Chapter 232

Cynthia propped herself up on her arms, staring at him like a lazy cat. “So you were just pretending earlier, right? You knew Shirley was spying on us, so you played along.”

“I was indeed very angry, and I was indeed pretending,” he said.

That made sense to Cynthia. Usually, when she initiated a kiss, he would quickly take control. However, when they were in her room earlier, he let her kiss him for a while, being gentle and compliant.

Cynthia smirked. “By the way, why did you agree to let Shirley work at HJ? What job do you plan to give her?”

Jonathan rubbed Cynthia’s head. “Don’t worry about it. You need to vent, and so do I.”

The next day, Shirley arrived at the BJ Building bright and early. After being slapped three times yesterday, her face was still a bit swollen, but it didn’t dampen her spirits. She had been humiliated on Instagram, enduring countless insults. She had firmly etched that grudge in her heart. She thought, "Just you wait, Cynthia. No matter what, I won’t let you marry Jonathan smoothly.”

She believed that as long as she was near Jonathan, she would have plenty of opportunities to rise in status, even if it meant using underhanded tactics.

Holding her head high, Shirley entered the BJ Building. Having worked in the secretarial department before, she was quite familiar with the place.

She was about to head straight to Jonathan’s office when several receptionists stopped her. “Who are you looking for, ma'am? Do you have an appointment?”

Shirley puffed up with arrogance. “Do I need an appointment?”

The receptionists didn’t recognize her. “Sorry, without an appointment, you can’t go up.”

“Do you know who I am? Do you know my relationship with your boss?” Shirley demanded.

The young receptionists looked her up and down. Despite her designer clothes, Shirley’s demeanor and taste were terrible. Her face was covered in thick makeup, and her swollen cheeks made her look tacky. Her presence hardly suggested any connection to Jonathan.

The receptionists exchanged glances, unimpressed. “Many people come looking for Mr. Bennett every day. Who do you think you are? No appointment, no entry.”

Shirley was infuriated and quickly pulled out her phone. “Just wait and see, you all will regret this. You’d better be just as arrogant when you see Mr. Bennett.”

Shirley’s words made the receptionists uneasy. They thought, “Is it possible this woman really has a connection with Mr. Bennett? Does she have Mr. Bennett’s number? Could she be someone important? I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before… Wait, do you remember Victoria? She got fired for stopping a woman from going up. That woman turned out to be Mr. Bennett’s fiancée!”

Thinking about that incident made them anxious. They worried that if Jonathan found out, he would fire them.

Shirley confidently called Jonathan, using the number she’d seen Justin write down yesterday during dinner. She was certain she would soon be spending every day with him. She shot a fierce glare at the four receptionists, who were now huddled together, whispering and casting doubtful glances her way. She thought, “I’m going to teach those girls a lesson later. How dare they bully me like Cynthia does?” However, as time ticked by, the call didn’t go through.

Shirley felt increasing unease, visibly panicking.

The receptionists, noticing the unanswered call, realized what was happening. One of the bolder ones approached and mocked, “You’re not lying, are you? Mr. Bennett never gives strangers his number.”

Shirley defended herself. “It’s true. It is Mr. Bennett’s number.”

“Please, we’ve seen this act before, and honestly, you’re the worst at it.”

“I’m not lying! Jonathan agreed yesterday to let me be his secretary. Just wait, once I become his secretary, I’ll be the first to have you all fired!” Shirley insisted.

Seeing Shirley’s frantic expression, the receptionists were even more convinced she was lying. She seemed like a crazy girl to them. “Come on, everyone knows that Mr. Bennett’s only secretary is Mr. Gaston. How can you take his position?”

One receptionist shook her head and clicked her tongue.

Shirley was infuriated. She thought, “How could these receptionists look down on me, the proud daughter of the Jones family? Right, Mr. Gaston! I can call him!”

She had his number from when she'd worked for Claude on Rachel's case.

Shirley called him quickly, feeling a surge of confidence. The call went through almost immediately. “Mr. Gaston, this is Shirley Jones. I need you to come down and pick me up now!”

A few seconds later, Shirley hung up with a smug look. She sneered at the receptionists. “You’re done. I’ll have you pack your things and go home any minute now.”

The receptionists exchanged uncertain glances. One, skeptical, scoffed, “Do you think you can just order Mr. Gaston around? I’ll be waiting to see if he actually shows up.” She thought, “Everyone knows Mr. Gaston is a big deal at BJ and second only to Mr. Bennett. Who could possibly give him orders except Mr. Bennett? Did she have the nerve to speak to him like that?”

However, a few minutes later, Claude arrived. The receptionists immediately panicked.

Dressed in a suit, Claude approached calmly. “What happened, Ms. Jones?”

At that moment, Shirley’s smugness reached an all-time high. She looked down at the receptionists proudly. “Mr. Gaston, I find these people quite annoying. Please kick them out of BJ.”

Chapter 233

This cleaned-up version improves grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure for better readability. Italicized phrases indicate Shirley's internal thoughts.