Chapter 20
The next day at noon, Penelope arrived at Ultratech Corporation with a lunchbox containing her homemade BBQ pulled pork, roast chicken, and meat pies.
This was her first time showing up at Steve’s workplace. Surprisingly enough, based on the company’s layout, Ultratech Corporation was no smaller than Fulmer Industries. In fact, Ultratech Corporation had branch companies scattered across the globe.
Steve must have informed the receptionist about Penelope’s arrival in advance. As soon as the receptionist saw her, she instantly led Penelope all the way to the office on the top floor.
Inside the elevator, Steve’s secretary, Ian Newman, smiled while greeting Penelope, “Hello, Ms. Sanders. I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”
Penelope was obviously confused by Ian’s words. But she smiled and greeted Ian back.
There seemed to be someone else in Steve’s office. Penelope stopped Ian from knocking on the
door before motioning to him that she could wait outside. So, Ian decided to wait with her
outside the office as well.
Since they were both standing at the doorway, Penelope could clearly listen to everything that was going on in the office.
A woman was in the middle of acting all cute and coquettish in front of Steve. She whined in a sickly sweet voice, “Steve, why do you keep ignoring me? I’ve asked you out so many times! At least show me some respect by going out for lunch with me!”
Steve’s patience was starting to run thin thanks to the woman’s pestering. “Ms. Jaeger, the only reason why you get to intern in my company is all thanks to your father’s relationship with me as business allies. If you keep pestering me like this, I don’t mind terminating all contracts with your father. Please mind your behavior. In fact, the farther away you stay from me, the better it’ll be for both of us.”
Penelope was quite surprised to hear Steve’s firm response. In the past, Eric had gotten into similar troubles back in Fulmer Industries. But his approach had always been to gloss over things in a dignified way while secretly handing the pesky women over to Penelope so that she could play the villain and deal with them accordingly.
Upon noticing Penelope’s expression, Ian explained, “Mr. Anderson hates women who badger him the most. This is why he chooses to employ male assistants and secretaries instead.”
A pause later, he added, “Naturally, you’re completely different from other women, Ms. Sanders. After all, Mr. Anderson has had a crush on you since high school.”
After that, Ian winked cheekily at Penelope, leaving her looking shell–shocked.
Chapter 20
What did Ian mean by that? Steve had had a crush on her since their high school years? Why did she never know anything about it?
Before Penelope could regain her senses, the office door was already flung open from the inside. A sexy–looking beautiful woman rushed out of the office angrily.
That was when Penelope realized that this was the same woman she had seen liking and
commenting on Steve’s Instagram posts.
Upon noticing Penelope waiting for him at the doorway, Steve happily grinned at her. He quickly approached her and accepted the lunch box from her. “Have you been waiting for a long time? Come in and have a seat! I wonder what you brought for me today!”
Penelope quietly took a seat. She listened to Steve’s barrage of praises regarding her cooking for quite some time before finally speaking up.
“I heard that woman has had a crush on you for a long time. She’s pretty, not to mention that she comes from a wealthy family. Why didn’t you accept her confession?”
Steve lowered his fork at Penelope’s question. Noting the curiosity on her face, he replied seriously, “Her beauty has nothing to do with me. I only care about the woman I like.”
Penelope blushed brightly once again. She quickly urged Steve to eat while the food was still warm. But Steve made no move to dig in.
When Penelope looked at him, she realized that he had been staring at her the whole time.
Now that he had gotten Penelope’s attention, he said seriously, “Believe it or not, Penelope, since our high school years, you’re the only one I truly care about. Originally, I planned to return to Cheronia to seek you out, but I gave up right after hearing about your impending engagement. I just didn’t expect God to give me a second chance, for I ended up bumping into you once again in Islanthia.
“My conditions are still the same as I mentioned last time. You don’t have to answer me or even do anything in response. I’m fine with it as long as you allow me to stay by your side. Also, due to my religious beliefs, I don’t do premarital sex. I’ll never cheat on you in this lifetime.”
Steve adopted a joking tone at the end of his sentence in order to ease the serious topic.
Penelope clenched her fists at first, but she gradually loosened her fingers. She thought for a long time before replying, “Got it. Thank you, Steve…”
Before she could finish speaking, she found herself gasping in shock at the sight of the ring before her. “That’s the blue diamond ring!”
After pressing the ring into Penelope’s palm, Steve patted her head lovingly.
Chap 20
“When I read your chat history with Ingrid, I wanted nothing more than to kill her. But since murder is illegal, I can only make it up to you using an alternate method. Ingrid sold this ring to the black market. I knew it held great meaning to you, so I bought it back. After that, I hired a jewelry designer to transform the necklace back into a ring for you.
“If the thought of others having laid their hands on it before you irk you a lot, rest assured that I’ve already dispatched my men to Argayle in search of another blue diamond. The diamond should be delivered to Islanthia by next week. I promise you, the new diamond is going to be bigger and shinier than the old one. You’ll get to design the ring however you want,
As Penelope felt the warmth of Steve’s hand seeping through her scalp, she felt her tears running down her cheeks uncontrollably,
She knew that Steve must have listened to everything Eric had wanted to say to her. Not only that, but he must have gone through the entire chat history between her and Ingrid as well. He was doing his best to heal the scars marring her heart in his own way,
