Chapter 28 I Didn’t Break My Promise to You, Did I, Norman

Chapter 28 I Didn’t Break My Promise to You, Did I, Norman Displayed on the screen of Christopher’s cell phone was a text message. It read, ‘I’m back. Let’s meet up, shall we?’

The phone’s screen showed that the text message was sent by someone named Q, which was precisely what froze Diane’s blood. People usually filled in someone’s full name or last name with a prefix like ‘Mr.’ or ‘Miss’ attached to it in their contact list. According to Diane’s habit, only a very special person would have a peculiar display name such as an alphabet in a person’s contact list.

Judging by the tone of the text message, it was probably sent by a woman. Diane knew that Christopher never lacked women around him, but she had a feeling that this woman was different.

This message wasn’t long, so the whole of it was displayed on the phone’s screen. After reading the message, Diane put the cell phone back down and pretended that she had never touched it. While Christopher was still in the bathroom, she kept her eyes fixed on the cell phone without withdrawing her gaze even once. Who is this woman? This question twisted itself around her like a poisonous snake, making her unable to shrug it off as much as she wanted to.

After a while, Christopher came out. Instead of looking at his cell phone, he merely wiped his damp and inky black short hair with a towel. Soon, he noticed the strange look in Diane’s eyes. “Why are you looking at me?”

His question snapped her out of her thoughts. “Uh, n-nothing. I’m going to shower.” She immediately flipped over and got up without looking at Christopher.

Just as she was about to go into the bathroom, Christopher spoke. “Report to Evergreen Incorporated next week.”

“Huh?” Diane was startled by this. She then turned around to meet Christopher’s clear, deep eyes. “Are you telling me to quit my job at NG Enterprise?”

“Suit yourself.”

Christopher’s words were always so brief that it was quite difficult to figure out what was going on in his mind. After giving it some thought, Diane answered, “That’s not necessary then. I like working at NG Enterprise.” Evergreen Incorporated would definitely be a better workplace, but wouldn’t I have to face him every day if I work there? Forget it—this is too scary.

Luckily, Christopher didn’t force or even persuade her into doing so. He merely replied with a nod and said, “Just do whatever you want.”

Diane went into the bathroom without saying anything else. When she came out of the bathroom, Christopher was no longer in the bedroom; the cell phone on the bedside table was gone as well. She went out of the bedroom to take a look, but when she heard a sound in the study, she retreated into the bedroom instead of going there.

The next day, Diane went to her company. Shortly after she reached the office, she heard that Norman had resigned. It didn’t surprise her, for Norman had once been a director. After suffering such a huge loss of face by being demoted back to a salesman all of a sudden, it was impossible for him to continue working there.

To Diane’s surprise, Stella stayed in the company. This incident made her and Norman lose face completely, yet she didn’t quit her job. Diane surmised that this might have something to do with what Stella said previously about their recent purchase of a new house.

Now that Norman was unemployed, their family and the unborn baby would have to starve if Stella also lost her source of income. Such a helpless situation probably never occurred to them back when they were carrying on behind Diane’s back.

However, Diane didn’t have the leisure to sympathize with Stella. Stella also learned her lesson, for she didn’t cause trouble for a long time after being transferred to the Administration Department.

As such, several days passed uneventfully until Emilia called Diane when the latter finished work one day.

Emilia asked Diane to meet her at a cafe on the excuse that she had something to tell her about.

However, Diane recalled how Emilia had recklessly shopped for clothes using Christopher’s gold card that day, so she flatly turned Emilia down. Before she could hang up, Emilia assured her on the other end of the line that she wasn’t asking her for money this time. She claimed that the meetup had absolutely nothing to do with money; she simply begged Diane to meet her because she had something serious to discuss with her.

Emilia was so good at acting like a cute and spoiled child that no one in her family could resist it, Diane included. Truth be told, as was the case with ordinary sisters, Diane had been on pretty good terms with her younger sister since they were little. Even though Emilia was slightly unruly and capricious, she never stepped out of line, save for the last incident when she went a little too far. However, Emilia was Diane’s younger sister, so Diane thought she couldn’t let herself sink to Emilia’s level. She would find a way to slowly return the money, but she must meet Emilia right now. What if Emilia really had something urgent to discuss with her?

Driven by her sisterly instinct, Diane headed straight for the cafe Emilia told her about as soon as she clocked off. Emilia, who had arrived first, was waiting for her by the entrance.

Diane’s face darkened in front of Emilia the instant she saw how fancy this cafe was. “You’re squandering money again, Emilia. You just graduated from college, so how can you afford to spend money at this place?”

“Diane.” Strangely enough, Emilia didn’t pout her lips upon hearing Diane’s criticism. Instead, she slipped her arm through Diane’s warmly and affectionately and replied in a spoiled manner, “That’s enough. Stop nagging at me as soon as we meet, all right? Aren’t I doing this just to butter you up?”

“Does that even justify your actions?” Diane darted Emilia an angry look before taking a glance into the cafe. In the end, she didn’t step inside. “Never mind—let’s not go inside. What do you want to talk to me about? What difference does it make to discuss it by the roadside? Why don’t we find somewhere else to have dinner together?” Even though she still had Christopher’s gold card in her pocket, the card had nothing to do with her. She never thought of living off him, and she was used to living frugally.

Emilia had just graduated from college, so Diane mustn’t let her form the bad habit of being vain before starting to make money.

She insisted on leaving, but Emilia dragged her inside as best as she could. “How could we leave now that we’ve reached the cafe? Besides, I’ve already reserved a table. Just look at how stingy you are. I’ll pay the bill, so you don’t have to pay the money.”

“Where did you get the money? Have you found a job?” Any person would have to spend at least several hundred in this place. Since Emilia had no source of income, Diane was very suspicious about where she got her money from.

However, Emilia blinked her eyes, held Diane’s arm, and replied with a coquettish smile, “Ain’t I here to ask you for a job opportunity? Does your company have a vacancy, Diane? Just get me a job at your company. It’s so hard to find a job nowadays, and I’ll never be able to work at a company that offers a nice salary. NG Enterprise offers good pay and benefits for its employees, so why don’t you simply tell them to hire me?”

Emilia spoke as if what she suggested wasn’t a big deal, but Diane rolled her eyes in resignation. “Do you think that I own the company? Do you think that I can hire you as I please?”

Emilia finally showed a look of displeasure. Her lips curled up, and her disapproval of Diane’s words was written all over her face. “Aren’t you a senior employee? You can recommend me to the company, can’t you?”

This little girl has been spoiled since childhood. She has never been out in the world, so she always thinks of things in an oversimplified way, Diane thought to herself. “Every company has its own rules and regulations, so a petty employee like me isn’t entitled to have a say. I can’t help you with this matter; the most I can do is to help you ask my company and my friends if there’s a good job opportunity that can be offered to you. However, I can only have the job opportunity offered to you, so whether or not you can get the job will depend entirely on you. Right now, you should catch up on your professional knowledge. To the company, what matters the most is getting the job done.”

However, Emilia grew impatient upon hearing Diane’s patient and sincere advice. “There you go again.

All right, that’s enough. Why are you acting like Mom, Diane? You never stop talking whenever you face me.”

“Do you think I want to concern myself with your business?” Diane let out a soft snort. Then, she took another look at the cafe and urged, “All right, now that we’ve finished discussing the matter, let’s leave and eat somewhere else. We won’t be able to sleep if we drink coffee at night.”

“No, don’t leave yet.” Emilia suddenly dragged Diane back as she was turning around. “Didn’t I tell you that I’ve already reserved a seat here? Let’s go.” Not allowing Diane to leave, she dragged Diane into the shop and all the way up the stairs.

“You even reserved a room?” Diane’s heart ached again.

Emilia rolled her eyes at her nonchalantly. “You people are like this—you’ll never make a difference in your life. What are you feeling bad about? I’m not the one paying for this. Let’s go.”

Diane was startled by Emilia’s words. Just as she was distracted, Emilia dragged her into the private room. “I didn’t break my promise to you, did I, Norman?”

Anger instantly surged within Diane when she looked toward the sofa.