Chapter 33 1 Don’t Like Kissing–And I Don’t Like Women
Jeny nodded. “Yeah, I told her to check if you needed help. But she came back pretty quickly.”
Charlie Clemens leaned against the sofa, lost in thought.
The Next Morning
Candice woke up early.
Seeing that Jessica was still asleep, she went to the hotel restaurat for breakfast. She had only eaten a small piece of cake on the yacht last night, and by 3 a.m., she’d been starving enough to consider sneaking out for food.
Now full and with time to spare, she wandered around the hotel.
This place exuded nostalgic Southeast Asian charm.
The tropical garden brimmed with life, the tall palm trees rustling in the wind. Standing beneath them, she closed her eyes and let the sunlight filter through the leaves onto her face.
The morning breeze was gentle and warm, scented with the crisp fragrance of plants and grass.
See? The world was so vibrant, passionate, and fresh–absolutely not something that would lose color just because there was no
man or love in her life.
Then came the sound of approaching footsteps.
The light before her dimmed slightly as the crisp air was infused with a burst of masculine scent–sweaty, fresh, athletic.
She opened her eyes.
Her vision was filled with a broad chest wrapped in black workout gear.
Firm pectorals, glistening collarbones, a sexy Adam’s apple, and soft rose–colored lips…
“Miss Hale, is there something wrong with your eyes?”
His warm breath brushed her face like the tropical breeze.
A handsome face leaned in slightly, looking concerned.
Snapping back to reality, Candice rubbed her eyes and took a step back. “The sunlight was too dazzling. I felt a bit dizzy,”
Charlie said, “If you keep looking, you won’t just be dizzy—you’ll go blind.”
”
She rubbed her eyes awkwardly, still feeling some lingering embarrassment from last night.
“You’re out jogging, President?” she asked, trying to make small talk.
He gave a soft “Mm” and wiped his sweat with a towel. After standing under the tree for a moment, he said suddenly, “You were the one on the third floor of the yacht last night, watching us, weren’t you?”
Candice was caught off guard and turned to look at him sharply.
Wait–watching?
Who was watching!?
“I wasn’t watching! I went up there and accidentally saw you two doing that… that thing, and I left immediately. I swear, I
didn’t see much at all!”
“That thing?” Charlie’s expression was unreadable.
Chapter 33 I Don’t Like Kissing And I Don’t Like Women
That… that, you know!” she stammered.
“Be specific.”
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She rolled her eyes. Seeing he was clearly not letting this go, she thickened her skin and sald, “Kissing. You two were kissing. Passionately. Okay?”
“You saw wrong,” Charlie said flatly.
Candice didn’t believe it, of course. But she could pretend to. After all, what did their kissing have to do with her?
She nodded compliantly. “Alright, I must’ve been mistaken.”
Charlie didn’t seem satisfied. He furrowed his brow and looked at her for a moment. “You don’t believe me?”
“I do, I do,” she quickly said.
“I don’t like kissing–especially not with women.”
You–you–you…
Candice felt like she’d just uncovered a colossal secret.
So… his preference was for men?
But wait, wasn’t he tangled up with Jessica?
Used to like women, now likes men?
She blinked, completely confused.
Charlie Clemens continued, “The point is, I’m correcting you because your perception is wrong. As my secretary, you’re not allowed to have such misunderstandings.”
Candice nodded repeatedly. “Got it, got it. Understood.”
Only then did Charlie turn and leave.
Candice stared at his tall, straight back: Honestly… do I really need to know this much about my boss’s personal life?
When she returned to the room, Jessica was already up.
She was completely sober now and had regained the cold, elegant aura from when they’d first met at the pier–like a black swan.
“Miss Hale, thank you for last night,” she said politely.
“No need,” Candice replied with a smile.
“Then I’ll head out first. See you at the office.” Jessica nodded and left the room.
9 a.m.
Charlie took Candice, Jerry, and two senior executives from headquarters to the branch office.
The branch staff had been on edge since receiving notice of the president’s visit–worried about a surprise inspection.
Jessica had changed into a crisp, all–white business outfit–poised and professional.
As Charlie arrived at the company entrance, she stood with the entire management team to welcome him.
“Mr. Clemens, welcome. It’s an honor to have you here,” she greeted respectfully.
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Chapter 331 Don’t Like Tiesing And I Don’t Like Women
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His gaze briefly passed over her face. After a quick exchange of pleasantries with the other executives, they headed into the meeting room.
They spent the whole day at the branch.
Meetings, status reports, reviewing financials and project progress…
At noon, Jessica arranged for lunch at a local specialty restaurant.
In the evening, she hosted a dinner with important project partners.
The branch’s deputy manager and finance manager also attended The luxurious private dining room was packed.
Candice and Jerry had been assisting all day and were utterly exhausted.
Now, the two of them were seated outside the dining room in the lounge area.
“Candice, did you notice? Ms. Barnes today is completely different from last night,” Jerry gossiped.
Having gotten familiar over the past two days, he had started calling her by her name.
Candice was focused on her tablet, not even looking up. “Last night was about emotions. Today is about work. She separates the two.”
“Then you haven’t seen what she’s like when she doesn’t separate them.”
“Hey, the CEO’s love drama is their business. Let them figure it out themselves.”
“You’re just still in shock from last night.”
“Yeah. It’s too complicated…”
She thought of Charlie saying he didn’t like women, and glanced at Jerry’s handsome, delicate face. Her expression grew… complicated.
Jerry noticed. “Why are you giving me that weird look again?”
Candice quickly looked away. “Nothing.” She lowered her head and focused on her tablet.
Curious, Jerry leaned over and saw she was reviewing attendance and payroll records from the factory downstairs.
“There’s a problem?” he asked.
“A bit weird. The number of people on the attendance sheet matches the payroll, but I checked the actual arrival logs. There are always two people missing–every single day.”
“…That can’t be right.” Jerry took a closer look.
It was hard to notice–because the attendance and payroll aligned. The arrival logs didn’t show totals, so unless someone manually counted, it was easy to miss. Even a detailed review wouldn’t easily catch it.
And there was no way the president himself would notice such a minor detail during an inspection.
Candice said, “Normally this shouldn’t happen. From recruitment to onboarding, there are dedicated personnel. If 1,024 people clock in, there should be 1,024 at the site. But there are always 1,022. There’s only one explanation–someone is exploiting a loophole to pocket extra wages. But I can’t say for sure who or how just from these numbers.”
Jerry studied the records again. “Ten years. At this salary rate, those two ghost workers have taken over six million RMB.”
“I suspect someone at the factory is colluding with someone inside the company. It’s insane no one caught this for ten years.”
“We should tell the president. But he’s attending the government summit tomorrow.”
“How about this–I’ll go to the factory tomorrow and find out who these ghosts are.”
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“red idea.”
As they were talking, someone reited the private dining room.
Hearing their conversation, a Micket of tension and a trace of murderous intent–flashed across his fare
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Wanna come to my place? I have your favorite wine
Charlie rejected her flatly
There was a spot in the hallway carpet that wasn’t quite flat. As he walked over it, his foot caught, and just as Candice and Jerry were about to step in to help, Jessica rushed ahead with open arms ready to catch him–
At the last second, Charlie reached behind him.
Candice was yanked forward so hard she practically flew-
And ended up crashing straight into Jessica’s arms. They nearly kissed.
Candice:
Was he even human?
Was she his personal crash dummy? His human shield?
Jessica was fuming. So he’d rather toss his secretary into her arms than let her touch him?
As soon as they stepped out of the restaurant, Jessica stormed off, fuming with rage.
Candice wasn’t as free to act out.
This was her third day on the job. She could only grin and bear it.
Back in the car, she realized her knee hurt.
Looking down, she saw bruising and little pinpoints of blood pooling under her fair skin. It must’ve happened when she slammed into his leg–his bones felt like steel.
Her skin bruised easily even on light contact.
Beside her, Charlie leaned back against the seat, one hand propping his forehead. His eyes were shut, expression calm, as if
asleep.
Once they arrived at the hotel, Candice called his name a few times, but he didn’t wake.
He was well and truly drunk.
Jerry and a male hotel staffer had to help him up to the room.
Dragging a 6’3” hunk of dead weight left both men drenched in sweat.
“Is your knee okay? Want to ice it?” Jerry asked when he noticed her injury as he stepped out of the bedroom.
At this rate, she might run off for real.
They’d finally found a secretary the boss was satisfied with–one who checked every box. Perfect.
Chapter 34: Won’t Get Divorced Hove Her
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“Plice if in my room.”
“I’ll stay and take care of him then.”
Candice nodded. “Alright.”
She walked to the door, then paused.
“Tomorrow, you’re going with the CEO to the summit. I won’t come in the morning. The factory’s over on an Island–pretty far. I’ll leave early and head straight there. Should be back sooner that way.”
“Got it. Call me if you need anything,” Jerry replied.
Candice gave an “mm” of acknowledgment and left.
Back in her room, she took a shower, then sat on a lounger with ice on her knee.
The moment the cold hit, she sucked in a breath from the pain.
But then–she started laughing.
Angry, amused laughter.
Still, all things considered, this work trip–slash–divorce–healing getaway had turned out surprisingly eventful.
It didn’t feel any less meaningful than a solo journey to Iceland.
It was busy, noisy, full of distractions–leaving her no time to dwell on Vanclyn.
She wondered how things were over there now.
Same time. Vanclyn.
Sophia had arranged to meet Kyle at her law firm.
Night had fallen outside the office. It had rained all day in Vanclyn, and the sudden drop in temperature shrouded the entire city in gloom. Thick clouds blanketed the sky in a suffocating gray.
Kyle wore a dark gray suit, hair immaculately styled, clean–shaven his chiseled features still striking. He sat on the couch with his legs crossed, exuding a cold, oppressive aura.
Still the same arrogant, aloof heir of the Jackson family.
As if the broken, sobbing wreck from earlier had never existed.
“I thought you’d be devastated a little longer,” Sophia said with a bite of sarcasm. “At least pretend a while.
But fine–cooling off early means you can go through the process sooner. That’s good too.”
She pushed the divorce papers across the table toward him.
Kyle picked them up like it was nothing.
He flipped to the last page and saw his own signature.
The date was from a month ago–the day he’d returned from a business trip in Switzerland.
He remembered her coming into his office that day with a stack of documents. She smiled calmly as he signed each one.
“The cooling–off period’s over,” Sophia said. “Once Candice returns, you two just need to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau. Then this marriage will officially be over.”
When he didn’t speak, she continued.
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