Chapter 42 Keeping Distance
Isabella was getting so angry that her face turned red. But to Vanessa, she seemed embarrassed and guilty. Vanessa calmly said, "You're still young, Isabella, so you can change."
"I didn't," Isabella wanted to defend herself, but she suddenly saw Sebastian's gaze. His gaze was gentle, without any doubt, and so calm that it calmed her emotions.
Sebastian looked at her reddened eyes and said, "Go call Jack for me, Isabella."
Isabella hesitated for a moment. If he wanted to call Jack, he could easily do so with an internal phone call, he didn't need her to go to him. Sebastian was deliberately sending her away so he could have a conversation with Vanessa.
"Okay," Isabella got up and left the office.
Once the door was closed, Vanessa asked, "How are we handling Samantha's situation, Mr. Landon?"
Sebastian remained silent for a few seconds and said, "Since you pleaded for her, I’ll give her another chance."
Vanessa was delighted. "Thank you, Mr. Landon."
She bent down and hugged Sebastian.
When Sebastian smelled the perfume on Vanessa, he could tell it was expensive, but he frowned uncomfortably. Instead, he thought the scent of body wash on Isabella more pleasant.
Isabella went to call Jack and saw Samantha, Laura, and Vanessa standing together.
When Samantha saw her, she quickly ran over and said, "Isabella, I know you don't like me, but I won't leave. Now that Mrs. Landon here, no one can kick me out."
Isabella bit her lip and questioned her, "Why did you tell Ms. Field I intruded on your relationship? It was clearly you..."
"I didn't say anything wrong. If it weren't for you, Matthew and I would've been together a long time ago. In the beginning, Matthew liked me, but you two met each other first. Even though he dated you, he loved me. He doesn't care about you at all. Did you and Matthew ever kiss while you were together?" Samantha lowered her voice so only Isabella could hear her.
After hearing her argument, Isabella's face turned red again, feeling ashamed for Samantha. But Vanessa and Laura believed that had Samantha hit the nail on the head.
"Isabella is blushing. It looks like Samantha is telling the truth. Isabella is shameless," Vanessa laughed lightly. "If you’re shameless, you might be able to benefit from that. With Samantha around, maybe she’ll behave."
Samantha was a threat to Isabella. If she didn't comply with Vanessa, Vanessa would get Samantha to expose Isabella's ugly past and make it impossible for her to continue working at the company.
Jack walked to the office door and turned around to see Samantha and Isabella talking. He was displeased with Samantha's arrogant demeanor, frowning and calling out, "Isabella."
Isabella turned her head.
Jack said, "It's time to go in."
Isabella bit her lip and silently followed him into the office.
Laura and Vanessa saw what happened.
Laura frowned and said, "Isabella is cunning. Jack treats her differently now."
After hearing Laura's words, Vanessa's smile faded a bit.
Samantha walked over, looking particularly proud. "I invited everyone to have dinner at a French restaurant tonight, Mrs. Landon. Would you like to join us?”
"I won't join you. I hope you all have a fun time."
"Did you need something from me, Mr. Landon?" Jack asked as he stood in front of the desk.
"Yes." Sebastian casually handed him a document. "Take a look at this."
Jack opened it and looked through the two pages. "This is what I just organized for you. Do you have any questions?"
Sebastian pointed to the nearby sofa and said, "Go sit over there and review it carefully."
Although Jack didn't understand, he followed Sebastian's words and walked over to sit on the sofa, carefully flipping through the document.
As the end of the workday approached, Jack had gone through the file many times but still couldn't find any issues. He read through it again word by word and then approached Sebastian. "Please tell me where the problem is, Mr. Landon."
Sebastian shifted his gaze away from the computer screen. "Have you finished reading it?"
"Yes."
"Fine." Sebastian glanced at his watch again and said, "Once you're done, you can go home."
Jack anxiously said, "But you haven't told me where the problem is in this file."
"Oh." Sebastian took the file and said, "There's no problem. I just wanted you to read it a few more times. In case there was an issue."
Jack stood there in disbelief.
Sebastian ignored him and called out to Isabella, who was packing up to leave. "Wait a moment."
Isabella paused. "I’ve completed my work, Mr. Landon. You're not asking me to work overtime, are you?"
She could accept working overtime, but Nina was still in the hospital, and she needed to go there to be with her.
"No," Sebastian said, shutting down his computer. When he saw that Jack was still standing there, he said, "Aren't you leaving?"
"I'm leaving. Goodbye, Mr. Landon, Isabella."
"Goodbye, Jack."
After Jack left, only Isabella and Sebastian remained in the office.
Sebastian went to the water cooler and gave Isabella the thermos Vanessa had sent. "Here, it's for you."
Isabella shook her head and refused, "I don't like oatmeal porridge, Mr. Landon."
"It's not for you."
"What?" Isabella was a bit stunned.
"Help me pour the porridge out and clean the container, then bring it to me tomorrow morning." Sebastian said seriously, as if he was really assigning a task to Isabella.
Isabella said, "I'll go clean it at the sink for you."
"No, I hate the smell of tomatoes. The entire company needs to be free of tomatoes."
Isabella felt shocked.
Did Sebastian really hate tomatoes so much?
She had no choice but to reach out and take the thermos. "Alright."
As she took the thermos, Sebastian asked, "Are you going back to school? I happen to be heading there, I can give you a ride."
Isabella shook her head. "I'm going to the hospital."
"The hospital?" Sebastian pretended to be surprised.
Isabella pressed her lips together but didn't want to say more, because Sebastian was her boss and they had once been involved. Although he was unaware, Isabella still couldn't let it go. Isabella didn't want to tell him the truth, and she didn’t want to have any relationship with him.
Sebastian was very smart and saw through Isabella's thoughts at just a glance. "Alright. Did you apply medicine to your shoulder?"
"I did," Isabella said. "I applied it in the bathroom myself."
"Okay." Sebastian didn't want to scare her, so he grabbed his briefcase. "Shall we go then?"
However, Isabella stopped. "You go ahead, Mr. Landon."
Sebastian turned to look at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
Isabella shook her head. "Nothing."
She just didn't want anyone else to get the wrong idea about her relationship with Sebastian. She didn't mind, but she didn't want to bring Sebastian unnecessary trouble.
During their brief conversation, Sebastian felt that she had been deliberately keeping her distance from him and couldn't help but feel disappointed. "Alright, stay safe. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
