He Brought His Assistant On Our Honeymoon And Gave Me A Separate Room Chapter 08

I nodded without saying anything. The project Adrian had been pursuing for so long-I’d won it this

time.

Nathan stood silhouetted against the window.

“Claire Bennett, you’re not a flower to be hidden away at home. Be bold. That’s who you are

I looked at the proposal’s cover. My name, Claire Bennett, gleamed gold in the sunlight

Meanwhile, an oppressive silence hung over Adrian’s company. He wasn’t there.

He’d shut himself away in a jewelry workshop, Claire’s necklace design spread across the table. He’d handed the first necklace to Lily for an emergency. This time, he’d make another one himself, just for Claire.

The edges of the paper were frayed. In the past few days, he’d looked it over more than a hundred times. He’d made it once before, yet this time, nothing seemed to go right.

Either the gold wire slipped or a solder joint ended up in the wrong place. He tried again and again, wanting it finished quickly. But the more he rushed, the more his hands shook. The shaking made him more anxious, and the mistakes piled up.

Sweat stung his eyes. He remembered the way Claire had looked at the necklace, so surprised and happy. He’d extinguished that joy for Lily.

She hadn’t even gotten to try on her own honeymoon gift. His grip tightened around the tweezers

until his knuckles went white.

To finish the necklace without distractions, he locked the door from the inside and turned off his

phone.

After a full week, a finished necklace finally lay on the table. He held it up to the light, certain it was

better than the first.

He studied it for a long time, pleased with his work. He could already picture Claire wearing it. He finally smiled.

He closed his hand around the necklace as though it were the last hope he had left. Eagerly, he

opened the door.

Then he froze.

The space outside the door was packed with his employees, suppliers, and people he didn’t recognize. Some held signs; others were shouting.

Someone called out.

“There he is! Adrian Mercer!”

The crowd surged toward him.

“Adrian Mercer, when are we getting our back pay? You’re not getting out of this today!”

“What about our overdue invoices? Our factory’s barely hanging on!”

“Where’s Lillian Reed? Who’s going to pay back the money she took?”

People jostled him, shouting over one another. He couldn’t get a word in. In the crush, the necklace was knocked from his hand and trampled underfoot.

“Move! Don’t step on it! Get out of the way!”

Ignoring the risk of being trampled, he crouched to look for it. There were too many people. The necklace kept getting kicked one way, then another.

He dropped to his knees and reached for it. Someone stepped on his fingers. He grunted in pain but

didn’t dare let go.

When he finally recovered it, the chain was in pieces and the pendant bent. His eyes burned as he knelt among them, cupping the broken necklace in both hands. He couldn’t stop shaking.

The crowd didn’t disperse until the police arrived.

On a bench at the police station, he listened as an officer laid out what had happened.

Lily had embezzled company funds and fled.

On top of that, contracts she’d signed recklessly had left the company liable for losses on several

projects.

The suppliers and employees had found him because Lily had told them where he was. She’d stalled them by saying he was working on a solution, then fled herself.

His head buzzed. He closed his fist tighter around the broken necklace. All he wanted was to find