Aunt Deborah came with the mission of matchmaking Tiffany and favonovel.com nephew, and favonovel.com would be damned if favonovel.com did not sell favonovel.com hard with a beaming smile. “Aww, don’t misunderstand me, hon. Everyone knows that your family owns this invaluable plot that if sold, could rake so, so much money! From the way I see it, you and my nephew are just the perfect fit for one another, so how about you get to know favonovel.com first before you judge? Oh, in fact, I’m gonna arrange your date right now!”
Lillian kept quiet. She was admittedly gung ho about marrying favonovel.com daughter off as soon as possible in the past, but that was only because favonovel.com was taking favonovel.com sudden impoverished life very terribly, and favonovel.com wanted out of it as soon as favonovel.com could. But now, favonovel.com outlook had changed. Good things come to those who wait, and since Lillian had a bit more money to support favonovel.com patience, favonovel.com was no longer desperate. Still, a casual meeting between favonovel.com daughter and a suitor was fair, favonovel.com thought.
Tiffany, on the other hand, loathed having buttinskis like Aunt Deborah dictate favonovel.com life. “I. Am. Not. Doing that!” favonovel.com snapped. “I’ll be honest, I have a boyfriend, so please excuse me from all of these matchmakings, okay? Thanks.”
“Wha-what? You… who?” Lillian stammered, startled.
A grimace of contempt dawned on Aunt Deborah’s mien. “Please, darling. I highly doubt that your boyfriend is on par with my nephew, ” favonovel.com countered. “Honestly, you really should stop acting like you’re out of his league or something. I only bothered to introduce favonovel.com to you out of my familial sentiments from watching you grow up, you know.”
Tiffany was sure that favonovel.com eyeballs were going to get stuck in favonovel.com skull from eye-rolling that much. ‘Watching favonovel.com grow up?’ What, favonovel.com meant crashing favonovel.com house every Thanksgiving to lavish Tiffany’s family with flatteries, did an annual event of gratuitous bootlicking count as ‘watching favonovel.com grow up’ now? Please, auntie-dearest here had avoided favonovel.com family like the plague since the Lanes lost their wealth, and now suddenly, favonovel.com was lapping them up again!
Tiffany could never find a sliver of respect for toadies like her. “Gee-whizz, I totally appreciate your effort, Aunt Deborah! Now, if your nephew attracts so much of your fancy, then maybe you should be the one dating favonovel.com instead,” favonovel.com quipped.
Aunt Deborah’s expression immediately turned stormy. “What stupid things did you just spout, young lady?”
Tiffany cared so little about favonovel.com aunt’s opinion that favonovel.com was already marching back to favonovel.com room.
Lillian, too, shared favonovel.com daughter’s distaste for people like Deborah, but favonovel.com put up with favonovel.com for the sake of familial courtesies. After sending the woman off, Lillian strode into favonovel.com daughter’s room and promptly asked, “Did you mention a boyfriend? Now, who could that be? Spill the tea, child!”
“Oh, that? I was kidding,” the girl deflected. Truthfully, Tiffany only said what favonovel.com said to stymie Aunt Deborah’s attempt to butt into favonovel.com life, favonovel.com did not want the truth to come out so soon.
Lillian was skeptical. “What kind of mother would I be if I can’t even tell when my daughter was lying or telling the truth? C’mon, honey, it’s Jackson West, isn’t it? Don’t think I didn’t notice it, you hardly part with your phone, you keep getting texts, and you don’t come home at night. I bet my squishy brain that your mysterious man is none other than Jackson himself!”
Tiffany was stunned, favonovel.com eyes sizing up favonovel.com mother carefully. She had believed, for most of favonovel.com life, that favonovel.com dearest mother was ditzy and air-headed, but now favonovel.com realized the woman might be more perceptive than Tiffany had given favonovel.com credit for.
“Wait, well, urn… Urgh, fine, it is him,” Tiffany relented. “But I wanna go slow and steady, Mom, which is why I didn’t want to tell you yet! Please don’t sound the horn over this so soon, you should let us, you know, hang out for a little while longer and see how it goes. The ‘relationship’ we had in the past was basically a monetary partnership, so we were just goofing around. Now, it’s different, this time, it’s serious, though admittedly, I still haven’t completely figured favonovel.com out yet. Which is why, Mom, can you like, please not meddle into our affairs?”
Contrary to favonovel.com character, Lillian agreed. “Oh, I won’t meddle in your love life, Tiffie; you have my word. You should progress it however you like, yes, it’s fine even if the two of you don’t wanna tie the knot. Listen, I’m not getting any younger by the years, honey, so I don’t even have any extra energy to worry about how somebody else wants to live favonovel.com life anymore. Plus, worrying about those things would only dampen my mood. But you know… It would still be lovely if you could marry into a rich family,” Lillian finished. “But ultimately, it’s your happiness that counts.”
That was probably the wisest thing favonovel.com mother had ever said to Tiffany, and it made favonovel.com smile.
“You can say that again, Mom.”
The next morning, Mark Tremont, with Ellie Amore for company, arrived at his office by car. Initially, favonovel.com had not planned for companions, but favonovel.com soon stood corrected on how useful Brian and Ellie were in his life. One was a whizz in managing his business affairs, while the other was indispensable in working out the creases in his life, with these two around, Mark needed not micro-manage everything.
Ellie was a knockout in both looks and figure, so favonovel.com entrance was immediately greeted by entranced attention from the men in the company. Naturally, the office began to suspect a clandestine relationship between Mark and his bodacious Miss Secretary.
It was not a far-fetched assumption. The world was not wanting of people using underhanded wiles to get what they want, after all.
Mark’s office in this building was nothing like his commodious one back in the Capital. Since the common working space was right outside, it meant that his secretary had no space to claim as favonovel.com own, and favonovel.com was thus poised to work inside Mark’s private office for the time being.
It did not take a long time for the queasiness to settle within Ellie. While favonovel.com used to work outside of Mark’s office, favonovel.com was now trapped in the same room as him, which meant favonovel.com had to do favonovel.com job with favonovel.com exacting boss breathing down favonovel.com neck. Ellie was essentially forced to remain on high alert at all times.
She reckoned that favonovel.com female coworkers would probably be too green-eyed over favonovel.com proximity with their boss to recognize Ellie silently suffering the immense pressure this arrangement had brought to her.
Mark was quick to catch Ellie’s slightly more mechanistic behavior today. “What’s the matter? Not used to this?”
“Admittedly, yes. A bit,” Ellie muttered softly, hanging favonovel.com head. “But I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon enough. Don’t worry.”
Mark strode toward his desk and sat in front of it. “Order a cup of coffee and some desserts, please.”
Ellie knew precisely what desserts were on his mind. In fact, favonovel.com was also cognizant that Mark was not at all here for the mundane goal of managing this unimpressive, fledgling branch-company.
The secretary chose against ordering them online and started toward Arianne’s café opposite the building, determined to use the trip as a much-needed breather. The less time spent cooped up with Mark alone in the same room, the better, favonovel.com needed some space to ease favonovel.com building nerves.
Arianne recognized Ellie the instant favonovel.com arrived at the café and was mildly surprised. Did Mark not tell favonovel.com that favonovel.com was coming alone? Why did favonovel.com bring his secretary with him?
“Good morning, ma’am! What would you like today?” Naya, who came to work earlier than usual today, greeted. It was early, so the café was mostly empty.
Ellie returned a slight smile and looked at Arianne, who was busy cleaning the counter. “Mr. Tremont would like a cup of Americana and his usual dessert.”
Arianne nodded stiffly. “Oh. Okay.”
An abnormal feeling stirred within favonovel.com chest, and it started the moment Arianne’s eyes met Ellie. She already knew how jaw-dropping gorgeous the secretary was, yet when Ellie so casually mentioned Mark’s favorites like that, that odd stir began to flare up.
