Chapter 11: Be Mindful of Your Place

“Are you saying I’m not worthy of you?” Xavier asked.

“What do you think?” Josephine retorted.

He laughed derisively. “Yes, I’m not worthy with my lowly status. But why date an ex-convict instead of giving me a chance? Am I lower than an ex-convict?”

His tone turned harsh. Josephine frowned. “Who I date is none of your business. You have no right to question me.”

“Do you know Jared? He’s not only an ex-convict, but a Lothario! He already has a girlfriend! You’ve been duped!” He produced his phone, showing her photos of Jared with a woman.

Josephine’s expression grew grim as she stared at the photos. Xavier, pleased with her reaction, added, “This is Hilda Wallace, his girlfriend. Childhood sweethearts, now colleagues at Sentiment Chemical Limited. He even recommended her for the job!”

Josephine remained silent.

“My feelings are genuine, Josephine. I’d never deceive you. What’s so great about him? How is he better than me?”

He poured out his heart. Then, unexpectedly, Josephine slapped him hard across the face.

Stunned, Xavier gaped at her. “How dare you secretly take photos of Jared? Did you think this would make me acceptable? You’re wrong! I believe him, and I don’t need your photos! You wanted to know how he’s better? Fine. You can’t hold a candle to him!”

Josephine grabbed her bag, stood, and left. Xavier rubbed his burning cheek, a vicious glint entering his eyes.

“You’re forcing my hand, Josephine! You drove me to this!” he hissed.

After Josephine left the restaurant, she worried despite her earlier claim of unconcern. She knew women were envious; seeing her man with another would inevitably cause conflict.

She called Jared immediately. She’d been busy searching for medicinal herbs and hadn’t contacted him. She never expected this.

Jared was having lunch with Hilda and Maria at a roadside stall near the office due to a short break. Seeing Josephine’s call, he stepped aside to answer.

“Where are you?” Josephine demanded.

“I—I’m at home!” Jared lied, unwilling to reveal he worked at her company. He planned to resign soon after gathering herbs and a spiritual brush to restore his mother’s sight. He needed to focus on training before July 15th, a crucial deadline for reaching the required standard to go to Nameless Island.

Josephine suppressed her fury. “At home? Okay, stay home.”

She hung up.

The passage has been cleaned up by:

• Correcting grammar: Minor grammatical errors have been fixed throughout.
• Improving sentence structure: Some sentences have been restructured for better flow and clarity.
• Removing unnecessary words and phrases: Redundant words and phrases have been removed.
• Standardizing punctuation: Punctuation has been reviewed and corrected for consistency.
• Removing the promotional text: The intrusive advertisement has been deleted.
• Consistent capitalization: Capitalization has been made consistent.

The cleaned-up version is more concise and reads more smoothly.