Chapter 18

Barely a few hours had passed ever since Jaxson had left me inside his office, and I was struggling to stay tranquil.

Jaxson had told me that I couldn't attend the company meeting with him because it was solely exclusive to the company's shareholders. And since I'm not an official Madrigal yet, he asked me to stay here in his office until he is through.

I even made complaints to Jaxson and persuaded him to bring me inside. But he grew irritated and made a point of saying that he already warned me I have nothing else to do here and that I can just stay at home, but still, I insisted on coming with him anyway.

I'm helpless to change his mind and find another reason to let Jaxson take me with him inside because everything he said was true. He even threatened to have Gunther take me home to their mansion if I pushed him far too much.

So I can't do anything but to agree and wait for him. At least, I'll be here later to keep an eye on Lance and Daniella in case they do something to Jaxson.

It's just off-putting that the reason I came here with Jaxson is to always be with him and keep him away from Lance and Daniella. Yet, he has just locked me up, and I'm back alone, completely powerless to help him.

I just used my feet to spin Jaxson’s chair around and somehow soothe myself from being bored inside this quiet room.

My attention was drawn away from Jaxson's chair when Gunther entered the office suddenly. I trailed his hand and looked down at the food he had brought when I noticed he was carrying something.

“Woah, that was a lot. Am I going to eat with you and someone else?” I asked him as he went straight in and laid the stuff on the table.

“Mr. Madrigal requested that I bring you a heavy meal. He'll have to stay in the meeting for another hour before heading here. And also, Geo, Mr. Madrigal’s secretary got a call that the wedding coordinator would be here in a few hours,” Gunther claimed nonchalantly as he unpacked the food from the bag that he was carrying.

“He will be there for another hour?” I brought up the question. I'm not positive what Lance and Daniella are doing to frustrate and distract Jaxson right now. “Can't I really go in there? I'm worried over something. Could you help me?”

It took a long time for me to wait for Gunther's response while looking intently at him with my doe eyes.

What if Jaxson's focus had been drawn away from them, and he was no longer in the right state of mind to prove his prestige? With Lance's schemes so hostile, they could easily disgrace Jaxson and destroy him.

I don't want to think that Jaxson is too feeble to rely on me and defend him, but I do want to make sure that their encounter goes off without a hitch. I don't want Jaxson to look much more miserable in front of other people, particularly at a time when the people who made him that way are now reaping the benefits of their actions. He's had enough.

“If you don't want to cause any trouble for him, Ms. Cattleya, you might as well just eat here and obey merely what Mr. Madrigal commanded,” Gunther replied sternly without taking his focus away from my eyes.

“Gunther, could you please?” I pleaded. “Can't you really help me in any way? This isn't for me, it's for Jaxson. Besides, isn't he also a friend of yours? Do you want something awful to happen to your friend?”

With a scowl, he asked, “What are you trying to say?”

“It's just that—” I hesitated, sighing deeply. “Just help me. Okay? I swear I'll repay your kindness when you need it.”

Because of his intense stare at my face, I get the impression that Gunther was scrutinizing me with his eyes.

“Alright, since it appears that I have no choice but to obey you, just eat it all first, like Mr. Madrigal said. Then I'll take you to him,” he said earnestly, which made me smile broadly before quickly moving my hands to assist him in getting the food out.

“This is too much,” I murmured once again after removing the last meal from the plastic bag.

I didn't waste any time and started shoveling the food into my mouth right away.

“—Sit down and eat,” I told Gunther, gesturing to the chair with my arm in front of me.

I was perplexed by Gunther's stares before he stepped away from me and toward a large glass window.

I was almost overwhelmed when I first entered here and peered down from the glass window. As I remember, we were on the 18th floor now so if I actually fell there, my bones would surely break into pieces. I am horrified, thinking that my body will be shattered on the ground.

“Gunther? What are you waiting for? I told you to eat too.” I said before moving the box lunches and fruits near the seat in front of me.

“Those are not for me, Ms. Cattleya. All of that is for you.”

My eyes almost flew out of the building because of what I heard. “What did you say?!” I gasped, caught off guard. “Are you going to feed me to death? I'm not going to be executed any time soon, am I? Why is there so much food on the table, as if this is my last meal?” I let out a series of questions.

“Mr. Madrigal asked me to bring you a lot,” he calmly answered, seemingly unfazed by my screams.

“I know. But, I am pretty sure that Jaxson doesn’t mean to bring me this much. Like this is a lot, lot! I mean, it's like you're going to feed everyone here on the 18th floor at the fiesta! ”

“You are exaggerating.” As soon as I heard his response, my brows knitted. “These are all for you. I won’t help you get into the meeting if you don’t finish all of this. Besides, you only have an hour and you have 2 meals more to eat, fruits for deserts, and salads. You have to eat healthy other than drinking water.”

My mouth dropped open as I couldn't believe what he was saying.

“— That’s… what Mr. Madrigal told me.” He continued.

Gunther’s comprehension is out of this world. Jaxson may have actually told him to bring me a lot of food, but I'm sure he didn't mean it. I could eat everything in a week and never go hungry. We won't be able to finish it even if I let mom and Charles join me at this table.

I knew I ate a lot, but this was ridiculous!

“I'm just upset that you bought these for me. If these were fried chicken, I'd devour them in no time and without any complaints. But these are what you chose to bring me, it's for vegetarians. I'm not knocking the food, but these leaves aren't as tasty.” I continued grumbling. “Do I look like a goat to you?”

“Ms. Cattleya, those are called salad greens, and that help-”

“The only salad I know is a fruit salad that only comes out around Christmas.” I cut him off. “Look, I don't want to act like a baby but try to taste these plants. It has no taste at all. Like, I am serious. I'll never get acclimated to rich people's cuisine.” I continued to whimper as I cram the leaves into my mouth fiercely, even though I was beginning to resemble a goat. “Me-eh-eh-eh-” I mocked Gunther.

When I heard his suppressed laugh, I immediately glared at him, before resuming to shove the leaves into my mouth with a grimace on my face.

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“How much time do I have left?” I asked with an anxious tone. Because I feel like eating those leaves took me too much time.

“They still have 30 more minutes inside, you should calm down if you don’t want to have indigestion. Leaves are hard to-”

“Gunther, can you just give it a rest and stop babbling? Besides Isn't this what you want?” I cut him off, agitated, in the middle of chomping. I could hardly even enjoy the food in my mouth because of the time crunch. It doesn’t have any flavor, anyway. “Okay, I’m done.” I strained to speak as I forced the leaves down to my throat while ascending from my seat as if I had been set free from being a goat.

“Ms. Cattleya, slow down a bit and digest it for five minutes before we go to the meeting.” Gunther went on to say tactfully as he handed me the water.

I only gave him a sidelong glance before accepting the water and chugging it to force everything I had eaten down my stomach. My eyes were tightly clenched as a lump formed and it hardly drew in my throat.

I rubbed my palm around my stomach, mumbling, “I feel like my body is going to explode with fullness…”

Without waiting for Gunther, I stroll to the office door after a few moments of rest. I don’t care if it’s been less than five minutes for me to put down everything I ate. Every second counts, especially now that I'm aware of Jaxson's stepbrother's motives.

“Ms. Cattleya, I had told you to slow down-”

As I carried on to the room where I had seen Jaxson enter earlier, he was unable to finish what he was about to say.

My gaze was drawn to the plaque on the door. “Headquarters…” I murmured, reading the letters engraved on it.

My hand crept back into my stomach because I felt like everything I'd eaten was coming out of my mouth and rising from my throat.

I gave Gunther's stand a fleeting glance before knocking on the door and without a doubt, opened it.

I was greeted by the stare of the people in the room. They seemed stunned when I walked in when they were in the middle of a meeting since their faces were flushed with astonishment.

“Hi?” I smiled and raised my hand to offer them a tiny wave before searching for Jaxson.

“U-Uh… Miss?”

My gaze wandered to a man who appeared to be Jaxson's father's age. One of his brows was slightly lifted as his forehead creased.

“This is not the place to conduct employment screening interviews,” he added, which made me frown.

“Uh, I'm not looking for a job, sir, I'm sorry. I'm actually here to-”

"Oh, please don't deny it.” he slashes me off. “So many job seekers here have done that to make an impression.”

“Mr. Fridman,” Jaxson’s authoritative tone resounded in the room, making all of us divert our attention. “You're talking to my fiance,” he stated bluntly.

I'm not sure how I'll react to all of the attention I'm getting right now. I'm more concerned about the foods I ate earlier, which I believe are ready to leave my mouth in no time.

I feel nausea and I want to throw up.

“Your fiance? But isn’t she…” I caught a glimpse of the man slowly shifting his eyes to Daniella before returning to me.

As Jaxson approached my stance, I also felt like the leaves from my stomach was rising at the same moment.

“Yes. This woman that you called a job seeker, Mr. Fridman happens to be my fiance.” Jaxson reached me as he started to run his hands onto my waist. “So, I don’t want any of you to disrespect her ever again. Especially now that we are expecting a new-”

My hand flew to my mouth and clasped it while trying to hold down my chest, grabbing everyone’s attention away from Jaxson.

“What's the matter?”He whispered to me in hushed tones.

“Bleurgh-” My cheeks bulged as my chest heaved forward a little.

I quickly turned away from them and exited the room when I felt my vomit really gushing out.