CHAPTER 108
ROBERT’S POV
~ Noah sat down on the seat in front of her. He no longer had that troubled and angry look he once had. It had softened. I couldn’t understand what was happening between them. It was making me boil. As if that wasn’t enough, Lily reached across the table and took his hand in hers.
“That’s it!” I said as I furiously got up and started packing to go. I can’t take this anymore. I’m heading there. I don’t care what happens. ~
I was at the entrance of the building, about to enter when the security guard showed up to stop me.
“Where are you heading, Mr. Robert?” He asked, his eyes wide as he was surprised to see me.
“To her office,” I said through clenched teeth, fury propelling me forward.
“No… no… no…” He scrambled to stop me, his hand pressing against my heaving chest. “That isn’t the right thing to do right now…”
He was tensed as he glanced around furtively, making sure no one was watching as if afraid something bad would happen if anyone saw us together.
“Why?” I cocked a brow. “I can’t just sit back and watch him get mad at her for no reason.”
“It’s not something serious Mr. Robert,” his pleading expression begged me to stay calm, urging me not to do anything rash. “They’ve already settled the issue before I even stepped out.”
Hearing that, my anger subsided a bit and I restrained myself. “Do you know why he was mad at her?” I asked.
“Mr. Noah went on a short trip yesterday and asked her to step in for him on an important business meeting but she missed it,” he explained, confirming my initial thoughts. “But it’s all good now.”
I let out a sigh. After learning about this and thinking it through, I realized there was no point in storming into her office. Doing so would only backfire. I’ll be causing a scene and making Lily resent me even more. Right now, I was treading carefully to make sure I didn’t end up doing anything that would make her hate me more. But still, I couldn’t ignore what had happened. She shouldn’t have touched him the way she did. I hated it. I hated it when she touched any other man besides me. It stirred a jealousy I couldn’t control. It made me feel like something was going on between the two of them.
“Mr. Robert,” the security guard called for my attention. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. It’s against the company’s policy to divulge such sensitive information to anyone who is not a staff. And I could have gotten into some serious trouble if they caught me eavesdropping on their conversation…”
“It’s not like you’re doing it for free,” I cut him off sternly. “You knew the risk involved, yet you agreed to do it, so don’t give me that nonsense. And it’s not like I’m paying you peanuts. All the money I’ve given you is enough to cover some people’s six months’ salary.”
“Sorry, sir,” he mumbled quietly, his head bowed in embarrassment.
I huffed out a furious breath. He was an ungrateful, greedy brat, and I was starting to regret choosing him for this. Nonetheless, I’d just have to put up with his shitty attitude because no one else was in a better position to handle this.
Seeing there was nothing else left for me to do in this place, I turned and started making my way out. “I’m leaving so I don’t get you into trouble,” I said wryly and heard him laugh nervously.
“Mr. Robert rest assured I’ll keep doing what you’re paying me to do and giving you all the feedback you need. Just please…. don’t come into the company building unannounced. If anyone sees us together and recognizes who you are, no doubt I’ll be losing my job,” he squeaked, careful with his words so as not to provoke me further.
I didn’t say anything. I just snorted nonchalantly without looking back at him and left.
I spent the rest of the day in the empty room, eating a bucket of fried chicken I ordered and watching Lily. I didn’t need to worry about work back in New York because Carrey, Frank and my other assistants were handling everything just fine. That’s one of the perks of being a boss. You can come to work whenever you like and your presence isn’t physically needed for the company to operate smoothly.
I was relieved Noah didn’t come into her office again. She just kept working on her laptop, answering calls and taking breaks by going out to grab a lunch snack and probably use the restroom.
I couldn’t stop thinking of ways to separate Noah from Lily. I didn’t like them this close together because something in my guts kept telling me his intentions for her weren’t good even though he might not look it. I needed to do something to get her out of that building and company before it was too late and I lost her completely to that freak.
The only way I can do that is to find a way to create problems between them and make it seem like Lily is incompetent so he can fire her. Once he does, that’ll create the perfect opening for me. With Lily’s only source of income cut off, she’ll be stranded and have no other choice but to let me into her life again. We’ll head back to New York where we’ll start over again with our kids and she’ll start working for me again. I don’t even mind making the sole CEO of my company because I know it’ll be in the best hands.
I took out my phone. I wanted to put a call through to the security guard to handle this but a moment of hesitation had me deciding against it. He was too much of a scaredy cat to manage something of this magnitude. It was better to leave him in his role as my eyes and ears in the company, keeping me informed about everything happening between Lily and Noah. This job will be better suited for someone in the tech space. A tech genius. And no other person aside from Frank came to my mind.
I put a call through to him and he answered on the first ring.
“Hey buddy,” I said casually as I swallowed a mouthful of chicken in my mouth and licked the insides of my mouth.
“Hey, boss,” his tone was cheerful. “It’s been a while since you’ve come around to the office. Is everything okay?” he asked, his tone now laced with concern.
“Everything’s fine,” I replied, appreciating his concern. “I had an important business meeting in LA, but I decided to stay a little longer… because I found Lily.”
“What?!” he exclaimed in shock. There was a sudden clatter on his end as if he’d stood up too quickly and knocked something over. I could only hope it wasn’t anything valuable or fragile.
“Yeah,” I continued. “She’s working for another top ad agency as a partner to the CEO.” My expression turned bitter as I said that. I hated the idea of her working for that man or even for another firm altogether. But deep down, I knew I had no right to feel this way. After all, I was the one who drove her away.
“That’s great!” He commented but then sighed in disappointment. “Now that she’s working there, do you think there is any chance she’ll come back to work for us?”
That question made me quiet as I stared ahead, towards her office. Though I couldn’t see what she was doing clearly without the aid of the surveillance equipment, I knew she was working hard and giving her best. The thought of how I cruelly fired her filled me with regret.
Exhaustively, I whiffed out a gust of breath. “Honestly Frank, that is a question I can’t answer now. She hates me for what I did. I haven’t even had the chance to tell her what happened because she doesn’t want to see me, let alone talk to me…”
He stayed quiet on the other end of the line. Though I couldn’t see him, I could feel the sympathy in his expression, the weight of his guilt.
“Which is why I need your help.”
“Any…anything boss,” he responded quickly. “After all, I had a hand in what happened to her and owe her an apology. So I’m willing to do anything to help you get her back.”
A small smile tugged at my lips. His willingness lifted my mood. It meant he wouldn’t hesitate or question what I was about to ask him to do.
“I’ll send you the details of her company. I need you to hack into her laptop and wipe out everything work-related. Can you do that?”