Chapter 38: It's A Small World For Enemies
Chapter 38: It's A Small World For Enemies
Alvera smiled indifferently. "Really? I don't think I'm losing out, though. Mental torment is much worse
than physical torment."
"Some people have no conscience. Also, physical torment is much worse."
Her expression stayed indifferent. "When you get used to the pain, it's easy to ignore it."
Roland looked at her with a sense of irritation.
He knew what she meant by getting used to the pain.
He had not forgotten the scars he had seen on her last night.
He quickly applied the ointment on her face and averted his gaze, his brows furrowed.
"You drive," he told her.
Alvera was not happy that he had just sent his driver away and expected her to drive him around.
She opened the door, got off the car and switched to the driver's seat. Then she drove the car to the
company.
When they arrived at the company's parking lot, Terry was already waiting in Roland's designated
parking space.
Roland got out of the car, glanced at him and said, "Call the Human Resources Department and get
Alvera a position in the Administrative Department."
Terry nodded and said, "Yes."
"Oh, by the way, there's no need to explain her relationship with me. I don't need her using social
connections to climb the ladder here."
"All right."
After saying that, Roland glanced at Alvera and walked towards the elevator.
Terry turned back and said to Alvera, "Give it a couple of minutes, then you can go ahead and meet the
Head of the Human Resources Department."
Alvera smiled at Terry and nodded, "Thank you."
After they left, Alvera counted about five minutes on her watch before taking the elevator up.
She was given a position in the Administrative Department and was assigned a mentor by her
manager.
She spent the entire morning familiarizing herself with the company's operations.
As soon as Roland stepped into his office, he told Terry, "Go and find and find an excuse to check on
Alvera later."
"Yes, sir."
"How's the investigation going?"
"There were no surveillance cameras at the beach that night, and we did not find anything suspicious in
the available surveillance footage of the surrounding areas. The investigation has hit a dead end."
"Then check every car that has been to the area and find the culprits."
"Yes, I'll handle it as soon as possible."
"Right." He hesitated for a moment and said, "Send someone to ask around at the prison to find out if
Alvera had been abused."
The three things he had talked about so far had all been about Alvera.
Terry was puzzled. He wondered why his boss had left Alvera in the parking lot just now if he was so
concerned about her.
"Okay, that's all from me. You can leave now," Roland instructed.
"Yes, sir."
At noon, the manager called Alvera into her office for an evaluation.
Alvera was able to answer all her questions about the company perfectly. Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
Chloe nodded and said, "That's good enough. You can follow Patrick when he's out purchasing in the
afternoon. Learn as much as you can. We don't feed rats that cut corners in this department."
"Got it, Manager Scott."
Alvera found Patrick, her mentor, still waiting for her when she came out of the manager's office.
"Let's have lunch together, newbie."
Alvera grabbed her bag and followed him. "I should treat you to lunch to thank you for guiding me."
Patrick looked at her and smiled. "You're a nice girl, but no thanks. You just started here, and you
haven't even gotten your first salary. I'd feel bad if you paid for my lunch. You can treat me after you're
paid."
Alvera pressed her lips together. At 29, Patrick was around her age, so she found it easy to get along
with him.
They had a simple lunch of pasta and coffee.
"Alvera, you just graduated, right?"
Alvera paused for a while then smiled without saying anything.
"I see you're still quite young, so let me just give you some advice," he said. "Don't talk too much in the
office. The Admin Department is mostly made up of women, so there's a lot of gossiping going on. It's
better if you don't involve yourself in these gossips unless you want to get yourself in trouble."
Alvera nodded. This was a very good advice. "Thank you for the advice, Patrick."
"Eat up."
She smiled at him before lowering her head to finish her meal.
In the CEO office, Roland's expression was stoic and chilly.
Terry stood before him nervously. "Boss, maybe you should eat first."
...
There were two packed lunches on the coffee table.
Just now, Terry saw Alvera leave for lunch with a male co-worker when he went down to bring her up
for lunch.
...
When he reported this to his boss, Roland's expression was as dark as thunder and he did not move
from his chair.
"Take the food away."
Terry exhaled and said, "Yes."
After lunch, Alvera returned to the office with Patrick.
They were both waiting for the elevator to come up from the parking lot in the basement.
When the elevator arrived and the doors opened, Patrick bowed respectfully to the person inside. "Ms.
Earhart."
Alvera frowned as she eyed Andrina, who was holding a lunchbox. "It's a small world for enemies," she
thought to herself.
Andrina was also looking at Alvera, masking the shock from her face.
Alvera followed Patrick into the elevator, which was silent for the entire ride.
They exited at the ninth floor.
As the elevator door closed behind them, Andrina clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. The fact that
Alvera was working here was a complete surprise to her.
"That was Ms. Earhart, our CEO's future wife," Patrick told Alvera as they walked back to the office.
"You should greet her if you see her in the future."
Alvera pursed her lips and nodded with a smile. "Okay."
Andrina entered Roland's office.
Roland looked up from his desk. "Why are you here?"
She raised the lunchbox she was carrying and shook it lightly. "If you can't come visit me, then I'll come
visit you."
She walked over with a smile. "Have you eaten yet?"
"I have. You should've called before you came."
Andrina pouted. "I thought you haven't eaten yet. That's fine, you can watch me eat, but don't steal my
food!"
Roland gave her a half-hearted smile, but he did not move.
Andrina opened the lunchbox and took a couple of bites before saying, "I met Alvera in the elevator just
now."
...
Roland raised his eyebrows, "What did she say to you this time?"
"She didn't. She didn't talk to me. I think she's pretending that she doesn't know me."
"Yeah, I told her to do that. She's obedient in that sense."
"Roland, is Alvera working here?"
"Yes, I've assigned her to the Administrative Department." Roland looked Andrina, as if he didn't find
anything wrong with that.
Alvera felt a little disappointed. Roland hadn't discussed this with her.
"Roland, Alvera risked her life for me. You did the right thing giving her a job," she said.
Roland lighted a cigarette and crossed his ams while looking at her.
"But... wouldn't it be bad if people knew about this?" Andrina continued. "No one else knows that the
two of you are married. Wouldn't it be better to keep a low profile?"
"She needs a job, I gave her a job. We're strictly strangers here in the company, there's nothing to
hide."
"But..."
"You're thinking too much. I know what you're worried about, Andrina, but I don't like having to explain
myself over and over again. It's your choice whether you believe me or not, but I do not like people
influencing my decision. You should know that."
Andrina nodded. "I'm not trying to influence your decision. I was just saying that if Alvera needed a job,
I could arrange something for her in our family business since she saved my life, not yours."
"It would also be easier for her to work with us," she added. "She grew up in the Earhart family, so she
should be able to learn quickly. I can also get her a better position."
"So you think I shouldn't help you repay her kindness, or are you just not happy with her position? I
could promote her if you like. Garry from the secretary office is going on paternal leave soon, she could
take his place."
Andrina frowned. "We shouldn't take this lightly. Alvera won't be able to take up the responsibilities of a
secretary. I think it's better to leave her where she is now."
As soon as she left the Empire Group, Andrina pulled out her phone and called Luna to let her know
about Alvera.
Luna laughed. "Don't worry, if Roland arranged this, don't go against him. I have a way to make Alvera
quit on her own accord."
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Alvera was market sourcing with Patrick at the wholesale market
when her phone suddenly rang.
...
Seeing that it was Roland, she excused herself and went to a side to pick up the call.
"Hello."
"Where are you?"
"At the wholesale market, learning about purchasing."
"Come back now."
Alvera was exasperated. "I am working, I can't go back."
"I own the company, I make the decisions."
"Roland Francois, you were the one who told me to treat you as a stranger. Why would I drop
everything and attend to a stranger? I'm sorry, but I'm really busy now." She hung up the phone without
waiting for him to reply.
...
It was quite cathartic, hanging up the phone on him.
After all, there weren't many opportunities like this.
She returned to Patrick and resumed listening to him telling her about procuring stationery and other
office products for the company.
A while later, Patrick's phone rang.
He picked up the call. "Hello, Manager Scott."
"The CEO office is missing a driver and needs someone from our department to take over. Send Alvera
since she has a license."
"Now?" he asked.
"Yes, right now."
"All right."
After hanging up the phone, Patrick said to Alvera, "You have a new job now. The CEO office needs a
driver, and the manager is asking for you to go."
Alvera felt like that was a low blow for Roland to misuse his power like this.
She took a taxi and went back to the basement parking of the company, where Roland was already
sitting in his car.
...
Alvera opened the door and sat in the driver's seat. She looked at him while putting on her seatbelt and
asked, "Where do you need to go, dear Mr. Francois?"
He looked at her and smirked with a smug expression. "Let's go have dinner. I'm hungry."