NovelEnglish
Chapter 533
Once the couple was gone, Zoe looked away only to meet Daniel's gaze. She cleared her throat and
pulled her hand away. "It's not that serious. I can walk by myself. You don't have to—"
"I can hold you in my arms if you'd like."
Zoe whispered, "Please don't."
Daniel propped her up and helped her walk, and they left the hospital.
Zoe stared outside the window on the way back. She had nothing to say to Daniel. Once she was
home, she lay on the bed and took the pills and glass of water from Daniel. After she took her pills, she
said, "Thanks. There's nothing for you to do here anymore, so you can go back now."
Daniel tucked her in. "I'm not leaving."
Zoe sat up. "What?"
Daniel held her shoulders and pushed her back down gently. "You need to rest for a bit. Doctor's
orders. I'll be taking care of you. I'll sleep on the couch outside. I won't get in your way."
Zoe quickly waved her hands. "It's alright. Nana sent one of her servants here to take care of me. She's
a good cook. I appreciate the thought, but I don't need it, Daniel."
"She can make breakfast and lunch for you. But what about dinner? Or supper."
"I can—"
Daniel continued, "And you don't have to trouble anyone if you have me."
Zoe frowned. She was about to say something, but Daniel interjected, "And this is my responsibility
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇttoo."
Zoe lay back down. "True." We both had fun. I can't be the only one to take the pain. What's more, I
don't want to trouble Alice. I'm not the one paying her after all.
Daniel smiled and took the glass. "I'm going now. Call me if you need anything."
"Sure."
Daniel turned the lights off, and Zoe heard him closing the door. She turned to her side and stared
outside the window where the streetlamp shone.
Daniel placed the glass on the dining table and turned off the rest of the lights in the house. He then lay
on the couch. It was a small couch, so he felt cramped sleeping on it. He turned around and curled his
legs up, then he hugged his shoulders and closed his eyes.
…
When Leanna got to the company the next morning, a worried Raymond hurried over to her. "We have
trouble, Miss McKinney."
"What is it?"
Raymond was hesitant to talk, but a few moments later, he said, "Mr. Ollander went for a negotiation
last night. He had too much to drink, and…"
He had too much to drink? I have a bad feeling about this, and Raymond is looking worried. Leanna
tensed up. "And then what?"
Raymond lowered his voice, "And he sexually assaulted one of the waitresses. The girl just got out of
college, and she's threatening to call the cops."
Leanna slammed the table and shot up from her seat, shaking with rage. "You knew the b*stard would
do this. Why didn't you stop him?"
Raymond fidgeted. "I left early because I had something to do. I-I didn't expect this to happen. A-And it
isn't the first time he has done this. I-I thought he would have known better."
Rage flowed through Leanna like lava. She clenched her teeth so hard that she could crush them. "It
wasn't his first time?"
"Things like this would happen back in Mr. Crossley's time, but usually the partnering company would
arrange everything before Mr. Ollander made his way there. Maybe they didn't coordinate things
properly this time."
"Didn't coordinate things properly?" Leanna laughed mirthlessly. "Do you really think that's an excuse?
That girl just graduated college. She's young enough to be your daughter!"
Raymond heaved a sigh. "I know it's unacceptable to you, Miss McKinney, but this is unavoidable in
our line of work. As long as consent is given and the terms are agreed to, nothing would happen."
Coldly, Leanna said, "Unavoidable? I never heard scandals like these happening in Pearson."
"Um…" Raymond hesitated for a moment, then he answered, "It used to happen a lot, but Mr. Pearson
saw it once, and he got rid of almost everyone who was involved. Since then, nobody has tried to do
things like this anymore."
"So, you're saying this happens because the management is weak." Leanna calmed down a lot. "So,
Leroy allowed something like this to happen."
Raymond nodded. A moment later, he said, "Mr. Ollander has been working for Mr. Crossley a long
time now, so Mr. Crossley is biased toward him. As long as he didn't cause any big problems, Mr.
Crossley would turn a blind eye to what was happening."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLeanna closed her eyes and leaned on her chair. "So, what's the situation now?"
"The news is still under wraps. Miss McKinney, we worked hard to get the company back on track. If
this scandal breaks out, it would hurt our image a lot, so…"
Leanna finished his sentence for him, "So you want to buy our way out."
Raymond said nothing, but his silence was an answer.
"Where's Jimmy?"
"He went home late last night. I haven't been able to reach him."
Leanna sneered. "So, he's dumping his problem on me?" If this scandal were to break out, the
company's reputation—which everyone spent a lot of effort rebuilding—would plummet again. So, he's
hiding because he thinks I will settle this. "Go to his place and tell him either he shows up by afternoon,
or I'm calling the cops."
"But Miss McKinney—"
"The company is already in jeopardy, and yet he still pulled a stunt that would push us further over the
edge. I'm not the one at fault. He is. Why should I clean his mess up? And besides, he wasn't afraid
when he sexually assaulted a woman. At least have some guts to face the consequences, don't you
think?" If Leanna could kill Jimmy right now, she would have.
Raymond nodded. "I'm going right now, Miss McKinney."
After he left, Leanna massaged her temples and rested for five minutes before she summoned Richard.
Holding her fury back, she asked, "I assume you've heard of Jimmy's case?"
"Just a few minutes ago, yes."
"So, what do you think? Should we buy our way out?"
Richard mused over his answer. "From the company's point of view, that's the best way out given our
situation."
"What about your personal point of view?"
Visit our social media platform to read fascinating stories every day and connect with the community!
