After Marrying My Boss

Chapter 38

“Really? But Anna seems like a serious and hard-working person. Besides, she always looks so innocent. Why would she do such a thing?”

“Ah well, people nowadays are willing to do anything to succeed and climb up the social ladder. I just knew that she's no decent person ever since she joined the company. She pretends to be a diligent person, but in reality, she's actually seducing an old man like our supervisor. What a slut!”

“Hear, hear. Mr. Skeete is already in his forties. Not to mention he's old and unsightly. Anna is really going all out if she can put up with such a man.”

My colleagues' gossip drifted into my ears loud and clear. Hearing that, I felt utterly aggrieved.

When did I ever seduce Conrad Skeete? Did they see me doing it with their own eyes? Ugh! People nowadays are truly good at making up stories and jumping to conclusions! It was him who wanted to force himself on me first! So why are they saying that it was me who seduced him now? They're simply lying through their teeth!

At that moment, I was gripped by the urge to rush out and counter their accusations by telling them the truth. However, I suppressed that urge, knowing that they wouldn't believe me even if I explained things. Instead, they would despise me all the more.

Ah, forget it! It's enough that I know what kind of person I am. There's no need to explain anything to others. I gave myself a pep talk.

Nonetheless, tears coursed down my face uncontrollably. I kept telling myself not to be bothered, but the feeling of being accused wrongly was truly awful. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

It wasn't until they had left that I walked out of the toilet stall. As I gazed at my red-rimmed eyes in the mirror, distress swamped me.

I've been working wholeheartedly ever since I joined the company, but never had I thought that I'd be “rewarded” by the reputation of seducing my superior. Argh! This world is truly unfair!

In the afternoon, I could clearly sense that all my colleagues were looking at me differently. I tried my best to feign ignorance and simply kept my head buried in work, believing that they would one day understand the kind of person I was as long as I worked hard enough.

In the next few days, no one said a single word to me. Even when my colleagues bumped into me, they pointedly ignored me. On the other hand, Conrad deliberately made life difficult for me so that I would leave Joyful Success.

He heaped so much work on me that I had to work overtime until ten o'clock every day before I could get off work. I knew that he was purposely dumping work on me to goad me into resigning.

However, I had long since resolved that I would never resign no matter how he picked fault with me.

On that particular day, I was still working overtime. It was ten o'clock at night when I finally finished going through all the documents on my table. Stretching, I then lumbered to my feet wearily. After packing up, I made to leave the office.

But at that precise moment, my cell phone rang with a call from Justin. My brows creased as a wave of irritation surged within me. Without even thinking about it, I declined the call.

Alas, he seemed determined, for my cell phone kept ringing incessantly. In the end, I answered the call when I couldn't take it any longer.

“Have you lost your mind, Justin Xenakis? Why are you calling me nonstop?”

I couldn't be bothered to be civil with him, and my voice was cold without a hint of emotion.

“I'd like to talk to you, Anna. I'm waiting below your office. I know you've been working overtime in the past few days.”

On the other end of the phone, Justin sounded much gentler than usual. In the past, I would've been jumping with joy if he wanted to see me, but there wasn't the tiniest spark of delight within me now as I no longer loved him.

“There's nothing to talk about between us. I don't want to see you,” I declined without an ounce of hesitation.

It's over between the two of us, so there's no need for us to contact each other anymore.

After saying that, I hung up on him without giving him an opportunity to speak.

When I was done straightening the documents on my table, I turned off the lights and left.

It was already ten o'clock, so there wasn't a single soul left in the company besides the guard at the entrance.

As the cold breeze blew past, I tightened my jacket around me. Then, I stopped by the side of the road to hail a taxi.

There were few taxis since it was late at night. Standing by the road, I waited anxiously.

“Anna.”

Someone nearby called out my name just when I saw a taxi approaching in the near distance. I looked over my shoulder, and when I saw that it was Justin, my hackles instantly rose.

Ignoring him, I stretched out a hand and hailed the taxi. When the taxi came to a stop in front of me, I opened the car door to get in, but Justin blocked me.

“I've got something to say to you, Anna,” he asserted urgently as he grabbed my arm.

Upon seeing his face inches from mine, fury welled within me, or to be more precise, it was sheer revulsion.

Shaking off his hand forcefully, I put some distance between us and stared at him coldly. “Why do you keep hounding me when there's nothing to be said between us?”

In the past, my heart would start racing every time I saw him. That had never changed even after having been together for seven years. But now, I felt nothing for him save repulsion and disgust.

“Anna, I know you hate me, but I don't want us to be enemies. Would you please give me a chance to say a few words to you?”

With a hand on the door of the taxi, Justin regarded me anxiously, his gaze frantic.

My wrath blazed hotter upon hearing that. Good grief! He actually has the temerity to utter such a remark when our relationship is now in shambles? Hah! I never knew that he's actually such a shameless man!

“I don't hate you. I'm just sickened by you because I no longer have any feelings for you!”

I eyed him coldly, my voice coated with frost.

Indeed, I admit that I hated him in the beginning for betraying me, forsaking the relationship that we had for all these years, and most importantly, hooking up with my best friend. However, that was just when it all started to go downhill. Now that I no longer love him, there's no need for me to hate him anymore. In fact, I find it troublesome to even hate him.

“Hey! Are you getting in or what? Stop wasting my time if you're not!”

The taxi driver's impatient voice split the air just when Justin was about to say something else.

“I'm sorry, mister, but she doesn't need your services anymore.”

After saying that to the taxi driver, Justin yanked me to his side and slammed the door of the taxi shut.

“Mister, wait...”