Chapter 9

Jared immediately let go of Yvonne’s arm. When they turned around, they realized that Zachary was standing behind them for some time. He was stunned when he saw Jared. “Secretary Summers?” “President Quimby!” Jared laughed awkwardly. In an instant, Zachary put a fake smile on his face as he added, “Secretary, why are you holding my assistant’s hand? Are you harassing her?” “Assistant?” Jared looked at Zachary in surprise. Then, he looked over to his daughter. “Yvonne, you’re working for President Quimby?” “Yvonne? Why do you address her as if you’re someone close to her? I say, Secretary Summers, my assistant is young enough to be your daughter, right? Besides, she isn’t that good-looking. Please don’t get the wrong idea!” Zachary pointed out his actions shamelessly as he spoke and pulled Yvonne over to him at the same time. “Get the wrong idea?” Jared immediately understood what was going on. It seemed like Zachary had misunderstood his relationship with Yvonne. He did not feel angry when he saw Zachary protecting Yvonne like how a hen protected its chicks. Instead, he started laughing. Zachary was a good-looking man and also the president of the Centurion Group offices in the Coreulu region. If he were to get together with his daughter… Now was not the time to explain his relationship with Yvonne, he thought. Jared smiled knowingly at Zachary before saying, “President Quimby, I have other matters to attend to today and will have to excuse myself now. Let’s meet again soon!” The expression on Zachary’s face slowly changed sour as he watched Jared leave. He let go of Yvonne’s hand disgustedly, “Are you an idiot? Do you think it’s funny to let an old man hold your hand in public?” “No!” “No? So you know that too? I say, Yvonne Yates, are you that desperate for a man? Are you so desperate that you’ll even seduce an old man?” Zachary had a sharp tongue. Yvonne laughed bitterly and said, “President Quimby, it’s not what you think it is.” “It had better not be what I think it was! You’re my assistant. You should be aware of your reputation! Keep your hands to yourself, or I’ll fire you!” “Understood! This won’t happen again!” Zachary felt much better seeing her submissive attitude. “You don’t need to attend tonight’s gathering. Have an early night tonight. I’ve got a lot for you to do tomorrow. Also, help me arrange a date with Lulu!” “Alright!” It was very rarely that Zachary would take pity on Yvonne and let her go home earlier to rest. She went home once she had phoned Lulu and asked her out on Zachary’s behalf. Her uncle had always been in poor health and got sick often. On the way home, Yvonne took a detour to the farmers’ market and bought fish, prawns, and chicken so that she could prepare healthy meals for him. As she walked out from the market with her groceries, a car drove past quickly and onto the curb. Yvonne did not manage to dodge in time and got knocked down to the ground. Her palms and legs ached from the scuff. She tried standing but could not summon the strength to do so. Just then, the driver of the car that had hit her opened the door and got out. “Are you alright?” “I’m standing…” Yvonne only managed to squeeze those two words out before she paused. The driver also stared at her in shock. “Young… Young Madam!” “What young madam? Jackson hasn’t been with this woman for a long time. Why did you call her that?” A voice shouted rudely. Jade got out from the back seat and walked over arrogantly to Yvonne. She didn’t spare even an ounce of sympathy for Yvonne when she saw her on the floor. Instead, she laughed coldly and said, “Yvonne Yates, are you doing this on purpose? Since you failed to seduce Jackson, is this your desperate tactic to get his attention? Your tricks are a little lame, aren’t they?” Yvonne was enraged. “Madam Miller, you seem to enjoy slandering other people with ungrounded statements, I see?” “Ungrounded statements? Didn’t you use this trick to seduce Jackson in the first place? Are you getting desperate after hearing the news that Jackson and Fiona are getting engaged? Ready to make a comeback again?” Jade gave Yvonne a disgusted look. It was one she had seen almost every day for the past three years she spent married to Jackson. In the past, she had been unable to fight with Jade because she was the daughter-in-law. However, now they were strangers to each other after the divorce. Why should she put up with Jade’s nonsense? Yvonne laughed coldly and said, “Don’t worry. I only need to meet a cheating sc*m like Jackson Miller once in my life. I would be sick in the head to want to have another relationship with him!” In the past, Yvonne had always been submissive and too scared to retaliate. Yet, here she was today insulting her precious son. How could Jade endure that? She slapped Yvonne across the face. Yvonne had been struggling to stand up and ended up back on the floor after getting slapped. The people witnessing could not stand watching Jade bully Yvonne any longer. They all began criticizing Jade. “How can someone do that? She still acted so cruelly after hitting her with the car? Let’s report this to the police!”