Chapter 5

"Y-Yes, That's right. She hasn't called me, and I'm unable to reach her either. M-Maybe she's blocked me." Damien dropped his utensils before storming away with a dark face. Rosetta watched him leave exasperatedly. She had miscalculated—Damien would still lose his temper if he were angered by Autumn. She had originally hoped Autumn would leave Damien hanging for a few more days, but now she had changed her mind. Even as an outsider, she could tell that Damien was one who responded better to gentle approaches compared to resistance. Autumn, of all people, should know that too. She never should've played hard-to-get from the start. Autumn's tactic was now making her life difficult, too. How annoying. … At the office, after Damien was done with his routine morning meeting, his secretary knocked and entered with a gift bag. Damien opened it, only to find a plain ring inside. Barry did mention that Autumn had sold her wedding ring and visited a different jewelry store afterward. So, she disappeared for two days, only to give him this now? He reckoned she'd probably show up later with a lunchbox too. Damien immediately frowned. He shut the ring box and set it aside, turning his focus back to work. After a while, he called Scott, his voice cold. "Don't let Autumn into the company today!" He didn't like Autumn playing mind games with him. After hanging up, Damien tossed the ring box into the trash. … Meanwhile, since it was Monday, Autumn sat at her desk right on time. After she was married, she didn't go to work immediately. But during a family get-together, when Hank wasn't present, Damien's mother, Linda, criticized her in front of everyone. According to her, Autumn did nothing but freeload, couldn't get pregnant, failed to take care of Damien, and she felt ashamed whenever she had to talk about her daughter-in-law to friends. Damien was there too. He didn't defend her, of course. He just let Linda tear into her with cutting, sarcastic words. That very night, Autumn submitted a job application, not to Caldwell Group, but to Westgate Group. Although Westgate Group was a tech company founded less than five years ago, it was already valued at over a trillion dollars. As Westgate Group was like any typical corporate giant, even their secretary roles required graduates from the best universities in the country. Autumn was a graduate of Averpark University, so her credentials were enough for her to work there. Since she majored in the highly sought-after field of computer science, she was actually qualified to join the R&D department. However, such positions demanded that employees work long hours and on weekends. If there were large projects, she'd have to work day and night, and there'd be no time left to care for Damien. As such, Autumn chose a more relaxed administrative position, becoming a secretary for the CEO's office. When Hank found out, he urged her to join Caldwell Group. After all, working for their own business would be less stressful and more freeing since she didn't have to work regular office hours. However, knowing how much Linda disliked her, it would only make it easier for Linda to target and humiliate her if she worked at Caldwell Group. Besides, she would only be accused of coveting the Caldwell family's wealth if she did. At Westgate Group, she wouldn't have to deal with any of that. Autumn had drafted a resignation letter last week due to her pregnancy, but she had no plans to send it now. Since she wanted to rewrite her thesis, she needed to stay updated on industry developments. Westgate Group, as a leading tech company, gave her access to valuable resources and opportunities. Her light workload as a secretary also left her plenty of time to focus on her thesis. Her coworker at the next desk asked curiously, "Autumn, you didn't bring a lunchbox today?" Every now and then, Autumn would bring a carefully prepared lunch to work, but come noon, she'd leave the office with it. No one knew who she was delivering it to. She had made those lunches for Damien. Whenever he drank at social events, she'd wake up early the next morning to make something nourishing for his stomach. It would've been easier if Damien had just brought the food to work himself, but he thought it was a hassle. He couldn't be bothered to do even the simplest tasks. Hence, Autumn would bring his food with her and deliver it by taxi during her lunch break. Fortunately, since his company wasn't that far, she could manage it within her break. Autumn merely said, "I don't feel like making lunch anymore." It was no longer necessary. Right then, Della Coffrey, the head of the secretary's office, burst in, announcing, "Our CEO will be back next Monday. We need to compile and organize documents from all departments to make sure everything is complete and accurate for review." She then tapped on a desk for emphasis. "Get moving, everyone!" Westgate Group's growth over the recent years had been nothing short of miraculous. However, the real mystery was its founder. He had always been overseas expanding markets, and the company's daily operations were overseen by the COO, Robin Pieck. As such, Autumn had never met the person who truly held the reins of the company. Once everyone's shock and excitement passed, they threw themselves into their work. … Back at Caldwell Group, a woman appeared in Damien's office without an appointment. Normally, anyone who wanted to meet Damien had to schedule an appointment in advance, but the woman's name was not on the list. Not only that, Scott personally went down to escort her to Damien's office and even closed the door behind him. Such special treatment shocked and intrigued the secretarial staff. "Who was that woman? She's stunning and elegant, just like a movie star." "Mr. Caldwell hates unplanned meetings. It's definitely unusual to see him breaking protocol for a woman." "Mr. Caldwell has always kept his distance from women. In all my years of working here, I've never seen him alone with a woman in his office before." Speculation began to spread. "Do you guys think that she is the future Mrs. Caldwell?" Since Damien kept his marriage a secret, other than his close circle of friends, no one else knew about it. He had always kept a clean image. There were never any scandals about him. Now that he was treating one woman differently, of course, people would notice, which made the theory that she might become his wife even more plausible. Inside the office, upon seeing Emilia, Damien set aside the documents in his hand. Walking over to him, Emilia leaned forward with both hands on his desk to look at his bare finger. She asked, "Did you not receive the ring?" Damien froze. "That was from you?" So, it wasn't from Autumn? "Since I promised to have a meal with you but had to cancel at the last minute because of Professor Huffman, I got you a gift to make it up to you." She then showed off the ring on her ring finger. "This brand doesn't have many rings for men. The only decent one I found happens to be the matching piece to the one I'm wearing. It's part of a couple's set. "I'm wearing this one for fun, and I picked that one for you because it looks nice. You wouldn't mind, right?" Even though she put it that way, she knew that Damien wouldn't mind. Coming back to his senses, Damien bent down to retrieve the ring box from the trash. As he examined the ring box, his earlier disgust dissipated. Emilia looked awkward for a moment. "You threw it in the trash?" Giving her a glance, Damien could tell what she was thinking. He opened the ring box and took out the ring before putting it on his ring finger. His gaze softened. "I didn't know it was from you." Emilia's expression finally eased. Barry had said that Damien would never wear his wedding ring unless absolutely necessary. The reason wasn't hard to guess. Damien asked, "Are you mad?" Emilia shook her head. "I'm not mad. I know that what you hate isn't the ring." It was a certain someone. "Do you like it?" "It's pretty nice." Damien nodded before asking again, "So, what were you busy with yesterday?" "Professor Huffman's project has run into a problem. I spent the night looking up reference materials, but couldn't get anywhere. Luckily, a fellow graduate of mine has a company working with this technology. I plan to reach out and ask for help." That company's owner was Olivia. She was a few years younger than Emilia and also a graduate of Averpark University. Since they were both alumni from a top school, connecting with her should be easy.