Chapter 43
On the fifth day of the New Year, people usually prayed to the God of wealth, hoping that they would get richer during the new year. On this day, people and their families would cook dumplings together for good luck.
So did Vanessa and her family.
Valeria was mixing the stuffing for the dumplings in the kitchen in the evening.
Vanessa's room was next to the kitchen, and Valeria made a loud noise to make sure Vanessa could notice her dissatisfaction.
Valeria smashed the kitchen knife on the chopping board to vent her dissatisfaction.
"She's twenty years old but still only so lazy that she only lay on the bed. Is she going to spend all her rest time in bed?"
"She doesn't even help me do the meal. I really don't know how she lives alone in Lantrie!"
Abbot was kneading dough. When he heard Valeria's words, he said with a smile, "Why are you worrying so much? The children can take care of themselves when they grow up."
"I'm her mother! Of course, I'm worried about her!" Valeria snorted. "I wish she'd better marry a good man who can really take care of her!"
Then, Valeria dropped the kitchen knife and stormed back into Vanessa's room.
"Dinner is ready! Shall I pass the food to your room?"
Vanessa threw back the covers and let out a muffled voice. "Got it."
After coming back from the aquarium, Vanessa lied to her parents that she had lunch. Then she locked herself in her room and fell asleep.
And the reason was what Shawn said on the phone before he hung up.
It really hurt her and also took away her last hope.
At that moment, she felt that she was falling apart.
Her emotional turmoil had drained her.
Vanessa didn't know what was wrong with her.
She knew she was sad at that moment. Inside, she was a maelstrom of the shame of being caught in a lie and remorse for doing something wrong.
However, there was no outburst of emotion, like the outpouring of anger when she found out that Jackson cheated on her.
She didn't even cry out.
Now she just felt like a patient with a bad cold. Her breath was taken away. Her chest felt tight, and she couldn't concentrate.
Whatever she did, she would be distracted and lost in her thoughts.
She couldn't do anything but just sleep to get rid of this bad emotion.
She got into bed and wrapped herself up with the quilt, hoping that she could feel nothing after she was asleep.
However, it just didn't help her get better.
Every time she woke up, Vanessa would feel weak all over with a more depressing emotion.
She could only force herself to sleep again.
...
Now, she had to have dinner with her family. Vanessa just ate a few foods and then went back to her room again.
"I'm going out!" Before Valeria left, she pushed the door open and poked her head in Vanessa's room. As expected, Vanessa was lying on the bed.
"You've slept all day!"
"I stayed up last night to watch a TV show." Vanessa's muffled voice came under the quilt. "Just leave me alone. I need to catch up on sleep!"
"Alright!" Valeria straightened her sleeves and pretended to say casually, "I have an appointment with the principal's wife tomorrow, and we will have dinner at her house tomorrow night. Would you like to come with me? Lonn will be there too."
Vanessa said, "No!"
Then, Valeria left after saying something.
She didn't take Vanessa's differences seriously. After all, in her eyes, young people all liked to lie in bed all day playing with mobile phones.
But on the next day, Vanessa still slept all day. Valeria then realized that something was wrong with Vanessa.
On the morning of the day that Vanessa went back to Lantrie, Vanessa didn't come out of her room for breakfast.
Valeria walked into her room and asked, "Don't you need to pack up? Your train is at three o'clock in the afternoon."
"I don't have much stuff. I'll start packing now."
Vanessa opened her eyes and got up to wear her clothes.
Valeria sat by her bed before she got out of bed.
"Vanessa? Did anything happen to you?"
Sitting on the bed, Valeria ran her hand through Vanessa's hair and said in a soft voice. "Did you have any problems with your work? Or any other problems?"
After staying in bed for two days, Vanessa was now still a bit dull with her mind in a fog.
The familiar smell of Valeria helped Vanessa to come to her senses.
However, the long-term suppression of her own feelings made Vanessa already lose her desire to tell.
She just leaned quietly in Valeria's arms, feeling sore in her heart. Her throat had tightened and she couldn't speak.
She didn't want her parents to worry about her.
Valeria's soft voice sounded near her ear.
"If there's any difficulty at work, you can always find a way. Besides, your dad can help you. He has gone through many difficulties in his life."
"If you really can't stand it, just go home. Although Talian is a small city, it's still a great place. Your father and I can buy you a big house and a new car. You can live happily here!"
"If you have a relationship problem, just forget that man and move on. You're still young, and you will meet a lot of people in your life!"
"When you look back on your past after you grow older and have kids, you will find that you forget many things that you think you will remember forever. Therefore, trust me. There's nothing in this world that matters more than yourself!"
After a while, Vanessa choked with sobs, "Mom, I made a mistake."
"That's okay, sweetheart! Everyone makes mistakes! All you need to do is just to correct it and promise that you'll never make the same mistake in the future!"
"There's no future..."
"Don't say that! Everything will be better!"
Vanessa made no answer.
She knew that her mother wouldn't understand her, and even she didn't understand why she would feel so hopeless.
After a while.
"Do you feel better now?" Valeria patted Vanessa's back gently and said, "Get up if you feel better. Remember to forward the voting link for 'The most popular teacher in Talian No.1 Middle School' to your moments and ask your friends to vote for me."
...
Shawn was in Finley's office when he saw Vanessa's newest update.
Finley was staring at the real-time data monitoring of the company's stock prices with a frown.
The screen was all green, and Finley felt heartbreak.
"The stock market is colder than women's hearts."
Hearing what Finley said, Shawn put his phone on the table and clenched the arms of his chair, looking out the window.
"Yeah, you're right."
Women's hearts were cold.
...
Vanessa returned to Lantrie in the evening. As soon as she went back home, Vanessa immediately spring-cleaned the house and washed her clothes. After that, she even wanted to remove the curtain and wash it.
Suddenly, Tracy called her and asked her to proofread a draft.
After Vanessa did that, it was already two o'clock at night. Vanessa then went to bed and fell asleep soon after a busy day.
The next morning, she wore her work card and went to the company. Work was the first thing that mattered, and Vanessa had to conceal all her emotions as soon as she entered the office building.
It was the first day of work in the new year, and most people were in no hurry to get to work after they came to the company in the morning. Instead, the first thing they did was to exchange the special local products that they brought from their hometowns.
A girl from the next group carried a pile of food and drink in her arms and passed by Vanessa. "Are there any special local products in Talian? What did you bring from your hometown, Vanessa?" she asked Vanessa.
Of course, Vanessa didn't remember to bring the special local products.
She raised her head and said with a smile, "Talian abounds with beauties. Do you want one?"
"No, thanks." The girl said with a smile and gave Vanessa a pack of tea.
Vanessa lowered her head and paused for a moment before she continued to check the emails.
Vanessa soon put her heart and soul into the busy work, leaving herself no time to consider anything else.
Sophia came at ten o'clock,
Vanessa caught sight of Sophia and suddenly became nervous.
Sophia walked to Vanessa, and Vanessa stood up. In spite of her outward calm, she was very shaken.
However, before Vanessa said something, Sophia suddenly said, "Vanessa, I came to quit my job."
Vanessa paused in surprise. "What?"
Sophia repeated, "I came to quit my job."
Sophia rubbed her chin with embarrassment when she saw Vanessa's surprised look. "I haven't been feeling well recently, and the doctor said that I need to have a good rest at home."
Vanessa knew that it was an excuse, but she just paused for a moment and then nodded. "Okay! I hope that you can get better soon."
"Then I need to tell the chief editor!"
Then, Sophia turned around to leave, but Vanessa suddenly called her name.
Sophia looked back at Vanessa and asked, "Any problems?"
Vanessa hesitated for a moment and didn't know what to say.
Sophia looked at Vanessa with confusion. After a while, Vanessa said, "Your uncle... Did he also agree with you to quit your job?"
Sophia also felt that her uncle was a bit strange recently, but hearing that Vanessa mentioned her uncle, Sophia still wanted to speak some good words for Shawn.
"Yeah! My uncle is very thoughtful. After knowing that I'm not feeling well recently, he also advised me to stay at home to recuperate."
Vanessa made no answer.
She nodded and reached out to give Sophia a hug.
"Bye, Sophia! Take good care of yourself!" she said in a hoarse whisper.
"Don't worry! I will get better soon. We'll see each other in the future."
Sophia said while wondering to ask Vanessa out to hang out for fun in the future.
...
As time went by, all the people all slowly got into the busy work after a few days.
The absence of Sophia from the finance team made no difference, and her desk was soon piled up with clutter.
Vanessa needed to interview famous people every day. She usually went out in the morning and came back in the afternoon to write the draft. These days, she always went back home late at night.
No one sensed her different emotions, and people just felt that she worked harder in the new year.
They guessed that maybe Vanessa wanted to be the new deputy editor.
On Friday morning, Vanessa got a call from Ben's assistant.
On the phone, Ben's assistant asked Vanessa if the interview next week could be advanced by today because of Ben's schedule change.
Vanessa was going to proofread some drafts today, but after hearing what Ben's assistant said, she agreed.
After lunch, Vanessa immediately went to Mondred Company.
The eighth to twelfth floors of the office building of the Mondred Company were occupied by the offices of senior executives. Each floor only had two main offices with some meeting rooms.
Therefore, the eighth to twelfth floors of the office building were quieter than the public office area with no overly busy atmosphere.
Vanessa was now standing in the reception area on the eighth floor, but she felt the atmosphere here was more stressful.
She felt as if everyone here was holding their breath and dared not to make a noise.
When she came here before, some female employees would come to her occasionally and greet her with a smile, but today, all of them were doing their own business without distraction.
Vanessa was right.
Actually, since the first day they returned to work after the holidays, the employees had noticed that Shawn had been very bad-tempered lately and often scolded people in the meeting.
Even when facing some senior executives that were much older than him, Shawn would also rebuke them with no mercy.
Therefore, all the employees became more cautious. Especially when they faced Shawn, they were all extremely careful and were afraid of making any mistakes.
Bianca, who was usually the most cautious, seemed to be influenced the most. When she saw Shawn, she was obviously absent-minded. She even put the wrong PowerPoint when she followed Ben to a meeting one time.
Shawn didn't say anything at that time, just took off his glasses, and put the glasses on the table, staring at Ben calmly.
Ben immediately asked Bianca to leave.
And she hadn't come to work ever since.
People would be influenced by the atmosphere, and so did Vanessa. She couldn't help but become more nervous now.
But there was another reason why she felt nervous.
Since she came here, Vanessa hoped that she would see Shawn again.
Although she didn't know why she wanted to see him at this time and didn't know what to say when she saw him, she still wanted to see him so much for no reason that she even fidgeted a bit.
Almost an hour later, the small LED screen on the door of the conference room directly opposite finally went out.
Then, the door opened, and several men in formal suits walked out.
Shawn walked out first.
Barron and Ben followed behind him on both of Shawn's sides.
Ben held a tablet in his hand, and Shawn listened to Ben with his head tilted slightly.
As soon as Vanessa saw Shawn, she stood up immediately. Her hands grabbed the strap of her bag tightly, but she dared not to walk forward.
Ben noticed Vanessa out of the corner of his eye. He paused and whispered in Shawn's ear, "Miss Green is here."
Then, Shawn raised his head up. He shot Vanessa a cold glance and then kept walking away, purposely avoiding Vanessa's gaze.
Shawn just walked past Vanessa directly.
As if he didn't see her, Shawn didn't even make a pause and just walked away calmly.
Vanessa's heart missed a beat.
She looked forward blankly while the footsteps behind her had been fading away.
A few seconds later.
Vanessa turned around mechanically. The elevator at the end of the corridor had moved slowly up to the twelfth floor.
Vanessa stood still with a sore feeling in her heart.
She lowered her head and went to a corner. Then, she took out her phone.
She tried to send Shawn a message, but she suddenly found that there was nothing she could say.
Vanessa knew that it was no use making excuses.
She deleted all the words she had typed and then just sent Shawn a message with only three words.
"I'm so sorry."
Except for this, Vanessa also didn't know what else she could say.
However, Vanessa soon abandoned hope of any reconciliation when she saw the red exclamation mark that was shown on the screen after she sent the message.
"The message is successfully sent but rejected by the receiver."