Chapter21
Jasper clearly found her a bit of a mystery, but Jennifer just smiled and shrugged. She didn’t feel the need to explain too much.
After a bit smaller talk, they each returned to their duties. At lunch break, Jasper sought her out, saying he wanted to treat her to a meal to thank her for earlier. Jennifer couldn’t turn him down, so she followed him to a restaurant in a nearby mall.
It was a self–serving Nexican restaurant. Jennifer and Jasper had just sat down when she saw Catalina dining with Elise and Ally at the next table.
Jennifer hesitated briefly but didn’t move to another table. She didn’t want Catalina to think she was intimidated.
Catalina still wore her usual sweet smile and gave her two friends a discreet look.
“Isn’t that Ms. Griffin? This married woman is using her husband’s hard–earned money to buy a méal for her pretty boy. How shameless she is!”
Elise immediately raised her voice, making quite a few heads turn in the restaurant.
Jasper looked at Jennifer in surprise. “You’re married?”
“Yeah.” Jennifer nodded at Jasper. Although she was trying to get a divorce with Brayan, they weren’t officially separated yet. That meant she was still a married woman.
The thought of divorce turned her mood gloomy. Jennifer sighed, then
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Chapter21
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turned to Elise and said, “I’m just having lunch with a colleague. There’s no law that says married women can’t eat with men, is there? Are you from the Stone Age?”
“Colleague? What kind of colleague would a housewife have?”
“You should’ve said he was your classmate. At least make your lies believable.”
“How many classmates could she have? She dropped out before finishing college!”
Realizing these two were picking a fight, Jasper quickly spoke up in Jennifer’s defense, “You shouldn’t look down on her. Ms. Griffin is a psychology counselor at the Juvenile Detention Center.”
“A psychology counselor at the Juvenile Detention Center?” Elise rolled her eyes. “How much can that even make?”
“Elise, look what I found!”
Ally handed her phone to Elise.
She was showing Elise the recruitment ad for the Juvenile Detention Center.
“Volunteer? So basically unpaid labor. And she acts like she’s some big shot.”
“Exactly! Counselor? What a joke.”
Elise and Ally kept taking turns throwing barbs. Jasper clenched his fists in rage, though of course, he wouldn’t actually hit a woman.
Jennifer wasn’t bothered by Catalina’s friends provoking her. She just found it a bit cute how angry Jasper clenched his fists in rage and tried to defend her.
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“That’s enough. Things haven’t been easy for Jennifer.”
Catalina chimed in sweetly, her flawlessly made–up face showing sympathy for Jennifer.
“The Juvenile Detention Center isn’t a great place. It’s basically a prison for troubled kids. A PhD in psychology from a proper university like me would never consider applying there. So, they can only hire random people as volunteers. It saves money and gives those without proper education or skills a chance to build some work experience.”
At first, Catalina’s words sounded reasonable, but in truth, she had just belittled both Jennifer and the Juvenile Detention Center. Jasper was fuming.
Jennifer calmly opened her handbag and took out several certificates.
“You can insult me all you want, but the Juvenile Detention Center isn’t an unprofessional place. The counselors there are required to hold three qualifications. Without all three, you wouldn’t even qualify for the written exam, let alone get hired.”
Jennifer laid out her documents: a psychiatrist license, a social worker certificate, and a counseling certificate.
Elise and Ally exchanged stunned looks.
