Chapter 16
Everything that had happened that night was too much for jasmine to process. Hermind was blank as she silently followed joshua.
Joshuadrove her home, and as they reached the building, she noticed that he was heading toward the stains and inoked at him in confesion. “There wasa temporary power outage in the neighborhood tonight, so the elevator isn’t working,” he explained Jasmine nodded and followed him up the stairs.
joshara turned on his phone’s flashlight and walked ahead. Noticing she seemed a bit out of it, he gently offered, “If you want, you can hold onto my sleeve.” Noticing the sincerity in his eyes, Jasmine nodded and reached out to grab his shirt sleeve.
He glanced at her before continuing up the stairs, Jasmine followed him, feeling oddly reassured by his presence. When the two of them reached the sixth floor, she let go of his sleeve, pulling out her keys to unlock the door
“Jasmine,” Joshma called out.
Jasmine tumed around and asked, “What’s up?”
Are you afraid of dogs?” he inquired
pamine looked at him, unsure of why he would ask such a question. He explained. “If you’re not, I could let my dog, Sunny, keep you company.”
When she didn’t respond, Joshua opened the door, and a Golden Retriever immediately bounded out, leaping into his arms. He gently cradled the dog and said, It’s very gentle. I’m sure you won’t have nightmares tonight if you let it sleep by your bed. But it’s sensitive to the cold, so you might have to let it sleep on the nig
it was then that Jasmine realized how much he cared for her. Tears welled up in ber eyes as she said, “Thank you.” Joshua sald a few words to the Golden Retriever in his arms, and the golden–barred dog immediately jumped down, nudging jasmine before sitting at her feet.
Jasmine loved animals, but she had never owned any cats or dogs because Calvin disliked them. Now, with such a well–behaved dog by her side, she instantly felt at ease. She thanked joshua again.
Joshua wished her goodnight and only left after making sure that jasmine and Sunny were inside.
Jasmine was afraid of the dark, and after nearly being sexually assaulted by Leo, she felt a little scared. However, with Sunny quietly sitting at her feet, hertears faded. She found some candles to light up the room and poured some water into a bowl for Sunny.
Sunny was exceptionally well–behaved, following her wherever she went. That night, it slept by her bed, keeping watch over her, Jasmine thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but as soon as she closed her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, when jasmine arrived at work, Linda inquired with concem, “Theard you almost got into trouble last night. Are you okay?”
Jasmine didn’t go into details about what had happened the night before. She simply asked, “Why did the dinner venue change all of a sudden?”
Linda lowered her voice and responded, “I’m not sure either. When we arrived at the private dining room, Ms. Zeller abruptly sand we were going to dine
somewhere else.
“Tara told me not to notify you because she would tell you herself. I wanted to call you, but she took my phone away.”
Jasmine gritted berteeth. It was clear that olivia and Tara were behind this
Jasmine swore she would make them pay one day.
During lunch break, Penny rushed over, visibly excited. “Did you hear? Leo got what he deserved!”
Jasmiter was puzzled
Peterpcontinued, “Turns out, he’s a kept man. He used his wile’s family connections to establish a company in Jesceria. He was sneaking around behind hë,
I heard his wife caught him red–handed, and now lu’s lost everything. Plus, a bunch of interns he harassed banded together to sue him. He’s probably going to
Jasmine ludn’t expected things to turn out this way. Who could have helped her? could it have been joshua?
Jasmine remembered how, when she returned Sunny to Joshina this moming, he had calmly reassured her. “Don’t worry about Leo. I’ll take care of it she hadn’t. expected lilin to actually follow througli.
Penny noticed that Jasmine hadn’t said anything and nudged her elbow. “I heard Mr. Sotton is your righbor. Is that true? Lena told me he comes tom a well–to- du family, and be came to Jesceria to start his own business because he likes challenges.
“fcantell that he treats you differently from low he treats everyone else. Have you given him some thought?
Jasmine’s face flushed after bearing that She stined her cotier and responded exasperatedly, “Mr. Salton’s just a nice person I doubt he’d see me that way.
“Why wouldn’t he?“ Pentry pinchweddercheck. “You’re beautiful and have agreat Biguie. What guy woulder’t fall for you?!
Jasmine’s cheeks turned crimson. However, she knew her own reality. “But I’ve been divorced. The most likely wouldn’t be interested in me,”
Penny disagreed, “Girl, you’re being too narrow–minded. Plenty of wealthy men marry divorced women. You’ve only been married once. What’s the big deal?
Jasandor found it amusing, but she chose not to continue the conversation
That allemoun, jasmine sat at her desk for a long while before she gathered the courage to text jush. “It’s Christmas Eve Tomorrow, Mr. Sutton Are you free? I’d like to treat you to dinner.”
R
Alterteammates, he implied,
After testing Joshua, she was about to me her phone and get back to work when her phone sang. It was a call from an unknown number permine stepped into the Jullway to answer it. “Hello?”
“Jasmine,” said a familiar male voice. It was Calvin
Jasmine wanted to hang up on him, but he ratedly said, “Don’s hang up. I have a job offer for you.”
He had learned about what happened last night from Vanessa. Head frozen Jasmine’s act together to submit to him. He didn’t actually want anything had to luppen to her
But he knew he was in the wrong, so he had no choice but to call her to apologize and make amends. The surprising thing was that he was the one who had trouble adjusting the past few days.
He said, “I’m planning to invest in an art centes. I want you to be in charge. Consider it your bank account
compensation for what happened last night. I’ll also have someone unferezr
He assumed Jasmine would be tempted alter alli e hazillapa he had been through lately. After all,
all, who would want to keep bring a corporate drone when they
To his surprise, she scoffed. “Calvin, do you seriously think you can hit me with a stick and then offer me a carrot to make me come back to you? I’m not a fucking dog Listen here -t’ll never go back to you!” With that, she hung up and blocked his number
Calvin realized that Jasmine had hung up on him and immediately scowled, hurling the phone against the wall. He had given her plenty of chances. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t retum. Was being his wife worse than suffering out there?
Vanessa, standing across from him, looked helpless. The phone Calvin used wasn’t even her phone. It was her colleague’s. Now that Calvin had broken it, she didn’t know how she could return it.
Calvin fed for awhile before calming down and asking Vanessa, “How do you get a woman to come back home?”
Vanessa’s eyes widened in surprise Calvin used to care only about Olivia. So, why was he paying so much attention to his ex–wife now?
After malling it over, she praponded, “Mr. Food, if you really want Mrs. Ford to come back, maybe you could send her some gifts.”
Calvin suddenly realized that he had never bought jasmine a gift in their three years of marriage. He realized then how much he had taken her for granted. It was no wonders was upset and refused to come back.
He nodded. “That’s a great idea. In’t there a jewelry auction tomore? and pick the two most expensive pieces.” Vanessa hurriedly jotted it down in her notes
and marked her calendar.
He inquired again, “Isthat it?”
“Ithur the only way to get her to come ba
Vanessa thought for a moment. “Well women tend to place greater importance on celebrating special occasions and important holidays. It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, Mr. Food. Why don’t you make a reservation at a restaurant and spend a romantic evening with Mrs. Food?”
