Isabelle came to her feet when Jason got to their table, and so did Seth beside her."Good afternoon. Ms Cruz," he greeted. "How is your first day going?""Good afternoon, Mr Del Mundo," she replied, smiling at him. "Good so far.""Are you having any problems? Is anyone giving you a hard time?" he asked, a serious look on his face.His serious expression and firm words surprised Isabelle a little. Sure, he had been so helpful during the interview process so it shouldn't be a surprise, but.he sounded very concerned. His manner implied that he was concerned in her not just because she was an employee, but almost as if he had a personal investment in her.Before she could assure him that she wasn't having any trouble at all, Seth spoke to him. "You don't need to worry about that, Mr Del Mundo. If Ms Cruz runs into any problems, I'll help her through."Jason turned to Seth and noticed how he hovered over Isabelle, as though protectively. He cleared his throat and looked between the two. "
Jacob scoffed as Isabelle narrated how she thought Seth was the one who helped her with the interview. Had he gone through all this trouble to give her a fair shot at the job only for her to think it was another man who helped her? She must think really highly of the guy. "Did he tell you that?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest. At that point, they were just standing in the middle of the alley, immersed in their argument. "No," she replied, blowing away stray strands of hair from her face. "But it makes sense. Nobody else at the company knows me personally, so he's the only one who could have spoken for me against Ann. He's a head designer, so I think he's close to the vice president. Plus, he comes from a powerful family. He probably has some influence around here." The more she talked about the guy, the more Jacob's irritation grew. Did she say he was her senior? Did she have a crush on him or something? Just because he was not her lover didn't mean she wasn't interes
Jacob and Isabelle turned around at the sound of the voice. Their eyes fell on Naomi, standing near a black BMW that was parked outside the nearby building. Beside her was a man Isabelle had never seen before."Hi, Naomi," Isabelle greeted her tersely, ignoring her earlier words. She wasn't interested in having a fight with her sister in front of Jacob. Just a few minutes ago, she had told him that everything was fine with her family. If Naomi didn't back off, he might get the idea that she's hiding something.Instead of replying to her greeting, Naomi turned to the man beside her and hooked her arm through his. "Babe, this is my sister, Isabelle." Turning back to Isabelle, she said, "This is Arnold, my boyfriend."She didn't even bother introducing Jacob, but that was the last thing on Isabelle's mind. New boyfriend? What on earth happened to Raymond? Wasn't she supposedly pregnant with his child? As she looked from Arnold to Naomi, her sister gave her a pointed look, her lips stretc
"What is going on?" Isabelle asked when Jacob didn't offer any explanation about the sudden change in their means of transport. "Whose car is this?"Jacob shifted in his seat to look at her. "Since it's your first day at work, I wanted to do something special for you. So I hired this car to pick you up."Isabelle didn't know what to say at first. Of course, the only way he could pick her up with such an expensive car was if he rented one. But why would he go to such an extent? They weren't a real couple. Still, it warmed her heart that he wanted to do something special for her on her first day at work."Thanks," she told him. "It's a nice ride."It was better than nice. It was the kind of car only the very wealthy drove-and she knew that meant the renting fee had to be quite high. While it was nice that he thought to do this for her, she couldn't ignore the financial implication. She was out of cash and he was making money on a part-time job.They couldn't afford to splurge on unneces
On the evening of Isabelle's third day at the Larson Group, Seth appeared at her desk when it was time to go home. Isabelle hadn't seen much of him the past two days, besides when they had lunch together. Part of it was because she was avoiding him actively-even though Jacob had accepted her explanation about their relationship, she didn't want to risk another misunderstanding. The other reason was because they weren't in the same departments and were both busy at work.When he appeared, she was gathering her things, ready to leave. Most of her co-workers had already left."I came by to see if you want to get off work together," Seth said when he got to her desk.The request was innocent enough, she supposed, but she couldn't help thinking about the last time they had left the building together.When she hesitated, he added, "I haven't seen much of you these last couple of days, I was hoping to catch up. You can tell me about how you're getting along with work."She appreciated his co
"The landlord is on the line," the realtor said, holding his phone toward Isabelle. "You can talk to him." When Isabelle took the phone and turned away, the man gave Jacob a wink-a sign that everything was going smoothly."Hello, I'm looking at an apartment here and I understand that the rent is only three hundred bucks?" Isabelle said into the phone."That's right," the man on the phone replied. "I know it sounds shocking, but I'm about to move abroad and wanted to get tenants before I leave. I figured I would get a tenant quickly if I lowered the rent.""Oh," Isabelle muttered. That kind of made sense, she decided. If the landlord was moving abroad, it made sense that he would lower the rent to quickly attract a tenant. She still thought the rent was too low, but as long as the landlord had confirmed it, she was willing to let it be."Feel assured and take the house," the landlord continued. "I was very happy to get a call that someone wanted the house. Please don't worry about the
When he didn't seem to pay attention to her plea, Isabelle grasped his arm and pushed it away. She was clearly only going to get out of this by having to-"Just a sec," Jacob said, his voice gentle. She went still as he reached up and touched her forehead, then wiped his palm over her skin. "You've got a bit of sweat here.""Oh," she mumbled, her face going hot. Was that it? He just wanted to wipe her forehead? He should have said earlier. And here she was, getting wild ideas...Jacob could barely keep his lips from splitting into a wide grin. So maybe he enjoyed seeing her frazzled by his proximity a little too much. And he was also guilty of enjoying having her trapped in his arm a lot. But he couldn't help it-she was just too adorable.He half-expected her to keep pushing against him after he said he was wiping her sweat, but she didn't. Instead, she stilled and let him go ahead, her struggle gone. What had she thought he was going to do?"Are you done?" she asked after a few secon
Isabelle picked up the form and ran her fingers around the edges nervously. "Even if there are side effects, they said that they will compensate me."Jacob gave her a look that suggested he thought that was ridiculous. "And you believed them?""It's in the registration form."His brow furrowed. "Let's say they are not lying, what if the drug has serious side effects on your health? Are you okay with that just because they'll compensate you? What if you suffer permanent effects?""Many people have done this before," she said, trying to calm him down. She couldn't understand why he was so angry about it. "You're overthinking, I'll be fine.""Overthinking?" he scoffed. "Don't you care about your health at all?""I need the money, okay?" she told him finally, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I need money urgently and this was the best option I could find.""What?" he asked, his voice full of disbelief. "You're putting yourself in danger because of money?"Isabelle clenched her teeth toget
On her way home from work that evening, Isabelle came across Jacob jogging in the community. He was dressed in a pair of running shorts that left his long muscular legs exposed, and a t-shirt that made it easy to imagine the muscular physique hidden beneath.Soon as her thoughts went to forbidden territory, she stopped them and focused on the matter that had been on her mind all day. Jacob was the only person from last night who knew her identity and who took the incentive to stop Mr Grayson. There was a high probability that he was the one who had reported him to the police."How was work?" he asked when he got to her and fell into step with her on their way home."It was good," she said, and then looked up at him. "Some officers came in the morning and arrested the director. Are you the one who went to the police with the surveillance video from last night?""Oh, they did?" he nodded approvingly. "Good. Yes, I'm the one who gave them the video.""Thank you," she told him. "He was tr
When Jacob's finger tugged on the towel and it became a little loose, Isabelle snapped out of the trance he had distracted her into. Her face flushed afresh, and as her mind rattled back into work-mode, she realised how precarious her situation was.She had let this go too far.Pushing Jacob's hand away, she ducked under his arm and reached for her door. This time, he didn't stop her as she twisted the handle and pushed the door open. She slammed it closed behind her-as if to further emphasise that she was not up for whatever he had in mind. Rushing to her mirror, she pressed her hands to her face and took deep breaths. She had no idea who she was more pissed at-him for teasing her in her state of undress, or her for giving him any sign that she liked it.It seemed that she was getting too comfortable with him and forgetting that not only was he her pretend husband, but that she was also deceiving him about her identity. Nothing could happen between them as long as she was living a l
Jacob let go of Isabelle's face and looked away. "I was in the company of a friend," he replied to her question."Oh," she muttered, remembering how the men in the private room had all been there with women in their arms. What was Jacob doing there? Had he also been there with a lover? Did he flirt with the women there?The thought bothered her, but she didn't let it show on her face."I'll go and take a shower," she told him, getting to her feet. He nodded and shifted to let her leave the sofa.In the bathroom, she stood under the shower for a long time, enjoying the feel of the cascading water over her skin. Even though Mr Grayson hadn't succeeded in touching her the way he wanted, she still found herself scrubbing her skin thoroughly. Somehow, she felt as if washing thoroughly would not only wash away any trace of his touch on her but also wash away the memory of what happened.By the time she was done, she felt a lot better. Her body had also stopped trembling. It wasn't until she
Mr Grayson cursed and turned around, wondering who it was that had the nerve to barge in the room to interrupt him. In front of him was a tall dark-haired man giving him a cold glare.He wasn't familiar to him. And he was sure none of the men who were outside drinking with their dates would have interrupted him. He also didn't look like a security guard-he was wearing a suit and a long coat like an office worker.Supporting himself on his hands, he gotup and faced him, sneering. "Who the fuck are you?" He wasn't about to let anyone ruin this for him.When Mr Grayson suddenly released her and fell backwards, Isabelle shot up from the bed, thinking that perhaps one of the people in the room outside had finally come to help her. But when her eyes fell on Jacob instead, a happy cry left her lips as she crawled over the bed and to him.He took her in his arms and held her close as she hid her face in his chest, sobs causing her entire body to shake. She could hardly believe he was there,
After the incident with Claudia, Mr Grayson stopped making advances towards Isabelle. He no longer called ✓ her to his office frequently or offered to help her with her work. This convinced Isabelle that he had given up, and she was finally able to relax fully.So it caught her by surprise when he approached her one evening after work and asked her to join him to have dinner with a client. Isabelle's heart sank as she realised that he had not given up. Instead, he had been biding his time."I'm sorry but I can't join you," she rejected his invitation politely, hoping he would let it go. She gathered her stuff into her bag, wanting to make an escape quickly.Mr Grayson stepped in her way. "You should come with me, Ms Cruz. I want to introduce some resources that can help you a lot here at work.""Thank you for the consideration," she told him, "but I really cannot go with you. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I have to leave right away.""Do you think I wasted my time coming here
"Let go of me!" Claudia demanded, grabbing at a desk and digging her heels into the floor to keep Isabelle from dragging her any further. "What do you think you are doing?""What are you afraid of?" Isabelle asked, not relaxing her grip around her arm. "You said that you saw us with your own eyes. We are only going to confirm with the director.""You are crazy," Claudia accused. "This is harassment, I can report you to HR-""I'll accompany you to show them the video of you slandering me," Isabelle informed her.When they were almost at the director's office, the door burst open and Mr Grayson appeared, a frown on his face. He looked around at the gathered workers, and then his eyes zeroed in on Isabelle and Claudia. "What on earth is going on here?" he demanded.Isabelle finally let go of Claudia and faced the department director. This was her chance to stop everything once and for all, in front of everyone. "Claudia is spreading rumours that you and I went to a hotel together last ni
As the week wore on, isabelle realised that the man she should be worried about avoiding was not Jacob. Everything at home had gone back to normal, as if her drunken antics had never happened. It was a big relief, because she had no idea how she would have reacted had he brought it up again.Instead, the man she needed to avoid at all costs was unfortunately one who was around her all day long-her department director, Mr Grayson. After he had called her to his office on Monday morning to offer his help, he had been more and more direct with his advances towards her. He showed her way too much attention in the guise of work, but he never passed up a chance to make hints about what his true intentions were.She took every precaution she could to avoid running into him, but there was only so much hiding she could do when she worked under him. If only there was a way to put his advances to an end once and for all, she would not hesitate to do it.One day, while she was in the bathroom at
That morning, Isabelle's department had a meeting, but her mind was barely in the room as various teams presented their reports.She was busy trying to untangle the puzzle that the previous night had left in her mind. No matter how hard she tried to urge herself to not think about it, it didn't take long before her thoughts slid back to that territory.What had she been thinking? She had asked herself that question about a hundred times since she left the house in the morning, but she still had no answer. So she settled on the only one reason that made sense: the alcohol. It was the alcohol that was to blame for her behaviour. Otherwise, she never would have dreamed of clinging to Jacob the way she had, leave alone kiss him.It was true that he was a handsome man, and she thought he was attractive, and maybe he was totally her type, but she was in no position to be lusting after him. Or acting on that lust. The alcohol had done away with not only her sense of propriety, but also her s
Jacob's brain caught up with his body a second too late, and he froze, his hands going still around her and his lips freezing against her neck. No matter how much he wanted her, he couldn't do this. Not when she was drunk and asleep...Cursing softly, he withdrew his hands from her body and rolled away, creating distance between them. Lying on his back, he covered his eyes with his arm and took deep calming breaths. No matter what she did in her current state, there was no excuse to act on his desire. He would be taking advantage of her, and that's not how we wanted things to happen between them. Sighing, he turned to his side to watch her. His eyes were drawn to her face, and her beauty stole his breath. Everything about her seemed to be stealing his breath of late, and he wondered how he had thought, even for a moment, that he could ignore her while they lived under the same roof.If he had taken time to pay attention to her from the moment he first saw her, he would have realised