Chapter 12

Corinne had put Jeremy's T-shirt back on, but she doubled up with the jacket he had given her because she felt a little cold after letting in some outside air through the window. "I heard you're fired?" Corinne heard Jeremy's deep voice as she stared aimlessly at the passing scenery outside the car window. Corinne's lips twitched. "Yup, and it's all thanks to you." Jeremy flipped through the documents in his hand. "I gave the company a chance, yet there were still mistakes. According to my standards, such a plan doesn’t have any investment value." Corinne yawned, evidently because she was a little sleepy. "Oh, you don't need to tell me why, mister. After all, I'm no longer an employee of Alpha Enterprises." Jeremy was speechless for a moment. He continued flipping through the documents and said in a casual tone, "If you're looking for a company to do your internship, then—" "Stop the car!" Corinne interrupted Jeremy and craned her head out of the car window. Her eyes were sparkling as if she had spotted something. As soon as the car came to a halt, Corinne opened the door and went down. She ran to the bus stop in front and jumped on the bus that had just arrived. She got a seat by the window, stretched out a hand from inside, and gave a thumbs-up to the Mercedes-Benz behind her. Then, she slowly flipped her thumbs-up to become a thumbs-down, clearly showing her contempt for them. Her little hand retracted back into the bus as it drove away slowly. Tommy's temples were beginning to throb when he saw that. Corinne was truly bold. For the record, no one in the entire New Capital City—or even the whole country for that matter—would dare to be so rude to Jeremy. "Sir, she took your suit jacket with her. The International Trade Center project will be wrapped up later in the afternoon, and you have to attend the ribbon-cutting..." "Have someone bring me a new one." Jeremy’s face darkened as he continued to look through the documents. "Will do!" Tommy then said, "Sir, when your sister called me earlier, she told me that she was hospitalized." Jeremy looked up slightly. "She was fine the last time I saw her. Why is she hospitalized?" Tommy relayed what Francine told her. "Well, Miss Corinne dunked your sister's head into the toilet bowl, causing her to drink several mouthfuls of toilet water. You know your sister is a bit of a clean freak, and she was so disgusted by what happened that she kept on vomiting since morning. Eventually, she got so dehydrated that she had to be sent to the hospital and put on a drip." "And what did the doctor say?" "The doctor said that it's not that serious. Put her on a drip and give her some food, and she'll be back to normal in a couple of days. Still, she's making a big fuss and insists that you get even for her and teach Miss Corinne a lesson... " Jeremy's expression remained unchanged. "Grandma spoils Francine all the time, and she's always been a sly and willful girl. Corinne might have a tough personality, but she won't take the initiative to cause any trouble. Let Francine learn her lesson this time. Hopefully, she'll be able to keep her temper in check sometime in the future. We needn't concern ourselves with her." Tommy was taken aback at how tolerant Jeremy seemed to be toward Corinne. After thinking for a moment, he turned and sought further instructions. "Well... Miss Corinne was fired today. Would you like to arrange for her to get a job?" Jeremy said indifferently, "Don't worry about it. Just make sure to keep an eye on her during these three months so that she doesn't do anything to tarnish the family name." "Understood!" Tommy initially assumed that Jeremy had some feelings for Corinne, but hearing what Jeremy said, he concluded that he had probably been thinking too much. It made sense, though. The only woman in Jeremy’s mind was the daughter of the Riveras, and his feelings for her had not changed even after many years. Unfortunately, the feud between the Holdens and the Riveras made it difficult for the two of them to get married. That was why Jeremy remained single, and it was also why his grandfather was so anxious to force him into marriage. - Corinne took the bus back home so she could pack up her belongings. Since she had to cooperate with that weird old man and stay at the Holdens' residence for three months, she needed to have her own clothes to wear. She bumped into Sherlyn as soon as she went into the house. Sherlyn was out of a job for having claimed to leave the showbiz industry herself. She had always put on airs in front of Corinne, and it was no different when she saw Corinne had returned. "Oh, it's you. I thought it was the food delivery guy!" Corinne was in no mood to talk nonsense with Sherlyn, so she walked past her and went straight upstairs. Sherlyn, however, was hell-bent on standing in the way and staring disdainfully at Corinne. "Is that a man's suit jacket that you're wearing? You didn't come home last night. Could you have slept with some random dude?" Before Corinne could explain, Sherlyn started yelling loudly, "Dad! Mom! Look at what Corinne is wearing!" Marvin came out of the room upon hearing Sherlyn's yells, and his face immediately fell when he saw the suit jacket on Corinne's body. "Why are you wearing a man's suit jacket, Corinne? What were you doing when you stayed out last night?" When Lilliana came up from behind and saw what was going on, she immediately made a panicked expression. "This... This is outrageous! How can you just strut around wearing a man's jacket when you haven't even gotten married yet? We Carews are a proper family!" Sherlyn shouted, "Dad, Corinne spent her night with a man when she refused to accept all those proper men whom Mom introduced to her. How could she do that?" Marvin looked even gloomier, and he said angrily, "Tell me the truth, Corinne. What's with the jacket?" Corinne calmly explained the situation to her father, "My clothes got wet from dirty water by accident this morning. I borrowed this from someone just so I could have something to wear. I have to return it after I wash it. " Sherlyn snorted. "Borrowed? As if anyone would believe that!" Marvin did not entirely buy her story. "Then, what were you doing when you were out the whole night yesterday?" "I found a room to rent yesterday," Corinne replied, "and I stayed there for one night. I'm coming back today to pack my stuff because I'll be staying there in the future." She regarded the Holdens' house as a place that she was renting, and the rent was the three months of her time. Marvin frowned. "You're moving out? Why would you want to move out when you could live at home?" Lilliana said in an insinuative tone aside, "Could Corinne be staying at a man's house? It's inappropriate for two unmarried people to live together. If she loses her chastity and her dignity, she wouldn't be able to get married in the future. Even our family's reputation will be ruined!" Sherlyn muttered sarcastically, "Heh. No point talking about chastity when she spends the night outside and comes back in some random man's jacket!" The expression on Marvin's face became even more sullen as he looked at Corinne with great disappointment. Corinne looked at Lilliana and Sherlyn before saying with a smile, "Thanks for your concern, you two, but I'm nobody. No one cares what sort of shameful stuff I do. Very few of our relatives remember me, so nothing I do will ruin the Carews' reputation. "On the contrary, my dear big sister Sherlyn is a superstar. She's so famous that even a little bit of gossip can spread like wildfire on the trending news. She's the one who should pay attention to her chastity and her dignity. Try not to let those unscrupulous journalists capitalize on an opportunity to write about you having a sugar daddy. Aunt Lilliana's gonna be so worried about you if you can't get married." Sherlyn gritted her teeth angrily and uttered, "Who told you I wouldn’t be able to get married?" Corinne said as if something occurred to her, "Oh right, I forgot. You got married yesterday! Where's your husband, Jeremy? Aren't you going to introduce me to my new brother-in-law?" The atmosphere turned cold in no time... Marvin's anger was directed elsewhere and he glared angrily at Lilliana and Sherlyn. Just the mere mention of it was enough to make his blood boil, courtesy of the huge mess from the previous day that caused him to make a fool of himself in front of their relatives and friends. Corinne added, "Dad, it was right for me to stay at home when I was still a student, but I'm working now, and I just want to learn how to live independently. You can rest assured that I won't do anything to bring disgrace to your name once I move out." Marvin looked at Corinne and realized that she was relatively well-behaved compared to Lilliana’s and Sherlyn's embarrassing antics. In the end, he waved his hand and said, "Suit yourself, then. You're free to go out and live elsewhere if you want. This house is full of bad luck now, anyway." "Thanks, Dad." Corinne glanced indifferently at the disgruntled Lilliana and Sherlyn before turning around and making her way upstairs. As she was changing her clothes, Sherlyn barged into her room. She was just about to curse at Corinne when she suddenly saw the trademark logo printed on the lining of the suit jacket that Corinne had taken off. It was from a luxury brand called FA, and furthermore, it was from the luxury bespoke line that was only for VIPs! Sherlyn wondered how a bumpkin like Corinne could have the good fortune of coming across such luxurious men's clothing.