“Damien, there’s no need to get this upset over a secretary.”
That must be Emilia’s voice.
She had spoken in a gentle tone, her voice as nice as her name.
Emilia said sweetly, “How about this—lunch is on me. Let’s not be upset anymore, okay? Just this once, for me?”
Two seconds later, Damien replied, “Alright.”
His tone was neutral, but compared to how cold he’d just sounded, it was already far gentler.
Smiling, Emilia suggested, “Then let’s go now.”
After that, Damien and Emilia’s voices were no longer heard.
Autumn curled her lips into a bitter smile.
She had always thought Damien was hard to pacify. In the past, every time he got upset, she would need days of careful coaxing before he would act indifferent again.
All of it was mentally exhausting—she would lose her appetite, lose sleep, and become unable to focus on anything until Damien had calmed down.
Yet, for Emilia, one sentence was all it took—no extra effort needed.
Scott looked at the phone. He knew Autumn had heard everything.
He was well aware that Autumn hated troubling others. With Yvonne being fired because of her, she would surely feel guilty, which would then eat her up inside.
The punishment might fall on Yvonne, but it would undoubtedly be a psychological blow to Autumn.
Still, he believed this was the only way to keep her from snooping around for information.
Autumn had only herself to blame for always trying to find out about Damien’s schedule.
If he were in Damien’s shoes, being constantly monitored by a woman would make him feel stifled, too.
Scott waved the head secretary, Amber Lowe, over, who said, “The termination will be processed today.”
Scott hummed a response before walking away.
Wednesday was Emilia’s birthday. As Damien had instructed, he needed to book out the Havern Restaurant at Bay Plaza and discuss birthday surprise arrangements with the owner.
He was too busy to personally deal with a mere secretary’s termination.
Amber took the phone Scott handed to her and was about to return it to Yvonne when she accidentally saw the caller ID. “Autumn.”
Knitting her brows, she used a few seconds to place the name, before snapping in frustration, “How dumb can you be? She’s just the housekeeper who brings Mr. Caldwell lunch! Was it worth upsetting Mr. Caldwell over her?”
Yvonne, having just been caught red-handed by the CEO himself, had been too frightened to speak.
Only now did she manage to stammer, “S-She’s not a housekeeper… She’s Mrs. Caldwell…”
“Don’t you have eyes? Did you not see Mr. Caldwell and Ms. Mason wearing matching rings? She is the future Mrs. Caldwell. That’s not even up for debate.”
“But…”
“Enough. Go complete your handover.”
Yvonne didn’t dare say another word as she quietly took back her phone.
Once Amber was gone, Yvonne looked down and realized the call was still connected.
She jolted in panic. “A-Autumn, are you okay? You didn’t hear all that, did you?”
Yvonne hoped against hope that Autumn hadn’t heard, but of course, that wasn’t likely.
She then quickly added, “Don’t listen to them. You’re not just some housekeeper… I’m sorry. Truly sorry…”
Damien had kept the marriage secret and forbade Autumn from entering his office.
Every time she brought him lunch, a secretary would come and take it instead. It was no surprise that people mistook her for a housekeeper.
Autumn wasn’t bothered by that. What she hadn’t expected was that Damien, who almost never wore his wedding ring, now wore matching rings with Emilia.
Damien’s hands were beautiful. His fingers were long and fair, and his knuckles were defined.
They look delicate yet strong, and a ring on his slender ring finger had a charm that was hard to describe.
Whenever she got the chance, she would secretly admire them.
Nonetheless, Damien had only worn his wedding ring a handful of times.
She had always thought he disliked the restrictive feel of jewelry. But it turned out that she had overthought it—he just didn’t want to wear his wedding ring, plain and simple.
Autumn said, “Sorry. I can’t help you keep your job this time.”
Though they had only interacted once, Yvonne could tell Autumn was a genuinely good person.
She only wanted to warn Autumn after seeing Damien being so kind to another woman because she was genuinely worried and believed Autumn deserved to know.
Yet, she had ruined everything in the end.
Feeling extremely guilty, Yvonne said, “It’s okay, really. I already told you—I was planning to go home and help my parents anyway.
“Getting fired doesn’t matter to me. Besides, I was already working on my resignation letter before this.”
Yvonne didn’t sound like she had only said that to comfort her, and that allowed her to feel relieved.
Then, Yvonne could be heard whispering again. “But why did this even happen? You’re Mr. Caldwell’s wife. Why is Damien treating you like this?”
Damien wouldn’t even let Autumn into his office, yet Emilia could come and go as she pleased! Why was that?
Even if he wanted to keep his marriage a secret, he could’ve at least said Autumn was a family friend, and no one would’ve suspected anything.
Besides, Autumn had gone to the trouble of making all those lunches and delivering them to him during her lunch breaks, only to be refused entry. Damien’s actions were just cruel beyond belief!
