Chapter 189 A Statement of Repentance
Chapter 189 A Statement of Repentance
Daniel shrugged and said, "Bingo! What do you want me to say? My boss called me to ask for a day off
for his wife, who happens to work in my department. How can I say no to him?"
"Daniel! How could you two decide what I should do? You'd better give me a call next time!" Rachel
said anxiously and pushed him on his shoulder. This was ridiculous, and she really hated people
making decisions for her without letting her know.
Daniel squinted at Rachel innocently and complained, "What? I don't think I have decided anything."
"Fine, forget it. There's something that you can decide. Please move my desk down here. I'll work here
from now on, " Rachel said, looking at the empty place they'd left for her.
"No problem, I'll get people to do it, but you should be telling Hiram this, not me, " Daniel said to
Rachel, sitting on his chair and crossing his legs.
Rachel looked at him crossly and said, "Fine, I'm going to tell him right this moment."
After the kidnapping incident, Hiram had moved her desk up to the office next to his, saying that he
wanted to see her as much as possible. Back then, Rachel was staying at her apartment, so Hiram
didn't get to see her after work. But now, she'd moved back to Tulip Palace, and things were different. It
was unnecessary for him to keep her under his watch during work all day.
Rachel went upstairs and stopped at the door of the president's office.
There was no answer when she knocked, so she opened the door herself and found an empty room.
Hiram was probably at a meeting. The directors in the board were gathering frequently these days.
Rachel walked in and decided to wait for him in his office.
She walked to his desk and sat on his brown leather chair. She spun around excitedly.
The chair was very comfortable to sit on, but the responsibilities that came with it must be huge. The
one wearing the crown must withstand its weight.
Rachel began to examine the things on his desk, and she could just imagine what Hiram did when he
was sitting here. Everything on the desk was placed neatly in order, and there wasn't anything
unrelated to work, not even a photo frame. Hiram probably focused his full attention on his work without
the slightest deviation.
As time went by, Rachel became bored. She rested her chin on her hand and looked at Hiram's
computer screen, which had already been turned on when she came in. A little icon at the bottom that
looked like a camera piqued her curiosity, because she didn't remember having it on her computer. She
clicked it, wondering what it was for. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
But nothing could prepare her for what she saw next.
What the hell?
Why had Hiram installed such a monitoring software on his computer?
But wait, why did the picture look so familiar to her?
It was only then that she recognized her office next door on the screen.
No wonder Hiram always seemed to know the exact time when she left and they kept running into each
other. It was all thanks to this software. That was to say, Hiram had been watching her on his computer
for several days now, and he knew everything she did there.
Rachel was freaking out at the thought of Hiram seeing all her little moves and bad habits. The thought
that she had no privacy in front of him unnerved her.
Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she clicked his memory disk to check if all her movements
were recorded.
One by one, she opened the videos, which showed her stretching, throwing documents in the air,
folding paper cranes, and even picking her nose.
"Hiram! You're so dead!" she shouted.
Hiram was exhausted after attending the meeting with the board of directors. He was worried about
how the issue was progressing. It seemed suppression was not a good idea, since the public opinion
was getting more and more violent.
He walked into his office and directly sat in front of his desk. A moment later, he realized that his desk
didn't look exactly as he had left it. He called Ben and asked, "Who entered my office when I was
away?"
"No one except Rachel. I let her in seeing she was alone, " said Ben honestly.
Hiram hung up the phone and furrowed his eyebrows. He rubbed his chin and wondered what she was
up to.
Rachel usually never touched anything on his desk. What was wrong this time?
He found out a few minutes later, when he got an email from Rachel.
He opened it and found a whole letter of complaints against him.
"Hiram, I'm usually nice to people, but you're making me want to do violent things to you!
Am I the fucking computer mouse in your hand? You installed a camera in my office to watch me! What
do you want to know? The evolution of Rachel Ruan?
Do you know how to spell the word respect? Yes, as the CEO, you have the right to install a camera in
the office, but you should have let me know in advance."
Hiram burst into laughter and felt his exhaustion dissipating. He read Rachel's complaints word by
word, but stopped laughing when he reached the last line.
It said, "If you want me to forgive you, write a statement of repentance to me. It has to be at least 10,
000 words long. Don't copy it from somewhere and don't talk bullshit, otherwise, you're not allowed to
step into my room ever again!"
Hiram frowned and chuckled. 10, 000 words?
He immediately clicked the camera icon on his screen to see what Rachel was doing now, but to his
surprise, she was gone, together with her desk.
Hiram knew that she must have gone back down to Daniel's office on the 20th floor. He stood up right
away, planning to explain why he had installed a camera in her office in person.
On the 20th floor...
It had been an hour since Rachel moved back to the 20th floor, and she was busy with her work. She
alternated between turning the pages of the documents on her desk and tapping something on the
keyboard. She knew she had to work hard, and also try her best to learn new things. That was the only
way she would gain more skills and she could work comfortably when she went back to her studio.
"Hey, Rachel. Did you hear?" a colleague asked.
"What? Is something wrong?" Rachel asked as she continued tapping, not bothering to look at her
colleague.
Penny, who was standing near Rachel's table with a cup of tea in hands, seemed to have something
important to say.
"People are saying that our president and his wife are going to attend the charity auction this Sunday.
The mystery wife of our president will show up the first time! I cannot wait to see her! Aren't you curious
about what she looks like?" Penny asked expectantly.
At those words, Rachel looked up and smiled guiltily. "Curious? No, maybe she'll disappoint you and
your expectations."
"It's possible. It's said that the two had been engaged to each other even before they were born. What
does she look like? Maybe she's too ugly or too fat to stand beside our president. After all, he had no
other choice, right? What do you think? Do you believe our president would marry someone he doesn't
love?"
"I think she'll look the same as us ordinary people, " Rachel said tentatively.
Penny laughed as she walked back to her table. "Are you kidding me? Like us? Look at you, you aren't
ordinary at all. You look the best among us, and you have a naturally pretty face. But I believe a man
like our president would like sexy and hot women. Don't you think so?"
"You're so funny, Penny."
Rachel coughed to cover her unease, and then she went back to her work.
A moment later, Daniel came over and tapped on Rachel's table. "I need to talk to you. Come with me!"
Rachel nodded and followed Daniel out of the office after saving the document on her computer.
To her surprise, Daniel took her to a meeting room outside their department, where she saw a man
standing and looking outside the window. Immediately guessing who he was, she turned around.
"Where are you going?" shouted Hiram.
He turned to them and saw Rachel trying to run away. He raised his chin at Daniel.
It was a small gesture, but Daniel understood the meaning immediately. He walked out the door ahead
of Rachel and closed it behind him, trapping her there.
"What are you doing here? Ah, yes, our president's famous for his quick actions. Are you telling me
you've come here to give me the ten-thousand-word statement of repentance?"
Rachel asked without turning to face him. She wasn't prepared to give in.
"Honey, listen to me. I promise I'm the only one who has watched the videos. No one else knows. Look,
until a few days ago, all I could do was have lunch with you and send you home after work. We barely
spent two hours together each day, and it wasn't enough for me. I wanted to see you all the time.
Besides, I had to make such a decision for the sake of your safety too.
I admit that it was wrong of me to not let you know, but I was afraid that you might feel uneasy if you
knew, "
Hiram apologized softly, gazing at her back.
Rachel turned around and walked to him with a defiant stare.
"Hiram, do you think you can solve all our problems with an apology? Or do you think I will keep
forgiving you regardless of what you've done to me, and that I would tolerate any offence from you?"
she asked.
"It looks like being softhearted is my greatest weakness. You keep crossing the line over and over
again because of my soft heart!"
Rachel had installed cameras in her own studio to inspect her employees too, but she had posted signs
on the wall informing them about the presence of cameras so that they would be aware of them and
behave themselves at work. But what about what Hiram had done?
He didn't know his limits and had invaded her privacy.
"Listen, you're my wife, and you're working inside my office. I know that what I did was wrong and that I
deserve a punishment, but don't you think your punishment's a little too harsh?" Hiram looked at
Rachel tenderly, not understanding why she was so pissed off at such a small thing.
"Yes, as you said, this is your office, not your home. Please keep our relationship out of work. I'm no
one's wife when I'm at work, " Rachel said, raising her chin.
Feeling that she was being ridiculous, Hiram laughed. "Honey, what are you worried about? Are you
afraid that I have seen you at your worst? Please don't. I'm your husband. I don't care if you doze off at
work or grind your teeth in bed or fart in front of me, understand? I love you because you're Rachel, not
because you're perfect. Don't be mad at me, please!"