Chapter 10 Turn on a Sixpence
After a busy morning, Josie stretched and looked at the time to realize it was time for lunch. Her colleagues had gone to the canteen.
“Josie, let’s have lunch together.” Alice, Josie’s colleague, called out to her.
“Coming.” Josie hummed in response and switched off her laptop.
Right when they turned a corner, an unexpected guest showed up, which caused the smile on Josie’s face to disappear at once.
“Josie.”
Jenny’s voice was indifferent so that one couldn’t tell her emotions, but Josie knew she must be up to no good to come and find her in the office at this hour.
Josie asked Alice to go ahead first while she and Jenny went to the balcony.
“What is it?” Josie asked directly.
Jenny blurted mercilessly, “Don’t play dumb, Josie. Regarding your brother’s wedding I mentioned last time, you have to fork out the money as soon as possible.”
“I’ve told you – I have no money. There’s nothing I can do to help.”
“Josie, don’t force me to cross the line. If you wish to continue working here peacefully, you better give me the money. Otherwise, you shall bear the consequence.” Jenny threatened coldly.
Josie clenched her fists as her face darkened. Jenny ignored her and continued, “Since you’ve gotten married, the in-laws should more or less give some betrothal gifts. I’m not asking for much – ten thousand. As long as you give it to me, I’ll help you settle things with Jack. Otherwise, all I want is the money; I reckon Jack is more than willing to give that to me.”
“That’s enough.” Josie retorted. “No matter what you do, my reply is the same – I have no money.”
With that, Josie turned and left, leaving Jenny, who stood stiffened at the spot. Her chest was heaving. She never thought that Josie would still turn her down after she went all out.
Very well, Josie. Don’t blame me, then.
“You’ll regret this, Josie.” Jenny scoffed with a sly look.
Little did they know that a figure walked out slowly from the corner right after they left. The woman wore a smirk on her face that was filled with surprise.
So, Josie is actually married.
Josie lost her appetite after the episode with Jenny, so she had a quick lunch and went back to the office.
However, when she entered the office, she noticed many were secretly gazing at her while discussing among themselves.
“I can’t believe she’s someone like this.”
“She’s already married, so it must be true. This shows that she has been dating someone before this but has been pretending that she was single.”
“Oh gracious, no wonder people say you can’t judge the book by its cover.”
Josie was confused, but she didn’t bother with it and sat down in her seat.
“Hey Josie, I heard you’re married. Is that true?”
Josie’s heart jolted when she heard a colleague’s question, and she was exasperated remembering what Dexter told her in the morning.
Just as she was about to deny it, she noticed some other colleagues were eavesdropping on their conversation from afar. These colleagues were all Josie’s admirers who always fawned over her.
As long as she did not reveal her husband was Dexter, Josie thought it was not a big deal to admit that she was married because it could fend off these unwanted pursuers.
“Yeah, it’s true.” The answer caused a sensation. The men, who were listening attentively, were disheartened immediately.
“Oh my goodness, Josie, when did that happen? Why didn’t you mention it?” A few colleagues quickly surrounded her.
“Yeah man, how can you hide it from us for such a long time? You didn’t invite us to the wedding ceremony either.”
Josie was abashed. The truth was, even she had yet to recover her senses after the flash marriage.
“Uhmm… It just slipped my mind.” Josie knew she would be in trouble if Dexter became aware of it.
“Tell us more about your husband. What is so special about him that a gorgeous woman like you is willing to forgo all other options for his sake?”
“Yeah. You guys must have dated for some time already. We’ve not even seen him once.”
Resigned, Josie invented some excuses to fob her colleagues off.
She heaved a sigh of relief when her colleagues went back to their seats.
Soon after she started working on her tasks, her phone started vibrating non-stop as messages flooded in.
She looked down at the screen – the messages were from her pursuers, demanding her to return the gifts that they had given her.
“D*mn, these guys are so realistic!” Alice couldn’t help commenting.
“All of them were competing to win your favor when they courted you back then. Who knew they would turn on a sixpence.”
On the other hand, Josie was not unhappy with how things turned out.
“It’s fine. I’m not meant to receive those gifts in the first place, so it’s best to return them.”
With that, she directly opened a chat group with those colleagues.
‘I’ll courier the stuff to your home address. Please pay the courier fee upon collection.’
No way I’ll fork out my own money to pay the courier fee!
