CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: YOU SPILLED WATER ON THE DESK

The phone wasn’t answered, maybe he was busy.

The conspicuous bags couldn’t just be left at the door, so Jean Ellison took them to the table in the living room.

At this moment, Justin Holden had just come out of the meeting room, followed by Samual Pryce. The two were discussing something as they entered the office one after the other.

"Whose woman’s hair tie is this? Are you hiding someone in the office?"

Samual Pryce immediately spotted a hair tie with scattered diamonds on the table and reached out to touch it, but a larger hand picked it up first.

Justin Holden pulled open the drawer under the desk and placed the item inside as if it were a treasure, hiding it away.

Samual Pryce squinted his eyes. There was definitely something fishy going on.

"Is it Jean’s?"

Justin Holden said nothing.

So, that was it.

"What are you thinking? Are you really planning to be with Jean Ellison? You’re not young, but there’s no need to rush."

"A few days ago, I heard Zoe Holden arranged a blind date for you. What’s her name again? I forgot. She looks quite a beauty in the photos, not worse than Jean Ellison, right?"

Samual Pryce advised him, worried he’d impulsively decide to become a stepfather.

They say being a stepmother is tough, but being a stepfather is even harder. Jesse is still so young and needs care. There’s a long road ahead.

Justin Holden leaned slightly against his chair, his eyes lowered to the file on the table. His fingers deftly turned a page of the document.

"Anything else?"

He didn’t even lift his eyelids, his expression unchanged.

Be with that woman?

He had never thought about it.

He just found her a bit strange, making him feel a sense of familiarity, inexplicably drawn to her.

Samual Pryce shook his head. They had already finished discussing work matters in the meeting room. Right now, his concern was Justin Holden’s lifelong matters.

"I’ve given you the case of the Celestial Spire’s boss. Take your team of lawyers and handle it."

Justin Holden’s body leaned back slightly, fingers neatly adjusting his sleeve, eyes raising to fall on him.

Samual Pryce sighed. Handling a divorce case might drive him insane. Both parties were not easy to deal with, both had been unfaithful, holding evidence against each other, wanting the other to leave empty-handed.

This case would keep him busy for at least half a year.

Since Justin Holden had said so, he couldn’t refuse, so he agreed.

"I’ll go draft the contract now."

He turned to leave, but something came to mind when he reached the door.

"Oh, yesterday you weren’t at the law firm. A girl came looking for you. She seemed fifteen or sixteen, not local, wearing blue embroidered cloth attire."

"When told you hadn’t returned, she turned and left immediately."

"She seemed to be looking for you for something urgent."

Justin Holden furrowed his brow, his slender fingers lightly tapping the marble tabletop, and said, "Got it."

Samual Pryce had more to say but noticing Justin Holden wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation, he pushed the door open and left.

The girl who came to find him held a copper compass, her hair pinned up with a peach wood hairpin, with a strange collection of stones hanging on her chest.

Like a little seeress.

Was he privately seeking some superstitious ways, hoping for an afterlife love affair with the deceased Claire Caldwell?

Had he forgotten what he did for a living? He was a lawyer, someone who used science and facts to speak, not superstition.

This was absurd!

After Samual Pryce left, Justin Holden spent a few more hours poring over case files, closed the materials, and removed the frameless glasses from his nose, placing them on the table.

He lifted a hand to rub his temple, his gaze falling to the drawer.

The hair tie was something he found in the car this morning. Before that, he had already left seven or eight new ones at Jean Ellison’s door.

This one, he decided to keep for himself.

Justin Holden walked out of his office, went to the break room to fetch coffee, watching the deep brown liquid pour into the white porcelain cup, steam rising silently.

He picked up the cup of coffee, turned to leave, and saw a figure by the workstation, stopping in his tracks.

The woman wore a sharp suit, an off-white blouse, and a light blue half skirt, her hair tied in a high ponytail.

Her outfit was identical to what Jean Ellison had worn in recent days, even the curve of the ponytail was nearly identical.

When the woman looked up and saw him watching her, her face turned red with embarrassment, and she lowered her head.

Why was Lawyer Holden looking at her like that? His gaze was so intense it made her heart race.

Could it be Lawyer Holden had noticed her at the dining table before? He was just too introverted to express his feelings.

She adjusted her clothes, touched up her makeup, and left her workstation.

In the break room, she made a cup of warm water with half a spoon of honey, and walked towards Justin Holden’s office with it.

Without knocking, she walked in, and Justin Holden assumed it was Samual Pryce.

He looked up, frowning.

"Lawyer Holden, I noticed you just got a cup of coffee. Too much coffee isn’t good for your heart, so I brought you some honey water."

The woman presumptuously moved his coffee cup aside and pushed the honey water in front of him, her voice sweet and soft, bending slightly, revealing a glimpse of cleavage.

"Take it away."

Justin Holden’s face showed some fatigue. He hadn’t slept all night and this woman came in, switching his coffee for honey water. Was she kidding?

The woman bit her lip, puzzled—what had she done to anger him? Wasn’t she doing it right?

At that moment, the phone rang.

Justin Holden picked up the phone beside him, glanced at the name, and swiped to answer.

"Hello, I’m at the law firm."

"Lawyer Holden, I saw the things you left at the door. I don’t need them. When can I return them to you?"

The woman’s voice was cold and distant, each word drawing a line between her and Justin Holden.

"Okay."

Justin Holden’s voice was very low, his demeanor serious.

Jean Ellison was stunned for a few seconds. What did okay mean? Wasn’t she asking about the time?

Since he didn’t catch it, she intended to ask again.

Just then, a woman’s voice drifted in through the receiver, mellow and sweet, melting softly.

"Lawyer Holden, you spilled my water on the table, it’s everywhere, even the files are wet."

Jean Ellison’s blood ran cold, her fingers gripping the phone instinctively tighter.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came from her throat.

She realized, with sudden clarity, what Justin Holden was doing and hurriedly hung up.

Five years, and still his preferences hadn’t changed.

How could he be engaging in such lewdness at the office while taking calls as if nothing was wrong? How could someone be so deceitful?

Was the woman on the other end Wendy Wallace?

He didn’t go home last night, so today he was accompanying her.

The unanswered call in the morning wasn’t because he was busy, but because he was soothing his wife.

Jean Ellison took a deep breath, her lashes trembling, a light fatigue on her pale face.

It had been five years since she left his world, and this wasn’t the first time he’d flirted with other women on the office desk.

He was so practiced, it didn’t even interfere with answering the phone.

Perhaps he sought her out recently from fear she’d become a vengeful ghost, haunting him and his beloved woman.

She recalled from TV shows, it’s always the villains who declare they must see the body dead or alive; mostly, it’s hate, not longing.

Jean Ellison silenced her phone, putting it into her bag.

It was the end of the workday, and what Justin Holden did was no longer her concern.

The part of her that used to devote every hour to Simon Sterling was gone. Now, she was just Jean Ellison.

The phone in her bag lit up again and again, messages popping onto the screen.

"Jean, the unit gave out a whole box of hairy crabs. I’ll come over to your place later and cook for you," one message read.

"Aunt Kingston’s medical report is out. I’ll bring it over to you later," read another.

The two texts were from Philip Paxton and Simon Sterling respectively.

Moments later, another WhatsApp message popped over them on the screen.

"I’ll personally pick up the hair tie you don’t want."

These three messages went unseen by Jean Ellison as she was already on her way home.