Chapter 4

Heavy breathing could be heard on the other end of the phone, accompanied by a hint of inexplicable coldness.

Kathryn was stunned into silence for a moment. She took another glance at her phone. When she saw that the caller was Chris, she prayed to God that lightning would strike her down right this instant.

She switched into her business mode and greeted him respectfully, "Mr. Albert."

"Get back to the company right this instant," Chris said coldly. Then he hung up.

Kathryn stared at her dark phone screen and pouted sadly. Her mini-vacation had been cut short once more.

She quickly turned back and returned to her apartment to change. Then she hastily ordered some takeout pasta for Tally from a shop downstairs.

Tally frowned when she saw that Kathryn had returned so quickly. "Was there no queue at the bank today?"

Kathryn was out of breath from all the running. "Mr. Albert summoned me to the company immediately. I bought you some pasta."

Then she placed the pasta on the table and rushed into her room to change into work attire. Chris was a very picky man. He forbade his employees from dressing casually at the company.

When Kathryn stepped out of her room, Tally was still complaining on her behalf. "Mr. Albert's really a piece of work, huh? You guys were on a month-long business trip. It's fine that he doesn't want to rest, but how could he stop you from taking a much-needed break too? Gosh, I should've recommended you to the sales department back then."

"I'm not all that good with words. I don't think I can be a good salesperson." With that, Kathryn left quickly.

The walk to the company from her apartment was only ten minutes. This was exactly why she didn't stay at her own house, even though she had one. The company-owned apartment was convenient, and she could save on transportation costs too.

She ran all the way to the company and headed straight to the president's office. Upon opening the door, she saw that Chris was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sunlight illuminated his refined features, making him look very refined.

Kathryn approached him respectfully and said to his turned back, "Mr. Albert, you wanted to see me?"

Chris turned around and shot her a cold glance. Kathryn figured it might be because of her own guilty conscience, but whenever Chris looked at her like that, she always felt that the man's gaze held some deeper meaning.

Fortunately, he'd only looked at her for a moment. Chris retracted his gaze eventually. "Bring me the Ocean Group contract."

Kathryn was rendered speechless.

Why did Chris suddenly care so much about contracts? He'd never cared for them before. Furthermore, if he needed someone to bring him a contract, he could've gotten someone from the legal department to send it to him. Kathryn was supposed to be on a break, so why make her come all the way back?

Despite all the questions she had, she didn't dare complain. She hurried to the legal department and gave Chris the contract as requested.

Chris picked up a pen and made several edits here and there. Then he handed it back to Kathryn. "Reflect the changes immediately."

Kathryn nodded. "Yes, sir."

She took the contract and quickly returned to her own office. Just as she sat down, Tally sent her a message asking how long it would be until she got back. She wanted to go shopping together.

Kathryn was technically still on a break, so she wrote, "I'll need to make some changes to the Ocean Group contract. I'll need another half an hour."

She figured 30 minutes would be enough to finalize the changes. However, she didn't expect more changes to follow after that.

Even though Kathryn had the patience of a saint, she was on the verge of breaking down toward the end.

It wasn't until two hours later that Chris finally looked satisfied with the changes to the contract. "Good. That'll do for now," he said.

Kathryn put the contract away and asked tentatively, "Will a representative from Ocean Group be coming by later to sign it?"

If someone from the Ocean Group was coming to sign the contract, then it was impossible for her to enjoy her day off.

Chris paused for a moment before saying, "Someone will come by to sign it next Monday."

Kathryn was stunned. Her breathing grew heavier for a moment.

If the contract had been scheduled to be signed next Monday, why the hell had Chris called her back to the office on her day off? Even so, Kathryn didn't dare to voice her discontent.

Upon meeting Chris' cold and indifferent gaze, Kathryn asked tensely, "Is there anything else you need me for?"

The click of a lighter sounded. The smell of a cigarette being lit along with traces of gasoline and nicotine breezed through the air. The air felt slightly suffocating.

Kathryn's heart clenched. She could clearly tell that Chris was upset, but she didn't know why. She was still at a loss when Chris suddenly spoke up. "Were you on your phone with your boyfriend just now?" he asked in a low tone.

"What?" Kathryn was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden question. Then she suddenly remembered the awkward phone call she'd had with Chris before getting here.

She hadn't checked the caller ID properly and yelled into the phone without thinking. She was really embarrassed. Just as she was about to explain, Chris said in a cold tone, "You know that employees aren't allowed to date, right?"

Kathryn honestly hadn't known that there was such a rule. She did her best to recall all the training from the HR department before joining the company, but she was almost certain that this rule hadn't been mentioned to her.

Regardless, Kathryn wasn't in a romantic relationship with anyone anyway. "Rest assured, Mr. Albert. I'm not dating anyone, nor am I going to marry anytime soon," she reassured firmly.

After she finished speaking, the suffocating atmosphere from before seemed to have disappeared.