Chapter 38: CHAPTER 38: CAUGHT OFF GUARD

He seemed to be in a bad mood.

Does he even have the right to treat her coldly? Was it supposed to be the other way around? She should be the one treating him like he doesn't exist but what he was doing right now was unbelievable!

Did he fight with his ex-lover while she was out having lunch? Why is he throwing some fits all of a sudden?

Jade twitched her lips in annoyance. Though she must admit that she was late for a few minutes but the truth is, she did it on purpose. The thought of seeing the two in the office irritated her so she stayed with Zion for a few more minutes letting Jasmine go back to the company alone.

"Whoa, that's absolutely…. Awkward." Zion chuckled mocking the woman when she told him about the ex-lover visiting the office just a while ago. "And you didn't do anything about it?"

"I wish I could." She uttered meaningfully.

"But you are the legal wife, why don't you talk to the woman to stop bothering your husband? Or tell your husband instead." He advised.

"I know right." She sighed defeated. "I could have done that a long time ago but then my situation won't allow me."

"What do you mean?" Zion was confused.

"Ah, nothing. Can you just comfort me for now?"

The man chuckled to see a broken hearted woman therefore he patted her head and smiled.

"You are the legal wife. And you have all the right to do anything to protect your marriage."

The woman chortled upon hearing the man. It was definitely a good move to keep him as her good friend.

"Your face tells me that you had just received a text message from your husband." He uttered when the woman made a face after looking at her phone.

"Your wrong. It was from my B O S S telling me I was overbreak." She hissed in annoyance.

"Guess it's time to separate now. Anyway, thanks for your time, I really enjoyed talking to you."

"Same here." They chuckled as they went out the restaurant.

Jade went back to the office but to her surprise, Marcus' office was empty. Guess they had late lunch together. She hissed in annoyance one more time.

Looking at Marcus' schedule, he was supposed to meet the branch managers in a few minutes so she tried calling the man.

"Tell them to wait in my office." Then he hanged up.

"What in the world was that?" She exclaimed when she heard the disconnected line. He seemed angry. Well, good luck to the branch managers.

One by one, the managers arrived and waited inside Marcus' office. They've been waiting for ten minutes now but they haven't seen Marcus' shadow yet.

"I'm sorry for waiting, let me call Mr. Hanes once again." Jade forced a smile after serving them a cup of coffee for the second time.

"It's okay, we can wait. I'm sure he's on his way." One of them spoke.

Jade went back to her desk and was about to dial Marcus' number when the door swung wide open.

"Mr. Hanes, everyone was waiting f---''

She didn't finish her statement since Marcus banged the door to his office. He didn't even look at her and he literally just passed by her as if she doesn't exist.

That cold aura… Why is she feeling uneasy all of a sudden?

It was not even five minutes when she heard the CEO shouting madly inside the room. The fudge! Here goes the monster once again!

She rolled her eyes. Did he eat a rotten food for lunch? Why is he suddenly getting angry? She thought.

"Jade Arria!" She suddenly trembled when Marcus called her complete name. She stood up and rushed inside the office.

"Yes, Mr. Hanes---"

"Didn't I told you to send all these files back to the other day?" He growled. He looked like a wolf eyeing to consume his prey any minute now.

She creased her brow. Since when did he tell her such?

"I'm sorry Mr. Hanes but I didn't receive any order for this. You might have mistaken---"

"Are you telling me that I am at fault?"

"Mr. Hanes, I didn't mean ---"

"I think you are." He sneered in contempt. "Do you know the cost of what you did?"

Marcus kept on blubbering while the managers stood silent on the side. Only when Jade picked up a certain document and browsed it did she understood Marcus' anger. It was definitely an important report but she can't recall Marcus instructing her of such task.

However, when she glanced at the date, she twitched her lip sardonically.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault." She kowtowed in front of the branch manager as well as Marcus. "I'll make sure things like this won't happen again." She clenched her fist in annoyance. She shouldn't be doing this since it was not her fault to begin with.

If he didn't stop her from going to work that day, then probably there won't be any problem like this.

Unknown to them, Sonny had been standing outside Marcus' office eavesdropping. He was supposed to see him when he heard the man shouting inside. He'd rather wait for him to calm down.

But looked like it wouldn't happen today. He was about to leave when he suddenly heard Jade voiced an apology.

"Sorry won't solve the problem." Marcus uttered. "You should do your job instead of seeing a man during your break time. And even if you do, you should be aware of your time. Work time is different from flirt time."

His tone was sardonic and accusing. The woman suddenly jerked in surprise. Did he saw her with Zion a while ago?

"Mr. Hanes, I believe you got it wrong becau---"

"Really? Cause I don't think my eyes have any defect."

"Marcus!" She couldn't control her anger any longer so she called him by his first name. Sonny, whose been outside for a few minutes now was a bit surprise but the managers' faces cannot be painted at the moment. Did she just yelled at the CEO using his first name?

Jade clenched the report she was holding. "Why are you blaming me for this? If you didn't stop me from coming to work that day, then this should have not happened!" She yelped.

"Are you blaming me for thinking about your health?" Marcus stood up to meet the woman's blazing eyes.

"Yes! I told you I was fine---""No, you are not! And even if you do, what if you'll have a relapse, huh?""Then why are you blaming me for these?" She threw the document on his desk. "You told me to stay home all day and yet your trying to indict something I didn't do!" She made a face that could cry anytime soon.

"Sonny!" Marcus muttered and was about to dial Sonny's office number but Jade stopped him."Are you going to reprimand him too? It's not even his fault because it's not his job to begin with!"

"E-excuse me Sir, a-are you living together?" One of the branch manager gathered his courage to asked since they've been listening to them for a few minutes now. Looked like they have forgotten that there were other people inside the room.

"Yes!" They both answered unconsciously. But when the realized what just happened, they looked at each other mortified. Dang!

T-they're married! The branch managers yelped in surprise. So then the rumors are true!

Sonny, on the other hand, laughed frantically upon hearing the two caught off guard. Nice move.