Chapter 45: Rhea’s Vow
Jark shook his head at the pitiful Thompson that was being dragged out. Knowing what he was capable of, he could only pity Thompson silently.
With Thompson and Marcus out of the office, Jark channeled all his focus on the drive. As he inserted it into his system again, different codes began to fly around the screen. Jark shook his head with a smirk, knowing the kind of uncle he had. He had equipped a second-chance security system in case the drive got lost; it wouldn’t be opened easily.
Jark leaned back and started encoding. The more he advanced, the harder the code became. He smiled, knowing that his uncle wasn’t someone to underestimate when it came to coding.
After twenty minutes, the screen suddenly went white for a few seconds before displaying the normal information.
Jark sighed in relief. He was afraid his uncle might have set another security system.
He leaned in more, looking at all the information that was being detailed, making sure to read and digest every piece of information.
He leaned back, tapping the table with his finger, lost in thought.
’Hmmm, what will make such a powerful family fall within a month, even forcing them into hiding? Worse, their existence was nearly erased. What power can do that? Who’s really with the trump card? Who is turning the tide in their favour?’
Jark thought to himself, his eyes scanning the office until they landed on the lunch box that was placed in the middle of the room.
"Didn’t the cleaner clean the office?" he murmured, remembering that it was Rhea’s lunch box that she had given to him the previous day.
He picked up his phone and sent a message. Within seconds, the cleaner arrived in the office, his forehead covered in sweat, wondering why the big boss would call him.
"Boss," he finally spoke up after standing in the room for five minutes without Jark even sparing him a single glance or telling him what he had done wrong.
Jark lifted his head with a frown.
"Yes, I called. Give me another five minutes, and I will attend to you."
The cleaner could only nod his head. Who was he to refute the big boss?
Exactly five minutes later, Jark lifted his face from his computer, his eyes landing on the nervous cleaner before asking his question.
"Was my office cleaned today?"
Cold sweat ran down the cleaner’s face, remembering that the big boss was a neat freak.
"No... I... I forgot my access card to your office, so I couldn’t clean your office. I couldn’t get through to Mr. Thompson for an extra access card. Since you didn’t arrive early at the office, I thought you wouldn’t be in the office today."
Jark rubbed his jaw lightly, clearly tired and having a headache from hearing the cleaner’s excuse.
"I see. Next time, remember to come with my office access card permit."
The cleaner was shocked because the boss he knew would have definitely punished him for even forgetting to clean his desk, but he still breathed a sigh of relief for not getting punished.
"OK, Master."
He bowed and was about to walk out of the room in case Jark changed his mind and decided to punish him.
"Wait," Jark called out to him again, making his heart leap to his throat.
"Ye... yes?"
"Take that box with you. You can discard it if need be."
Jark pointed at the table.
’Oops... just that?’ the cleaner thought to himself as he took the box and left the room with immense gratitude.
Speaking of lunch, Jark picked up his phone but found no call or missed call from Kathe. She didn’t even call to remind him about lunch, making him frown because, at the end of the day, she always ended up in some trouble. He quickly called the mansion security, who informed him that she was still in the mansion, and he suddenly calmed down and returned to his work.
The cleaner was about to walk past the copy room when Rhea sighted her lunch box in his hand, and she was suddenly filled with excitement. She called out to the cleaner, her voice loud, catching everyone’s attention, and that was her intention.
"Hey, wait there."
The cleaner was startled and, at the same time, confused about why Rhea was calling him.
"Me... ma’am?"
"Yes, you," Rhea said as she walked closer to him.
The cleaner was sure that he had cleaned her office.
"That looks like my lunch box. Where did you get it from?" she raised her voice deliberately, making everyone pay more attention to her.
"Oh, ma’am, I never knew it was yours. I took it from the boss’s office."
Hearing the cleaner’s response, half the office erupted into loud whispers.
"I saw her taking the box to his office yesterday. I thought the boss wouldn’t accept it, but jokes on me—he actually accepted it."
"I always suspected that Miss Rhea and the boss’s intimacy was more than that of childhood friends and siblings."
"Of course, she’s very beautiful."
"It’s so nice of Miss Rhea to take care of the boss."
"I also noticed that Miss Rhea and the boss’s relationship grew distant ever since the arrival of Miss Kathe."
"She used her beauty and sexy looks to seduce the boss."
"I’ve noticed that she hasn’t been in the office for some days now."
"Maybe the boss discovered her scheme and sent her away."
Rhea’s head began to swell from the workers’ praise. That was what she had always wanted. She lifted her chin proudly and collected the box from the cleaner, flaunting it openly.
"He hasn’t been eating much lately. Let me see how much he’s eating."
Her voice sounded pitiful and caring at the same time.
Everyone stretched out their necks to see the box’s contents, and she made sure that the box was flaunted openly, her heart racing with excitement as she opened it.
All the smiles on her face drained away the moment the box was opened. Even the room became so silent that a pin drop could be heard.
Rhea’s face was filled with embarrassment. Her eyes carried resentment toward the cleaner for not warning her on time that the box was still packed as it was and that the contents were rotten.
The cleaner lowered his head, afraid that he could be punished, and shifted back.
The room was filled again with little whispers. Still, Rhea could hear some of them.
"It means that the boss is still head over heels for Kathe."
"Haven’t you noticed that Miss Rhea seems to be forcing herself on the boss?"
"Is she trying to compete with Miss Kathe?"
"I think so. You know that Miss Kathe always has lunch with the boss every afternoon and has never missed the routine."
One of the workers clapped her palm over her cheek. Her whisper became louder than the rest of the people’s.
"You mean she’s really trying to compete with Miss Kathe? I don’t think she would even measure up if she tried to compete with Miss Kathe, because Miss..."
She suddenly shut her mouth when Rhea shot her a cold glare.
One minute she was receiving praise from them all; the next moment, she became the biggest villain, making her want to explode at that very moment.
Her thoughts were dismissed halfway as the office was filled with a foul smell, making everyone wrinkle their noses. Some held their noses tightly while they shot Rhea disgusted looks.
She quickly closed the box.
"Take it. Make sure it’s trashed."
She handed the box to the cleaner. She shot everyone a glare before walking out of the room due to embarrassment.
Some of the workers chuckled out loud when she walked out. The cleaner shook his head and walked past the room.
Bang!
Rhea shut the door the moment she stepped into her office, throwing away everything that was on her table.
"Kathe, Kathe, I will make sure you regret your own existence. First, you came into the house and took my place. You’ve now taken over the company. I promise you won’t be able to take Jark from me. He loves me. I know that."
She picked up a photo frame on the table, turning it around to reveal a picture she took with Jark back in high school.
As she remembered that day when she had forced Jark to take a photo, he kept refusing, but with just a few whines and a sad face, Jark finally agreed. He stood beside her in the background, his handsome face cold, while her face was filled with all the happiness in the world standing beside Jark.
"Even if it costs your life, Kathe, I won’t hesitate to take it."
Achooo!
Kathe suddenly sneezed, wondering who was having evil thoughts about her.
"Are you okay?" the old lady asked, completely worried about Kathe.
"Yes, I think it’s just a quick allergy, nothing serious."
The old lady finally relaxed as they both went back to their previous conversation.
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