ENCHANTED LOVE, VOLUME 3 - Season 13 Episode 78

Sheryl furrowed her eyebrows and muttered under her breath, “Mrs. Truman?” Sheryl was confident she knew this woman. She and Melissa had always played mahjong back at home, so she recognized her immediately. Sheryl then started to walk towards her and greet her.

However, startled by hearing Sheryl’s voice, Irina stood up and stiffened for a moment. She was frozen on her spot, unable to decide what to do. Finally, before Sheryl could ever go near her, she pretended like she didn’t hear anything and walked away as fast as she could without even turning around to look at Sheryl.

Apparently, Irina couldn’t handle her guilty conscience and decided it was easier to avoid and escape any confrontation.

If only she didn’t panic, she could have greeted Sheryl back in a normal and calm way, so Sheryl wouldn’t feel odd, but Irina’s over-reaction made Sheryl suspect her.

Nick’s eyes opened wide in surprise when he saw a panic-stricken Irina walking away hurriedly. He turned to Sheryl, who had a frown on her face, and asked, “Sher, do you know that woman?”

Feeling strange and surprised, Sheryl stood frozen on her spot. She wondered why Irina behaved so weird. She was sure that Irina heard her and knew she was there. So, why did she run away from her? ‘Maybe, Melissa has spoken ill of me to Irina. That’s why she was so unwilling to talk to me.’ Sheryl heaved out a deep sigh. Whatever the reason was, she couldn’t figure it out.

She shook away these thoughts before she turned to Nick and replied, “Yes, I am pretty sure that she is one of my mother-in-law’s friends. I haven’t really associated with her, so maybe she just didn’t recognize me. After all, we are just casual acquaintances.”

Nick nodded and didn’t ask any further for Sheryl didn’t explain more, but he had a feeling that something was not right. Maybe, there was something they both neglected. In the end, they both shrugged it off and stopped thinking too much about the situation.

Nick and Sheryl exchanged goodbyes. After departing from each other, Nick decided not to drive straight home, but went directly to the hospital. As soon as his car was parked right near the front of the hospital building, he got his phone out and dialed Cassie’s number.

Cassie’s phone vibrated on her pocket, startling her during work. She took a look on the caller ID, and after learning it was Nick, she smiled and looked around to find a place to hide from her colleagues. It was a risk to take, since she was on duty. But it was Nick calling, so she just had to take it. She cleared her throat and answered, “Hello, Nick. What’s up? How should I return the pleasure of this phone call?”

It was seldom for Nick to call her first. Usually, she made the call proactively, just so she didn’t miss his call. That was why Cassie just had to take this call.

The corner of Nick’s lips rose from ear to ear at Cassie’s bright and sweet voice. He cleared his throat as well and asked, “By any chance, are you available right now? I want to meet you. I’m in the lobby.”

“Right now?” Cassie’s eyes widened and she immediately blurted out in surprise. She covered her mouth and looked around only to find that all her colleagues were up to their necks. It was one of the busy times in the hospital, because it was flu season. There were more patients than usual. With the limited number of doctors and medical staff in the hospital, everyone had to take double shifts for they had to help the doctors check on the patients and monitor their vital signs.

Hearing Cassie’s hesitation, Nick immediately understood that Cassie must be very busy, so he added, “Oh, you must be very busy, Cassie. If you don’t have the time now, we can just meet tonight after your shift.”

Cassie smiled sweetly and nodded even though Nick couldn’t see this gesture. She sighed and hoped that time could fly faster, so that she could meet him right away. They had seen each other this morning and had only been separated for a few hours, but for Cassie, it felt like it had been a year.

Biting her lower lip, Cassie answered shyly, “All right. I’ll see you tonight then.”

Cassie’s smile stuck on her face, and when she was about to hang up the phone, Nick stopped her hastily. “Wait!”

Cassie’s eyebrows furrowed into confusion and she asked, “What is it?”

“Well, there’s another thing. Can you do this favor for me, please? You see, Sher is in trouble, and I really want to help her. After all, she has helped me a lot. Maybe you can help her out, since the person causing trouble to her is a patient in your hospital. Her name is Leila Ramirez.”

Nick then continued to explain to Cassie the whole story as brief and as concise as possible. Once he was finished, Cassie felt nothing but angry for Sheryl. She felt like Sheryl didn’t deserve this treatment, so she agreed to help immediately.

When Nick was about to tell Cassie what he wanted her to do, someone called her out for help. It was time for her to go now, so she hurriedly said, “Nick, I really have to go now. Just text me what you want me to do, and I will do my best. I’m sorry. I’ll see you tonight. Bye!”

After the call, Nick stayed in the lobby and pondered for a moment how he was going to word out his idea. He thought that it would be a useful approach if Cassie could get acquainted with Leila, get closer to her and then get some information that might be necessary to help in Sheryl’s case. He texted this to Cassie, and after hitting send, he tapped his foot as he waited for her reply.

It was less than five minutes later when Cassie replied. “I can do that. Don’t worry too much, okay? Wait and expect for my updates!”

Nick’s face showed a bright smile before he texted her back, “Thank you, Cassie. See you tonight.”

After he hit the send button, Nick placed his phone back inside his pocket and leaned back on the chair in the lobby. He heaved a deep sigh, feeling a little relieved now.

He thought that it would be great if Cassie would be able to get some useful information from Leila. But if she couldn’t, then he would just have to find another way. Finally, he stood up, walked out of the building, and decided to head home and prepare for tonight.

Meanwhile, back at the Tarsan Corporation, Holley was worried about the board meeting that was right around the corner. It was close now, and yet the shares she had right now were far less than she had planned.

She only had 10% of the company shares, while Rachel had a swooping 35%, which had been 45% before she sold out some to save the company from going down when Holley was gone.

Thinking and worrying about all this stressed Holley out. Her eyebrows creased into a frown on her forehead as she tried to think of a way to save herself before the board meeting. Suddenly, as if a light bulb lit above her head, someone popped into her mind—Black. She remembered the look on his face when he was staring at her. It was clear how much Black was infatuated with her. She knew she could make use of him to defeat Rachel. After all, Black had 25% of the shares. If she managed to get all of his shares and use some money to buy more from the other shareholders, then she would be able to take control of the company. She wouldn’t be able to drive Rachel away immediately, but it was a good start.

Before she could do any of that, the first thing she needed was to rope Black in from the pond. She must use his affection for her to make him follow her and obey her.

Holley’s frown faded on her face, replaced by a mischievous smile. She couldn’t wait as she imagined Rachel’s desperate and shocked expression after knowing what Holley had in stall for her in the board meeting. Thinking about this now thrilled Holley.

Not wanting to waste precious time any longer, Holley made the first move and invited Black to a movie after work. He agreed, and as the time ticked by closer towards the agreed time, Holley went to the rest room to retouch her make up and get changed into a fresh, beautiful dress.

She had prepared this beautiful dress in the morning when she had left home, feeling like she needed it any time of the day this week. She just hadn’t realized that she would need it sooner. She took off her dull office uniform and changed into the peach dress. It wasn’t too grand or boring, just enough to make her look casual but still slim and sexy, complementing her charm completely. She used light make-up to match it, making sure that she didn’t stain the dress. She smiled as she looked at herself in her pocket mirror. The pink eye shadow definitely highlighted her pure eyes and was sure to attract Black more. She was satisfied more after looking as innocent as a baby animal, so no one could suspect any other motive from her. ‘If this look won’t be able to touch Black’s heart, then I don’t know what is,’ she wondered, smiling back at her reflection.

Holley finished and started to sort her things out inside her bag. Before she could go out of the cubicle, she heard voices from a few staff coming in the rest room. They were gossiping and complaining about the capricious temperament of Rachel. Holley decided not to go out yet and listen in.

“Don’t you all feel annoyed? Recently, Ms. Turner always gets angry without even any reason. She even fired Marcelo for what? For speaking up for everyone else? Oh, and did you notice how the atmosphere in the company became tensed after Marcelo got fired? Plus, a few days ago, Holley had a row with her, and I heard that when her secretary was called inside, the tea pot was smashed by Ms. Turner,” one said. There was no doubt that there was annoyance in her tone.

“Well, I say, she is just a useless butterfly. I felt relieved when Holley returned and even saved the company. It is fortunate for all of us, and you could really say that Holley is much better than her. She knows how to handle the workings of a company, and at least, we won’t go bankrupt. Because of her, we are still employed,” another said.

Clearly, the girls were newly hired, because they were not cautious enough to gossip carelessly about their boss in a public place. They didn’t even check if there was anyone else in the rest room. Luckily, it wasn’t Rachel, who was eavesdropping right now.

It was also until then that Holley noticed the change of personnel, since she had been busy catching up recently as soon as she came back. Thinking about it now made her realize that a few managers had left or were fired as well besides Marcelo.

Moreover, Holley didn’t expect that Rachel would have created such a general turmoil during that span of time she was away. She knew very well now what made the company different, and it was all messed up. Then again, the odds were turning to her favor now. Thanks to her efforts that Rachel had given to her willingly without doing anything, Holley was now able to challenge her even more.

At the thought of this, Holley could not stop but feel elated. She felt more and more confident that she would be able to get what she wanted.
After the staff had left, Holley took this her cue to come out of the cubicle. She took her time to look at her beautiful reflection in the huge mirror and smiled.

With the dazzling grin on her face, she muttered to herself, “Holley, here is your chance.”