore, if people get the impression that Grant Group mistreats our contractors, this could affect our stock price." Yasmin used to struggle with stomach ulcers in the past. It had taken a lot of effort for her to get better in these two years. She wasn't about to let a few days of brutal work send her back to square one. She lowered her eyes and replied, "I'll make sure to eat at the cafeteria. So, what's the problem, Mr. Grant?" Caleb clasped his hands together and said in a measured tone, "Minnie, the corporate world isn't like the university. Every action you take is tied to your position." Suppressing her irritation, she tried to piece it together. "I'm an employee of a law firm. My job is to hand in legal documents to your legal department. What's the pro—" She abruptly stopped mid-sentence. There was a problem. As an attorney from the firm representing the contracted side, she should've submitted the documents directly to Grant Group's legal department. This was because that was the correct chain of command. As the company's CEO, Caleb was above these issues. Someone at her rank had no reason to be dealing with him directly. "But your legal director told me to bring this to you," she said, her voice unconsciously dropping. "If he told you to strip naked and wait in my bed, would you do that too?" "Caleb, you—" He raised an eyebrow seeing as Yasmin had finally given in. He did have a point, though. The legal director should've had one of his subordinates deliver the documents. Even if an external legal team needed to be involved, it should've been someone in a senior position like Edward Sullivan or even a partner of the firm. Caleb's eyes gleamed with admiration and excitement. Yasmin was quick-witted. A little push and she could figure things out on her own. Too bad she still gave others the benefit of the doubt. "Then, why did Harris deliberately send me here?" Yasmin grumbled, her voice laced with frustration. Caleb laughed in response. "Why do you say that he did it on purpose?" Because she was his wife. Yasmin clenched her fist tighter and said viciously, "Harris is unprofessional and manipulative. He has blatantly crossed boundaries. His bonus should be deducted!" Caleb instinctively reached for his coffee. But the moment he reached his hand out, he took it back. "Alright." She stared at him suspiciously. Why was he suddenly on her side? Caleb picked up the office phone and dialed Harris' number to call him in. A moment later, Harris walked in, looking completely clueless. He wondered if the two were arguing and wanted him to be the judge of the matter. Before he could figure it out, Caleb said, " Harris, your quarterly bonus is being deducted." Hearing that, Harris was startled. He then turned to Yasmin, thinking, "What did I do to piss you off?" Yasmin was satisfied with how the matter was dealt with. "Mr. Grant, I'll leave the documents here and return to work." Meanwhile, Harris had to swallow his grievances and even smile as he escorted Yasmin out. After he returned, he quietly took the super-sweet latte and swapped it for a freshly brewed Americano. "Your year-end bonus will be doubled," Caleb remarked casually while flipping through the documents. Harris was stunned for a moment before realization dawned. "Thank you, Mr. Grant!" Sure, letting a random employee deliver documents to the CEO's office was against company policy. But letting the CEO's wife deliver them? Where was the problem in that? There was no problem at all! And by the looks of it, Caleb was very pleased as well. Harris was Caleb's confidant. They had gone to the same university when he studied abroad, and the two had known each other for many years. Even so, he could not wrap his head around what Caleb's attitude toward Yasmin was. It was improbable that he liked her as everyone knew that he didn't. But it didn't sound right to say that he didn't like her either as she led a much better lifestyle than any of the other wives of wealthy families. She had the greatest privilege among them. Caleb's earlier act of deducting Harris' bonus in front of Yasmin had merely been an act to appease her. … "So, how does it feel to work at your husband's company?" Brenda was ready to gossip right after she pulled up in her brand-new Ferrari. She was here to pick Yasmin up after work. Yasmin tossed her bag onto the back seat and scoffed. "I'm not working at his company. He's my client. I'm just a lowly contractor." "Whatever you do, don't start playing the role of his secretary." Brenda teased as she hit the pedal. "Why?" "Because CEOs love hitting on their sexy secretaries," Brenda said, winking playfully. Yasmin finally caught on. "Caleb would never do that to me," she thought. He'd probably prefer someone else to be his "sexy secretary". All she wanted now was a clean, drama-free divorce. Brenda waggled a finger. "Men are all the same." "Oh?" Yasmin's eyes gleamed mischievously as she countered, "Have you tested this on your dear Mr. Howard?"