The Ex and Her Riches
Chapter 456

Chapter 456

Kieran did not reach out to take them, nor did he respond.

Looking closely at his expression, Inez arched an eyebrow. “If you feel you don’t have what it takes toendure this harsh seven-day trial period, you can throw in the towel at any time and return to where youbelong.”

He rose to his feet immediately, strode over to her, and took the thick stack of documents. “I won’tthrow in the towel. You don’t have to worry about that, Ms. Mossey.”

If I can’t complete it in time, the worst that can happen to me is a humiliating beating. However, if I don’tagree to do it, it’ll be the equivalent of rejecting Inez’s test. That will only put more distance between usand make it even more difficult to pursue her.

Kieran carried the documents back to his desk. He began translating the contents without any rest andtyping them out.

She suppressed a smile while observing his intent and solemn expression.

The pair quickly fell back to work. Neither spoke again to disrupt the peaceful silence, and theatmosphere in the office was very harmonious.

When lunchtime rolled around two and a half hours later, Inez stood up, smoothed the hem of her tight-fitting skirt, and turned toward him. “Mr. Kieran, no matter how busy we are, we shouldn’t forget to havelunch. Are you coming?”

Despite his efforts, he had only finished translating nine of the files. With his mind still preoccupied withwork, he answered without a second thought, “I’m not hungry yet.”

Her face fell when she heard his reply. What an idiot.

Shaking her head in exasperation, she turned and headed toward the door.

Suddenly, he was struck with the belated realization that her words had seemed to carry a subtext.Was she inviting me to have lunch with her?

Pushing aside his mouse and keyboard, he hurried after her. “Ms. Mossey, I’m new here and still notfamiliar with the area. Could I join you for lunch?”

Inez continued walking forward without pausing. She shot him a sidelong glance and replied, “As asecretary on your first day of work here, are you actually asking your immediate superior to treat you toa meal? Mr. Kieran, you sure know how to put on airs.”

He fell silent while what little emotional intelligence cells he had turned in his mind, trying to think of thebest response. “What I meant was for you to take me out to lunch, but I’ll pay.”

She shot a few curious glances before uttering a rare word of praise, “That sounds interesting. You’reusually so aloof and reticent, so I can’t believe you’d say something so agreeable. You’ve improved.Not bad.”

Kieran’s lips curved into a smile, and his heart somersaulted in joy.

The next moment, however, she continued, “But didn’t you say you have no money after losing yourphone and wallet, so you’re putting up at my place for now? How are you going to pay for my meal?With your face? Or do you mean to say that your missing wallet will somehow appear out of thin airlater?”

His face paled slightly, and he became tongue-tied. Did I slip up? Did Inez guess that somethingdoesn’t add up?

Sure enough, her expression darkened as she said in a soft, sarcastic tone, “You’re still tooinexperienced, Mr. Kieran. You didn’t go all out to act pitiful. You need to put on a more convincing act.”

He stared at her wordlessly.

Looking away, Inez walked straight into the elevator.

Inside the elevator, they did not utter a single word to each other, and a slight tension hung in the air.

Having put in all that effort to make a good impression only to have things jump back to square one,Kieran found it hard to accept the setback.

He explained, “When I stayed over at the Mossey residence, I didn’t have my wallet or phone. I wasalso caught in the rain all night. I didn’t lie to you.”

Nonetheless, she was unmoved. “My parents were the ones who agreed to let you stay over. It’suseless to explain the situation to me. I won’t believe it.”

Ding!

When the elevator arrived at the designated floor, she stepped out first in her high heels.

“Inez…” He caught up to her, thinking to give it another shot and explain himself again.

“Call me Ms. Mossey,” she uttered without so much as a glance in his direction.

“Of course, Ms. Mossey. Regarding this matter, I—”

“We’re at the office. We don’t talk about personal matters at work. Please be more mindful of thesetting when you speak.”

Is she trying to keep me silent on this? Left with no other choice, he could only follow closely behindher.

Over in Salinsburgh, the atmosphere at Harrick Villa was very unusual as Gwendolyn had not taken theinitiative to say anything since their return the previous night up until lunchtime.

Cedrick sighed quietly. Fortunately, I know she’s just worried about Treyton. If I didn’t know better, I’dhave thought she was sulking because of me again.

“Stop worrying and have something to eat first, Gwenny. We can discuss a solution later.”

He ladled some fish stew he had made into a bowl and set it in front of her, but she did not drink it. Asolemn expression still creased her brows as she said, “I asked Elven to contact Craig this morning. Iwanted to meet with Mrs. Newton at the Newton residence and visit Jennifer at the same time, butCraig refused.” She stared at the food before her, lost in thought and upset. “Even when I wanted tomake an appointment to meet with Craig, he declined, saying he had something important at work anddidn’t have time.”

Nudging the bowl of stew toward her, he said, “I can talk to Craig. He can choose not to meet you, buthe has to come and see me. Drink some stew first, Gwenny. Leave everything else to me.”

His words made her feel much more at ease. Thus was the beauty of having someone to rely on.

Later that afternoon, Cedrick contacted Craig. However, the latter was on duty in the suburbs indeedand did not have any free time.

“Gwenny, I’ve informed Craig to come to Harrick Villa and meet with me tomorrow. You can talk to himthen.”

“Okay,” she replied. “How are things with Treyton? Is he behaving himself?”

“I’ve checked on that. He’s been quite good for the time being. He hasn’t caused a scene, but therehaven’t been sounds of him cooking either. He probably hasn’t eaten anything,” Cedrick answered.

Gwendolyn furrowed her brows, feeling a little frustrated. “Is he deliberately going on a hunger strike?Forget about him. He won’t starve to death from not eating anything for a couple of days. Besides,before we resolve the problem regarding Jennifer, he won’t bear to let himself die.”

Cedrick nodded. Drawing her into his arms, he rubbed his cheek against her neck and nuzzled heraffectionately. In a hoarse voice, he said, “It’s rare that we get half a day off work. I heard that yourperiod has ended. This afternoon, shall we—”

Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Gwendolyn pushed him away by his forehead. “Don’t youknow anything? We can only do it two days after it has ended.”

Her response rendered him speechless.

Meanwhile, back at Mossey Corporation, Kieran had wasted no time in hurrying back to the office afterlunch. Even if it meant his hands would be limp from all the typing, he did not stop working.

Seeing that he was so diligent that he did not even drink a sip of water, Inez could not help wonderingwhether she had gone a little too far with her request.

She went to pour him a glass of warm water and carried it over to his desk. Her gaze swept over theremaining files that had yet to be translated.

There was one hour to go before their working hours ended, and he only had three files left. He hadalready translated over forty documents.

He had actually almost finished translating such a large amount of data in one day, and she could nothelp feeling astonished. His capabilities are truly remarkable! Alas, he doesn’t have much interest in

the business world. Otherwise, he’d probably be a formidable figure in the industry.

Noticing her gazing at him from the side, Kieran stopped what he was doing and turned to stare at her.“What’s the matter? Did I make a mistake?”

Inez lightly clicked her tongue twice. “Nope. You’re very competent, Mr. Kieran. It appears I won’t beable to help you fulfill your childhood wish after all.”

Smiling awkwardly, she turned and returned to her desk.

However, Kieran fell into deep thought as he looked at her. Does that mean she was looking forward topunishing me? That makes sense. She suffered a lot when pursuing me for a year previously and hadto put up with how coldly I treated her. Now that the tables have finally turned, it only seems right thatshe should give me a good beating to make up for what she went through.

As that thought crossed his mind, he quietly deleted the three documents he had just translated andcleared the recycle bin on his computer.

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