Chapter 38
Standing before Sinclair Group, Anathea drew a deep breath and slowly made her way through the entrance.
She’d been allowed entry the last time she delivered Gregory’s lunch, but this time, she was stopped by the security guard. He refused to let her through without an access card.
“I’m here to see Mr. Sinclair,” Anathea tried to reason with the guard.
“Listen, if I let everyone who comes here to see Mr. Sinclair through, his office would be swarming with people.” The guard pulled her aside and said in a business–like manner, “I’m afraid we can’t let you through without an appointment.”
Anathea had no choice but to fish out her phone and call Gregory, but he didn’t pick up. She frowned and called him several times.. It wasn’t until the tenth call that he finally answered his phone, not that he seemed to be in a hurry to put her through.
“Yes?” Gregory asked impassively.
“I’d like to speak to you. Are you free now?” Anathea asked.
Gregory seemed to know the reason for her visit. He drawled nonchalantly, “What will you do if I told you I was busy?”
He was needling her on purpose. She inhaled slowly and maintained a polite tone as she said, “Then I’ll wait in the lobby until your schedule frees up.”
There was a pause on the other end. Just as Anathea thought she might not get a response from Gregory, he said in a cold,
mechanical voice, “Come up to my office.”
He hung up after that as if eager to end their conversation. Anathea kept her expression placid. At least Gregory had agreed to let her go up to his office.
Not two minutes later, Martin hurried downstairs to escort her. “Please come with me, Ms. Jacobson.”
Martin always addressed her by her maiden name rather than “Mrs. Sinclair” in public, knowing Gregory didn’t want their marriage disclosed to anyone. It was almost as if he was ashamed of taking her for his wife.
But now wasn’t the time for Anathea to dwell on this. She followed Martin into a waiting elevator and headed up to the 52nd floor.
She couldn’t help the knots in her stomach as she entered Gregory’s office once more. However, Gregory wasn’t in.
“Mr. Sinclair is in a meeting. Please wait for him here, Mrs. Sinclair,” Martin said, addressing her by her married name once more now that they were in private. “Would you like a drink, Mrs. Sinclair? Tea or coffee, perhaps?”
“Tea, please,” Anathea replied.
“Alright.” Martin left the office to bring her tea. For a moment, Anathea was alone in Gregory’s office.
She wandered to the floor–to–ceiling window that took up nearly the entire wall and stared at the view from the 52nd floor. She could see the whole of Castenea from up here, and she seemed to tower over the microscopic figures and objects below.
1/2
Chapter 30
#15 Bonus
So, this was what it felt like to be at the top of the pyramid. No wonder it was child’s play for Gregory to crush the Jacobsons”
family business and Eden Studio under his boot.
A wry smile curved Anathea’s lips. She turned away from the window, and her gaze landed on Gregory’s work desk. Various documents were piled atop it. As it turned out, Gregory was as busy as the rest of the world made him out to be.
But Anathea noticed the empty spot on the desk that appeared to have been intentionally cleared for a photo frame. She figured it
must be a photo of Natalie. After all, Natalie was Gregory’s beloved, and CEOs like him normally kept photos of their true loves on
their work desks.
To confirm her suspicions, Anathea sauntered over to the desk and glanced at the photo, only to be surprised.
She wasn’t staring at Natalie’s photo, or any other woman’s, for that matter. It was a group photo, and of the six faces looking at
the camera, Gregory’s took the center spot. She also recognized Theo.
didn’t recognize the other four men in the photo but found them familiar. It was as if she’d seen them somewhere
Anathea d
before.
She stared at their faces for a few seconds before her heart sank.
She remembered where she’d seen their faces. There’d been a newspaper article from five years ago about three young men who
died in an accident–they happened to be the ones in the photo on Gregory’s desk.
A chill ran down Anathea’s spine.
“What are you looking at?”
Anathea jumped at the cold, male voice that sounded from the door. She turned and met Gregory’s shrewd gaze.
