Chapter 202
Chapter 0202
Yvonne, her grandfather’s situation, work–related issues, and the complexities with Alex and Sonia –
there were truly too many things pressing on Candice. She felt pushed to the brink of
collapse.
Yet, she did not even have the privilege to give in right now.
She was already alone, and if she were to fall, who would be there to pull her back up?
No one.
There would be no one.
She only had herself.
Candice’s delicate fingers gripped the steering wheel. She listened to the cold and indifferent voice on
the other end of the phone. “Candice, don’t you find yourself ridiculous?”
She felt like she was drowning.
The next moment, Alex’s emotionless words cthrough the phone. “You have five minutes to
get upstairs.”
He ended the call abruptly.
Candice lowered her gaze to the box beside her. The charm from her grandfather was on the top.
“Cosette” had been written on it in her grandfather’s handwriting. It was the middle nhe had
chosen for her, saying it meant “people of victory” in Greek. However, her grandmother had objected to
it, saying that Cosette meant “little thing” in French and that it was a bad name.
When Candice went upstairs, she bumped into many people leaving work, and sgreeted her.
Sonia was among them, looking like she wanted to say something. She hesitated, and Candice ignored
her, heading straight to Alex’s office.
As she stepped into the elevator, she overheard Sonia saying, “Shouldn’t the company’s security be
strengthened? It seems like anyone can just cin.”
Candice footsteps n
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtonly for a split second.
When she reached the President’s Office, she bumped into Sawyer carrying sdocuments. He did
not seem surprised to see Candice, just nodded in acknowledgement before leaving.
Candice paused to calm down before she pushed the door open. Alex was on a call inside. He stood
by the window, his expression cool yet dashing.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, he swept her a glance before averting his gaze.
Candice stood rooted to her spot, not knowing what she should do. She could only lower her gaze and
watch the documents laid on Alex’s desk in a daze.
They were data sheets she had gathered and arranged neatly when she was working on the Blue
Artifact project.
Sonia had taken them when she left.
“Since you are here to make a request of me, when are you going to ask properly?” Alex
approached her after the phone call ended. He casually put his phone on the table as his deep, dark
gaze landed on Candice.
Candice bit the bottom of her lip. “I’ve said it before, I am willing to do anything as long as you
help me.”
Alex sneered as he raised his chin slightly. “Do I have to–beg you for it?”
as were
Candice froze as she looked at Alex. He was expressionless and only his deep, cold eyes
staring at her.
She really did not know what else she could do.
She had always been passive and never seemed to have taken the initiative with Alex.
She had always been obedient and tame.
She did nothing for a long time. Alex’s expression slowly darkened and he rose from his seat,
about to leave.
As he passed by Candice, he lowered his gaze and spoke indifferently. “If you.cannot let go of
your useless pride, then don’t act all righteous. Candice, just stop it.”
He was about to leave, but as he walked by her, she grabbed his wrist.
Candice’s hand was shaking a little, but she tried to pretend to be calm as she held onto Alex.
From his wrist, moved her hand to his palm and fingers, wrapping her hand around his finger.
She spoke in a barely audible whisper. “Alex, can you please help me?”
She suddenly recalled that a very long tago, when she had wanted Alex’s help she just had to
soften her stance and hook one of his fingers and he would agree.
+15 BONOS
Now they were practically facing in opposite directions, and she could not see his expression.
He said nothing, so she tried a gentle tug on his finger. “Alex, could you?”
Alex did not speak and just as she thought he would agree, her hand was suddenly flung away.
“Candice, you are really good at putting up an act,” he sneered.
Candice’s expression froze. The words that were at the tip of her tongue were unable to form no matter
how hard she tried.
Alex swept her a glance, leaving without an expression.
When Candice went downstairs, her expression was not great. She bumped into Kayla as she
returned from her meeting.
Kayla saw Candice coming down and a hint of puzzlement flitted across her face, but she did not ask.
“Candice, do you see this? You’ve only just left and we’re already being worked like slaves.
We still have to work overtextremely late.”
Candice looked at the documents in her hands, forcing a better expression out. “Has there been a
new project in the company?”
“Isn’t this all for Blue Artifact?” Kayla felt helpless. “It was just announced this morning that the
collaboration with Blue Artifact would be handled by Julie. She’s domineering and fast, that’s why we’re
being dragged around, and having to attend all kinds of meetings.”
Candice recalled when she first saw Sonia in the office. According to the celebratory dinner a few days
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmago, she had thought that Sonia would be in charge of Blue Artifact. After all, Alex had been protecting
Sonia from the beginning to the end when it cto Blue Artifact.
“Is Julie going to be guiding Sonia too?” she asked Kayla.
Kayla pouted. “Why would Ms. Summers need to work hard like us? She could sit in the office messing
around and she would still be able to get the ssalary.”
Kayla’s dissatisfaction with Sonia was clear, but Candice knew that it was not good to gossip, so she
did not continue the conversation.
In the afternoon, Candice went to the north of the city for a maintenance appointment. She had only
received notification of it the previous day.
+15 BONOS
Candice had already decided to quickly tidy the house in the Northdale. Without taking into account
other matters, her grandfather likely also wanted to return to live there.
Kayla originally wanted to have lunch together, but Candice had rejected her.
She drove to Northdale, spending the whole afternoon cleaning up the old house.
Yvonne called her while she was cleaning up, but she had been washing the toilet and missed the
phone ringing. Later she saw the missed call and ignored it.
Internally, she felt troubled. The moment she quietened down, all kinds of thoughts bombarded
her. She could not help but want to find things to keep her occupied.
Candice stayed in Northdale till evening. When she left, she realized that it had started drizzling.
Candice looked at the dreary sky and found that she could not even find anything to feel.
Like a numb robot, she hit the accelerator and drove to the hospital.
She had just left the district gate when Dr. Brooks’s call cin.
The moment Candice saw that it was a call from Dr. Brooks, she felt nervous. Her breathing quickened
before she picked up the call.
Dr. Brooks‘ urgent voice sounded the moment it went through. “Cto the hospital now.
Immediately.”
Candice felt her heart sink, and her hand felt weak.
She forced herself to calm down. “Did something happen?”
“It’s to do with your grandfather’s surgery. You better cto the hospital now.”