Chapter 209 Misunderstandings Abound
Mark was thinking straightforwardly. Jesse was the sort of guy who, no matter how much being heartbroken might affect him, wouldn't let his emotions show on the surface. Working with such worries can lead to immense psychological pressure, and sometimes a small trigger can cause an emotional breakdown.
When Mark’s loved one had passed away, Mark himself had struggled to keep up at work, and Charles, aware of his condition, had extended his three days of bereavement leave to a full month. It was because of instances like this that Mark remained loyal to Charles. Aside from his love life befuddlements, Mark truly excelled at everything else.
Daphne hadn't been overly concerned, but Mark's words were leading her to suspect more than she should.
"Miss Murphy, are you there?" Mark hadn't heard a response for a while and followed up.
"Are you sure about what you're saying?" Daphne asked, a frown creasing her forehead.
"Yes," Mark responded.
"Did you cause this?" Daphne asked.
Mark was perplexed, a series of question marks seemed to form over his head. Cause what?
His silence led Daphne to believe he was affirming it. She massaged her temples, her tone more complex than usual as she responded, "I understand."
"Thank you," Mark said with relief when she agreed, "If you need to deduct his salary, just let me know."
"No need," said Daphne, struggling to describe her current emotions.
After hanging up the phone, she wondered how to broach the subject with Jesse. She wanted to know more, but she hadn't expected the situation to be so costly for him. Most importantly, Mark didn't seem like that sort of person.
Jesse noticed Daphne sitting pensively after the call, holding her utensils yet not eating. Thinking about the phone call, he placed a glass of water before her. "Was that Mark on the phone?"
"Mhm," she nodded in confirmation.
"What did he say?" Jesse asked.
Daphne paused in her meal, her usually placid eyes suddenly filled with complexity.
No wonder Jesse had said earlier he didn't want to talk about it. If it were her, she wouldn't want to discuss it either.
"It's nothing," she knew Jesse was a timid guy, who appeared aloof and unapproachable but was emotionally blank, "He just asked me if you were back at the office."
"Daphne," Jesse he called out to her.
"Hmm?" Daphne was confused.
"Do I look dumb to you?" Jesse asked, coolly.
"Not at all," Daphne complimented him, "You're very smart."
"Then why did you lie to me?" There was an icy seriousness to Jesse when he sought the truth, an emotional undertone in his voice, "You talked for so long; it couldn't have been just a simple question."
What was most important, and unknown to Jesse, was what Mark had said that changed Daphne's expression.
Daphne was at a loss for words.
Jesse was utterly perplexed.
What exactly had Mark said to Charles that elicited such a reaction?
"He said you had a bit of an emotional setback," Daphne decided to mix truth with fiction, "He suggested I should lighten your workload."
She didn't mention the part about additional pay. And she didn't need Mark to compensate her.
Jesse remembered the lie he had told Mark the night before. Mark was truly consistent in his foolishness, not being able to distinguish truth from lies.
"Don't worry about him; I'm fine," Jesse resolved to talk to Mark himself, "Go ahead and eat; I'll talk to him."
"Okay," Daphne nodded.
As Jesse started to leave, Daphne, after much consideration, couldn't hold back and called out to him, "Jesse."
Jesse turned back to look at her.
"You don't have to sacrifice so much; no information is more important than you," Daphne had been thinking about how to say it without causing Jesse more distress, "If you need time off to rest, just let me know."
Jesse paused; he hadn't paid attention to her other words. One phrase echoed in his mind: No information is more important than you.
He didn't dwell on the rest, simply saying, "Okay." After that, he left to confront Mark.
Daphne's appetite for her meal vanished instantly. She had never imagined that such a situation would happen so close to her, especially to her executive assistant.
It was completely absurd.
Elsewhere, Jesse made a call to Mark.
As soon as the phone connected, before Mark could speak, Jesse's clear voice cut in, "I lied to you last night; I'm not heartbroken."
Mark was taken aback. "What?" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"I did it to get information out of you, to find out what you had discussed with my Charles, with Murphy," Jesse admitted frankly, adding an apology, "I'm sorry."
"Hold on," Mark focused on the critical point.
Jesse remained silent.
Mark, now fully alert and wearing his glasses, clarified, "Did you just say. 'my Charles' and Murphy? Isn't Miss Murphy your boss?"
Even though Miss Murphy is the heiress of the Murphy Group, she hasn't taken over the company; she could only be considered a boss, but not a Charles.
Jesse, this guy...
Jesse fell silent. Shoot… He had slipped up.
"I remember you mentioned that your Boss had taken a two-year sabbatical and had recently returned to work," Mark's mind was still sharp as ever, "Could it be that the Boss you mentioned before is Miss Murphy?"
He knew that Jesse worked as an executive assistant at a very fine company, but he never knew which one. What he could be sure of, though, was that it certainly wasn't the Murphy Group.
"No," Jesse said coolly as he lied, "The previous Boss is on vacation again, and now I'm working part-time as a personal assistant for Daphne; she's my current Boss. I only report to her, not to the Murphy Group."
Mark's expression shifted.
Something was off.
Certainly off!...
The way Jesse just said 'boss' was too natural.
The tone was the same as when he used to chat with him before.
Most importantly, when he had earlier mentioned to Jesse that Miss Murphy was an incredibly skilled hacker, Jesse had said his boss was also one. He had remarked on Miss Murphy's exceptional fighting skills, and Jesse had claimed his boss could take on ten of him.
Any way you looked at it, it all seemed to be pointing at Miss Murphy.
"Why don't you take a vacation like before?" Mark asked him.
"There are still some matters at the company that need to be handled before I can take a break," Jesse replied, his response revealing no gaps.
"How did you get to know Miss Murphy?"
Jesse remained tight-lipped, he didn't want to answer any further.
Jess just wouldn't budge. In his heart, Mark was almost certain, "Miss Murphy is your former boss, am I right?"
"You're wrong," Jesse cooly denied.
"That's impossible!" Mark exclaimed in disbelief.
"I've got things to do, goodbye. You'll never guess my boss," Jesse said, hanging up the phone abruptly, leaving no room for Mark to speculate.
Talking any further would risk somebody discovering Daphne's true identity.
Mark was left baffled on the other end.
He had been about seventy percent suspicious that Daphne was the ‘boss’ in question, but Jesse's last calm words and decisive phone hang-up had diminished his suspicions quite a bit.
Now it was down to twenty percent. Could he truly have guessed wrong? Why then would Jesse take a side job with Daphne? Wasn't his salary already quite high at his company?
Suddenly, Mark had seemed to realize something, his eyes widening in shock.
Mark couldn't shake the thought, ‘Could he be falling for Miss Murphy?’ As this idea sprouted, it consumed his mind entirely.
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