Chapter 11

The entire floor was quiet. Jeremiah led Abigail confidently to the door of the Development Lab and knocked a few times.

No one answered, but Jeremiah didn’t seem surprised. Before pushing the door open, he turned to Abigail and said, “Ms. Gibson, please wait here for a moment.”

“Okay,” Abigail replied.

She watched Jeremiah step inside, then turned and walked down the corridor. As she reached the door of another room, it suddenly opened from the inside.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” a man asked sharply.

Abigail took a step back, facing the middle-aged man standing in the doorway.

“Sorry, I’m here for work,” she said.

Timothy Newman frowned at her, clearly annoyed. “My department’s not hiring. Who brought you here?”

He looked irritated, and a flash of impatience passed through his eyes. ‘Another one trying to sneak in through connections,’ he thought.

“Mr. Newman, I was just looking for you,” Jeremiah called out as he stepped out of the Development Lab and saw Timothy speaking with Abigail. Jeremiah quickly walked over to stop the conversation.

“You brought her?” Timothy asked, shooting a glance at Jeremiah. “My department’s full. Take her somewhere else.”

Jeremiah looked helpless. ‘Can’t Timothy just let me finish?’ he thought.

“Let’s not get into that now. We’ll talk inside,” Jeremiah said, pushing Timothy back into the office. He turned.

The door shut again. Abigail turned and walked over to the Development Lab. The door was wide open, and she could see the computers inside.

She muttered to herself, “Top models. Wonder what the specs are like.”

“They’re great, of course,” someone said suddenly.

Abigail turned and saw a young man walking toward her. Leon Perry glanced at her with surprise in his eyes. “Hey, gorgeous. Are you looking for someone?”

“No, I’m here for work,” Abigail answered. Thinking back to Timothy’s reaction, she hesitated. “But your department manager might not agree.”

Leon was still surprised that such a pretty girl would want to work in their department, and then he heard that their manager didn’t agree to hire her.

Leon thought, ‘No way that’s happening.’ He immediately remarked, “Don’t worry, gorgeous. I’ll make sure Tim says yes.”

He thought, ‘It’s rare for us to have a girl join the department, and she’s so pretty. There’s no way I’m letting her slip away.’

The office door slammed open with a loud bang, cutting off Timothy and Jeremiah’s conversation.

Timothy glared at the doorway where Leon stood, his brows twitching hard. “Can’t you see I’m busy? Ever heard of knocking?”

“Jeremiah, that girl outside is really joining our department?” Leon’s eyes lit up.

Jeremiah nodded and shot Timothy a smug look. “Too bad your manager said no.”

Then he gave Timothy another look and thought, ‘Go ahead and say no again. I don’t believe for a second he’ll stick to that once Leon speaks up.’

“Tim, she’s already here. Just let her stay,” Leon said.

Timothy was about to turn him down when Leon added slowly, “I’ll finish two more modules tonight.”

Timothy’s eyes lit up. “You said it. No backing out.”

Without waiting for Leon’s reply, Timothy turned to Jeremiah. “Fine, that girl can stay for now. But let me be clear – if she behaves, she can stay. If she doesn’t, I’ll kick her out without hesitation.”

Rendered speechless, Jeremiah gave Timothy a look, thinking, ‘Kicking Abigail out? If she complains to the boss, he might be the one getting kicked out.’

“Make sure you give her a proper job,” Jeremiah said, then opened the door and walked out.

Abigail was standing outside with her head down, lost in thought.

“Ms. Gibson.” Jeremiah gave her a warm smile.

Abigail got straight to the point. “Did he agree?”

Jeremiah nodded. “He did. It was just a little misunderstanding earlier. Ms. Gibson, you can start work here without worry. I’ll head back now.”

Abigail nodded and watched him leave.

The office door opened again. Leon came out behind Timothy and shot Abigail a wink. “What’s your na—”

Timothy frowned as he looked at Abigail, already thinking about what to assign her.

“Abigail Gibson,” she replied.

Timothy gave a half-hearted nod. Seeing that, Leon suddenly spoke up, “There’s an empty spot next to my desk. She can sit there and help out with a few things.”

Timothy didn’t object. Leon jumped on the opportunity and offered to take Abigail over. Timothy, of course, knew exactly what Leon was up to. He glared at Leon and waved them off, grumbling, “Just go.”

Leon chuckled, gave Abigail a look, and quickly led her away.

He brought her to the Development Lab, walked over to a spot in the back, and pointed at a computer. “This is where I work, and now it’s yours too. Let’s make a good team.”

Abigail glanced at him and gave a small smile. “Sure.”

Meanwhile, Stephen’s car had just pulled up outside the company building.

“Dani, are you sure you don’t want me to come up with you?” Stephen looked at Daniella with concern.

“Stevie, I’ll be fine on my own,” Daniella’s voice was soft. “If you see Abby, please talk to her. If she’s willing to let me marry Ralphie, I’ll do anything she asks.”

Stephen’s expression darkened. “It’s not up to her. She has to give him up.”

He didn’t care at all that Abigail was his biological sister. Even his tone was harsh.

Daniella lowered her eyes, hiding the malice in them.

Chapter 12