"Why aren't you home? Your mom's been asking about you."

Marco scolded Sheryl, who had just come in. It was 10:00 pm, which was normal for Marco to ask.

"I have a lot of work. I have to work overtime because I have a meeting tomorrow. I was asked to check an important document," Sheryl replied.

"You should've asked your boss! Didn't you think about your mom? She won't eat unless you feed her! I have a headache taking care of your mom!" Marco shouted.

Sheryl was silent. She was too tired to fight her father. She went to see her mother.

If she had a salary, she could call a nurse to take her mother to the doctor.

Sheryl opened her room door and saw her mother asleep. She went to apologize for her mistake.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I had a lot of work and had to work overtime. I couldn't ask for permission because it was my first day. I hope you understand," Sheryl said.

Melinda opened her eyes. She smiled at Sheryl. She was happy to see her daughter home safe. She was worried about Sheryl.

"Why don't you want to eat? You must be upset. I just got scolded for that."

Sheryl took off her jacket and said, "I'll feed you."

She left to get food. There was mushroom soup in the pot. She heated the soup and made rice.

Sheryl went back to her mom's room. "Let's eat. I've warmed the soup."

Melinda nodded. Sheryl fed her mother. Sheryl was happy Melinda ate well.

"Mom needs to eat more. I'll take you to the hospital for therapy after I get paid. You'll recover," Sheryl said.

****

James arrived at 7 a.m. He went to get some documents but saw Sheryl's workspace was empty.

"Why isn't she here? Maybe she quit."

James muttered, "Never mind. Let her give up. I don't care.”

He went to his room, but Sheryl arrived out of breath.

"Sorry, I'm late," Sheryl said.

"That's okay. I thought you quit," James said.

Sheryl shook her head. "I won't give up, James. You should see how persistent I am at work.”

"James?"

"Oh, sorry. I meant Mr. James," Sheryl said.

James smiled. "Okay. Get the important documents ready and we'll go to the meeting room. Bring a notebook to record today's meeting.”

"Absolutely, Mr. James!"

Sheryl rushed to her room, her eyes alight with excitement. While James just smiled at his ex-wife's words. James admitted that Sheryl's spirit never changed.

If only Sheryl had been willing to wait for James to change. Just think—maybe they would still be living together by now.

****

"Thank you so much, Mr. James. You really understand me and my needs. This meeting went so well. I'm so grateful for all your hard work on this project," Luciana said with a warm smile.

She gave James a kiss on both cheeks. Sheryl, who saw this, felt a little sick to her stomach. When he was her husband, James had never once been romantic to her. In fact, James always refused if Sheryl wanted to kiss him on the cheek.

Sheryl murmured, "Why is he more flexible now? It's so different from before.”

"Will you come to dinner at my restaurant, Mr. James?" asked Luciana.

"I'm glad you invited me, Miss Luciana," James replied.

Sheryl clucked. She was disgusted by the scene. "When he was with me, he never wanted to be taken out to dinner. But now he happily accepts offers from other women. Disgusting!”

"Very well, Mr. James. I'll excuse myself then. I'll see you tonight!" Luciana said, her voice brimming with excitement.

"Absolutely, Miss Luciana. Let me take you to the front," said James.

"Okay!”

James looked at Sheryl and said, "Clear the table. I'll take Miss Luciana to the front.”

"Absolutely, Mr. James!" Sheryl replied with a big, bright smile.

****

A few hours passed, and it was time for Sheryl to have lunch. She eagerly took out her lunchbox from her bag.

Sheryl prayed to God before eating, asking for blessings and good health for her food.

"Bon appetit!" Sheryl said with a big smile.

She ate a bite of her fried rice. It was delicious. The simple menu reenergized her after work.

"Oh my goodness, it smells absolutely amazing!" Rebecca exclaimed as she entered Sheryl's room.

"Oh, it's you, Miss Rebecca. Come on in and join me!" Sheryl said.

"Okay. By the way, I also brought lunch. I came here to invite you to have lunch with me," Rebecca said as she sat down across from Sheryl.

"Well, I'm very happy to have someone join me for lunch. Thank you, Miss Rebecca.”

"No problem, Miss Sheryl. We are already friends. So there's nothing wrong with eating together every day."

Rebecca opened her lunch box. The menu was also simple. Sheryl thought Rebecca's menu would be fancy. But it wasn't. Sheryl felt very relieved.

"Would you like to try my lunch menu, Miss Sheryl?" asked Rebecca.

"I want to try it," Sheryl replied.

"Please take it. Sorry, my food is very basic. I'm on a diet program. So I have to follow the doctor's advice to eat food like this," Rebecca said.

"That's fine with me. I like vegetables too.”

"Let's eat," Rebecca said.

Sheryl nodded and kept eating with Rebecca.

After lunch, Sheryl and Rebecca chatted before going back to work. This was a good chance for Sheryl to find out how James behaved in the office.

Sheryl noticed a change in James' attitude. She felt he was different.

"Miss Rebecca."

"Call me Rebecca. We're friends," she said.

"Okay, Rebecca, I have something to ask you.”

"Say it, Sheryl! There's no need to be shy."

Sheryl cleared her throat for a moment, then asked, "Do you think Mr. James is nice or not?"

"Why are you suddenly asking about Mr. James? Do you like him?" Rebecca asked, her eyes twinkling.

"Just answer my question, Rebecca," Sheryl said.

"Okay. I think, Mr. James is nice. He cares about his employees and helps us a lot. He's also generous. If we work overtime, he always buys food," Rebecca said.

"Really?”

"Absolutely! You'll really feel his concern after working here for some time. He's an amazing person. Many women are crazy about him," Rebecca said with a big, bright smile. "You know Miss Luciana, right?"

Sheryl nodded with a big, excited smile. "Yes, I do! She also attended the meeting this morning. They look very close!”

"This is because Miss Luciana likes Mr. James. She always comes up with new projects to keep close to Mr. James. And you should know, Sheryl. Miss Luciana is a young billionaire. Her fortune is everywhere."

"Oh my God! It turns out she's a billionaire, too. I didn't expect that," Sheryl said, a little shocked.

Rebecca laughed and said, "That's an ordinary fact to me, Sheryl. There are even more shocking facts about Miss Luciana.”

"What is it? Tell me quickly," Sheryl urged, her eyes alight with curiosity.

“Miss Luciana went to one of Mr. James' female clients. Her name is Valen. Miss Valen likes Mr. James. She makes appointments with him to get close to our boss. But she and Ms. Luciana don't like each other. They fought because of Mr. James. Everyone knows about it. Mr. James stopped working with Miss Valen because of Ms. Luciana,” Rebecca said.

"Jesus Christ! Why does Mr. James obey Miss Luciana so much?" asked Sheryl curiously.

Rebecca sighed. "Because Miss Luciana is Mr. James' biggest client. This woman is very influential in this company. That's why Mr. James complied with Miss Luciana's request.”