Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Jeanne closed the door and waited for a while, ensuring Edith had returned to her room. After that, she gave Ruben an OK sign.
Time to get started!
Ruben put on his glasses and turned on his laptop. As his fingers rapidly tapped the keyboard, his expression grew more solemn.
Codes fluttered across the computer screen, looking complicated.
Jeanne was utterly clueless. She could only rest her head in her hands and zone out.
By her eleventh yawn, Ruben finally stopped typing.
Drowsy and bleary–eyed, Jeanne looked at the computer. “Ruben, did you find anything?”
She was so sleepy and wanted to sleep badly. If it was too hard, they could continue the search
tomorrow.
Nothing was more important than sleep.
Ruben swallowed nervously, tilting Jeanne’s head to look at the screen closely.
“Stop it, Ruben, what are you doing?” Jeanne complained, shaking her head.
It felt like her neck would snap!
Ruben let go awkwardly, pointing at the screen for her to see clearly.
“Isn’t that just a photo of Gideon and Mommy? What’s so interesting…” Jeanne’s words trailed off as she suddenly noticed the official stamp at the bottom of the photo from the Courthouse.
It was their wedding photo!
Jeanne’s sleepiness vanished instantly, and she perked up. “Gideon and Mommy were married?”
As she spoke, Jeanne realized something was off.
She looked closely at the date and corrected herself. “Gideon and Mommy haven’t divorced?”
“Yes.” Ruben nodded, his face filled with disbelief.
He had thought his mom went abroad alone because of a divorce.
After returning to the country, Ruben naturally assumed that Gideon and Danika had married when he heard Joyce calling Gideon her dad.
But today, upon checking, he discovered that Danika was single, and the marriage certificate between Gideon and Edith was still legally valid.
Besides, Ruben found that the family information for Joyce’s household didn’t include their jerk dad.
Smart as Ruben was, he couldn’t unravel this complex relationship.
“But… But Joyce calls Gideon Dad. We all heard it,” Jeanne said, pinching her cheek growing more confused.
The world of adults seemed so complicated.
Ruben pondered, opened a chat box, and typed a line.
[Let’s ask Mommy some other time. She can’t keep hiding this from us forever. We have a right to know.]
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Jeanne continued to rest her chin in her hands, her baby fat squishing together on her face.
“Will it bring up sad memories for Mom?”
That was her biggest concern.
Ruben continued typing on the keyboard.
[Mommy has been working too hard lately. Let’s not bother her with it for now. We’ll talk about it once her work is done. Whatever decision she makes, we need to be there for her.]
However, Jeanne was thinking about something else.
Maybe their parents hadn’t divorced because they were just having a misunderstanding!
Perhaps they would get back together one day.
Jeanne wanted her dad back.
In that case, her dad would be there for them and take care of their mom.
But Jeanne couldn’t make sense of the situation with Danika and Joyce yet and needed to observe
more.
Ruben turned off the computer, urging Jeanne to go to bed.
They had to go to kindergarten tomorrow.
Ruben knew that if they didn’t sleep well, they would end up like his mom, going to the hospital for injections, and he didn’t want that.
Jeanne lay in bed pondering this, not sleeping well all night. The next day, she descended the stairs clinging to the fence, moving like a boneless cat.
Bonnie was called back to work by her family. The company had too much work to handle, and she couldn’t come to visit Edith. So, they hired a nanny to prepare daily meals.
Noticing Jeanne’s listless appearance, the nanny exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my, what happened? Are you sick too?”
Jeanne yawned and shook her head, feeling even more dazzled.
Edith noticed Jeanne’s face had turned sickly and asked, “Did you stay up late?”
Jeanne staggered over and hugged Edith, saying in a drowsy voice, “I went to bed… But I couldn’t sleep. I feel so dizzy.”
Edith wrapped her arms around her, handing over the milk.
“You should stay home and catch up on some sleep today. Don’t go to kindergarten.”
Edith would be worried about her.
Jeanne nodded, drinking the milk slowly through the straw.
Edith left for the office after settling the kids and instructing the nanny to prepare some light oats for
lunch..
Meanwhile, Bald Ross was sitting in the laboratory’s reception room, with Gideon arriving shortly after.
Today was the deadline for fulfilling the bet.
Bald Ross had got up early, eager to mock Edith for her inability to restore the artifact.
Sipping his coffee casually, he said, “Mr. Simmons, why hasn’t Ms. Jones arrived yet? Could it be that
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she is too ashamed to show up for failing to restore the artifact?”
Charlie couldn’t stand Ross‘ smug and irritating demeanor.
He interjected, “Edith is sick, and the company has allowed her to take a few days off to rest. A clay statue is nothing compared to Edith’s health. Surely Mr. Reed can wait a couple more days, right?”
Charlie had wanted to say, “Waiting two more days won’t kill you, right?”
But if he had said that, his internship would probably end early.
Bald Ross put down his cup, chuckling sarcastically, “She has picked a convenient time to fall sick, hasn’t she? I think Edith just doesn’t have the capability and is too scared to admit it, so she’s using sickness as an excuse to get away.”
Seeing the situation, Ross was even more convinced that Edith had lost.
It looked like those who bet on him would make a fortune!
Charlie was infuriated, veins throbbing on his forehead. “How dare you…”
“Charlie, go back to work!”
Victor cut him off, shooed him away, and then looked at Bald Ross calmly.
“Ross, it’s not time to start work yet. What’s the hurry?”
Victor sipped his coffee with a calm expression.
Seeing this, Bald Ross raised an eyebrow and sneered, “Fine, I’ll keep waiting. I’m curious to see just how capable Edith is.”
Gideon sat in the main seat, his face stern, not uttering a word.
In fact, he didn’t know how far Edith had progressed.
He had come today without much hope.
If the artifact wasn’t appropriately restored, Gideon planned to find a way to cover for Edith.
After all, Edith was now working for the Peterson Group, and he wouldn’t let an old man bully her.
Half an hour later, Edith arrived at work on time.
She sensed something was off.
Passing by the reception room and seeing the people inside, she instantly understood.
Ross had arrived quite early.
After adjusting her hair, Edith entered with dignified grace.
Before she could speak, Bald Ross stood up first, applauding. “Hey, Ms. Jones, I heard you were seriously in. I thought you wouldn’t make it today. But here you are. I’m deeply impressed by your professional dedication.”
Edith replied with a fake smile, “No matter how sick we are, we can’t let others see us as a joke, right, Mr. Reed?”
Their eyes locked, and the tension between them was palpable.
Bald Ross snorted rudely, “Whether it’s a joke or not, we’ll see.
“Ms. Jones, how is the clay statue restoration going? Please bring it out for us to see. Don’t keep everyone in suspense,” he said.
Ross didn’t believe Edith could have restored the nearly pulverized clay statue piece.
He was sure Edith was just pretending to be calm!
Gideon approached Edith and whispered, “Are you confident about this?”
“What’s the hurry? You’ll know in a minute,” Edith replied calmly, not showing any signs of panic.
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