novelxo Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The dinner went on for almost two hours.
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And Jolene remained standing throughout it all.
Her back and knees ached from her rigid position. She discreetly turned and massaged her stiff muscles. ~
When it was time to serve the fruit platters for dessert, she quickly ducked into the bathroom.
Lathering her hands with soap, she scrubbed and scrubbed at her soiled dress. She tirelessly wrung out the fabric with a wad of paper towels before crouching under the hand dryers. Her body strained from being at an odd angle.
During this, Viona and her sister, Sophie, entered the bathroom.
When they spotted Jolene, they paused behind her.
Sophie glanced at her stooped figure before turning to her sister. In a quiet voice that was still loud enough for Jolene to hear, she asked, “Why is this secretary at your
engagement party?”
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“She was invited by Mrs. Evert.”
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“The hotel has plenty of waiters. Why do we need her here?”
They freely spoke what was on their minds, but Jolene hardly lifted an eyebrow at their criticism.
She simply finished drying her clothes and swung open the door. Just as she’d stepped out, Viona followed behind her.
“Miss Marsh.”
Jolene stopped and looked back at her. “Miss Gellar.”
Her tone was flat yet polite, maintaining the distance that separated their statuses.
Viona flashed her an embarrassed grin. “I apologize, Miss Marsh. My sister’s still young and very outspoken.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she replied quickly. “Miss Gellar, you’re too polite.”
Back in the reserved room, the family dinner had finally come to a close.
Jolene trailed behind Mrs. Evert and graciously escorted the Gellar family out the door.
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Meanwhile, Viona stayed behind. Mrs. Evert had wanted her and Bowen to go to the movies.
After wrapping up the formalities, Jolene returned to bid goodbye to Mrs. Evert.
Before she could say anything, the woman slid a shiny, red envelope out of her bag and placed it into her hands.
“Thank you for your hard work this evening, Miss Marsh.”
Stealing a quick glance at the envelope, Jolene already knew that it contained a large amount of money.
She also knew the reason behind such a payment.
She didn’t bother trying to refuse and simply accepted it. “Thank you, Mrs. Evert.”
Mrs. Evert’s smile grew wider. She reached over and gently patted the back of Jolene’s hand.
“You don’t have a boyfriend yet, right?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“This is all your fault.” Mrs. Evert frowned and turned to her
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son, playfully lecturing him. “How can you work your employees to the bone, especially when Miss Marsh is at her prime? How can you keep her from finding love?”
All Jolene could do was lower her gaze and smile in feigned amusement.
Mrs. Evert continued, “Well, I have a good candidate for you. Our gardener’s son is twenty–nine years old, only a year older than Bowen. They’ve played together since they were little!”
She teemed with excitement, and she asked Bowen, “Do you remember, Bowen? Colin Barcy?”
Without waiting for his response, she kept going, “He used to work at Earth Group, but then he went on to open his own trading company for imports and exports. It’s not very big, but he’s very capable. If you succeed and become his partner, you’ll be the wife of a CEO. No matter how big or small the company is, what matters is that you’ll be at the top, right?”
Jolene attentively listened to the woman’s enthusiastic speech.
She simply smiled at the end of her words and agreed, “Yes, you’re right, Mrs. Evert.”
“Then I’ll speak to Dave later. He can talk to his son, and the
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two of you can meet tomorrow. So, it’s settled then?”
In her usual manner, Jolene kept her composure and maintained her smile, letting it reach her eyes.
“That sounds good, Mrs. Evert. I’ll leave it all to you, then.”
“Good, good.” Mrs. Evert’s eyes squinted from laughter, almost disappearing from sight. Clasping Jolene’s hands in her own, she said, “Miss Marsh, you’re a smart woman. You’ ́ ve got what it takes to be a future leader. You’ll have to be careful, Bowen. She might be a CEO’s wife soon!”