Chapter 196
Chapter 196
"It is customized. If you don't want it, who else can I give it to? Just keep it."
After listening to the voice message, Kimberly was stunned. Did President Hanover mean that the dress was customized to her body measurements? And if she didn't accept it, the dress would go to waste.
Afraid she might have misunderstood the situation, she dazedly asked Quill how he had known about her measurements. However, after she had sent the question to him, she felt somewhat embarrassed and tried to explain herself. But Quill had already replied before she could send the text.
"I have my own ways to find out. If you're not free, I'll have Juliette deliver it to you."
Juliette? What would people say when they see her delivering the dress over? It would surely stir up another gossip. Kimberly thought of this and replied hurriedly, "No, there's no need. I'll drop by your company tomorrow and look for Juliette."
After they had reached an agreement, Quill ended the conversation. Kimberly breathed a sigh of relief as she put her phone aside.
When she exited the room, her breakfast was ready.
Rainie said, "I have no idea what you like to eat, so I made a variety of dishes. I hope you like them."
Kimberly wasn't a particularly picky eater except for sweet and greasy food. Therefore, she smiled at Rainie and responded, "I like them. Thank you."
"You're most welcome."
As Kimberly sat down and began eating her breakfast, something struck her mind. She asked, "Where are Maddox and the others?"
Rainie replied, "Well, they left early in the morning." Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
Hearing this, Kimberly assumed that they might have gone to the company. She decided to drop by after she had finished her meal.
When she arrived at the company, her department was in chaos.
It turned out that Lincoln was fired. Although nobody knew the reason, it was a hot topic among everyone and they were discussing endlessly.
"What's going on? He has been our supervisor for so many years. Why was he fired all of a sudden?"
"Pfft, he must have offended someone or done something wrong. But judging from his perverse personality, I bet he laid hands on someone he shouldn't have messed with. This time, he wasn't careful enough and made a huge blunder."
"Well, he brought it upon himself. He was such a pervert. Besides, he is already a married old man. How can he be so shameless?"
"That's true, but... Honestly, I think that he's quite pitiful. He still has a wife and children to look after. Now that he has lost his job, how is he going to support the family?"
"He's a man. He doesn't need to be concerned about this." "Hey, are you dumb? Yardley Corporation is the top company in North City. If he's fired from the top company, who would dare to hire him in the future?"
"Really? If that's so, it will be difficult for him to get a new job now. Alas, he is indeed pitiful."
As Kimberly was walking in, she had heard the entire conversation. Then, she arrived at her desk and sat down.
After a moment, someone came over and spoke to her.
"Miss Shell, what are you still doing here?"
"Huh?" Kimberly subconsciously tilted her head in confusion.
Looking up, she saw that a smile was plastered on the man's face. He explained, "Don't you know that you've been promoted?"
Hearing this, Kimberly was dumbstruck.
"I've been promoted?" she echoed in puzzlement.
When did this happen? Why... was she not aware of it?
The man nodded, "That's right. Don't you know that Vice President Yardley made you his secretary?"
Kimberly was speechless. After a while, she mumbled, "What's going on?"
Why would Vice President Yardley make her his secretary? What was Benedict doing? Why would he suddenly interfere with her work? Last night...
Upon thinking of this, Kimberly pursed her lips and her face darkened. The man said, "Oh, I envy you. You were Young Master Yardley's assistant, and now you are Vice President Yardley's secretary. Why are you so lucky?"
He added, "We treated you perfectly fine ever since you joined our department. Don't complain about us to Vice President Yardley. Okay?"
The more Kimberly thought about it, the more she felt strange. Benedict had always been kind to her, but he had never involved himself when it came to her work. Now that he had promoted her, Kimberly wondered what he was trying to do.
After pondering it for a moment, Kimberly packed her things in a hurry and went straight to look for Benedict.
When she arrived at Benedict's office, she happened to met his assistant. As soon as their eyes meet, the assistant smiled and asked, "Oh, there you are. Are you reporting for duty?"
However, Kimberly didn't return a smile and her gaze was stern. Seeing this, the assistant paused for a moment and continued, "Vice President Yardley is on a call. Please give him a moment."
But Kimberly could not wait any longer. She needed to speak to him right away and get to the bottom of this.
Therefore, she stepped forward and was about to barge into the room. The assistant was shocked and immediately tried to stop her.
"You can't go in, he is..."
"Valeria, let her in." Suddenly, a voice rang from the office. Valeria Brooks was Benedict's personal assistant. All this time, she had been affectionately called Valeria by everyone she knew, including at work.
Valeria was stunned for a moment. Then, she nodded, "Okay, go on in."
Kimberly pursed her lips and strode into the office.
Benedict was sitting at his desk. After exchanging a few words on the phone, he said some pleasantries and hung up the call.
He put down the phone and looked at Kimberly with a smile.
"So, I assume you are aware of what's happening. Have you brought your stuff over? I'll tell Valeria to take you around your office. Otherwise, you can choose to stay in the office with me..."
"Brother."
Before Benedict could finish his sentence, Kimberly had interrupted him. Her delicate face was tense.
She asked, "Why did you promote me?"
"Uh... why not? Isn't it a good thing?" The smile on Benedict's face faded and his voice became calm as he replied, "I'm keeping you by my side so that you won't get hurt by someone like Lincoln again."
Kimberly's heart skipped a beat, and she had a bad feeling about this.
She didn't dare to think too much because she was afraid that she would misunderstand.
Benedict stood up, stepped forward and approached her, "Kimberly, I don't want anyone to hurt you ever again." She was extremely startled to hear her real name coming out of his mouth. Surprise flashed across her usually emotionless eyes, and she stared at him in disbelief.
"You..."
"Let's make this clear. I knew your real identity the moment you married into the Yardley family." Benedict smiled as he reached out to caress her head. He said, "I didn't say anything because you and Erica are the Shell family's daughters. Besides, it was your big day. If I exposed the truth at your wedding, it might have brought damage to both our families' reputation. But now... I know that I
shouldn't have held my tongue. At least, you wouldn't have to stay in our family and suffer through so much. You also wouldn't have to be forced to be Maddox's wife."
All of this was too much for Kimberly. She was extremely shocked by the revelation and absent- mindedly retreated backwards. However, Benedict abruptly reached out and grabbed her shoulders.
"Kimberly, I truly regret not saying anything on that day. But... it's still not too late. Since Maddox isn't willing to protect you, let me keep you safe. Okay?"