"I'm off to bed as well," Nicole placed her cutlery down and made her way to one of the bedrooms.
Jared followed Nicole with the thought of sharing the bed with her, but she whirled around and glared at
him upon entering the room.
"I wish to sleep alone tonight.There should be other rooms prepared for you, as you are a regular
here."
After saying that, she slammed the door in his face.Jared stood in front of the door of Nicole's room
with a frown.Her sudden outburst had left him puzzled.
‘She was fine earlier when we were having dinner, so I wonder, what caused the sudden shift in her
mood?' He knocked on the door, but as nobody answered, he had to make do with the other rooms for
the night.
The next morning, after bidding goodbye to Uncle Ronnie, Jared drove Nicole back to the villa, with
Carl departing for his hotel.
As they drove, Nicole kept looking out the window, not wishing to speak to Jared.He glanced at her and
said, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Yeah I did."
Nicole offered a faint reply without making eye contact.
Noticing that she did not turn around, he pressed on.
"Why did you ride so far out yesterday?"
When the topic was brought up, the mental image of Jared and Fiorella together in the cart surfaced,
and her fury sprung to life.
"The scenery was breathtaking," Nicole said with her voice raised.
Jared knew that she was unhappy, but he did not specifically know why.
"The next time I visit that place, I'll take you there,"he replied.
"I've already seen it once.I don't wish to see it again."
Nicole blurted out bluntly, as they were the only people in the car.
"It is okay, next time, I'll take you to a place with a better view."иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмJared smiled in an
attempt to lighten the mood, regardless of how angry Nicole was.
"Where are you going?" Nicole asked upon noticing that they were not headed in the direction of the
Sea View Villa.
"Back to my place."
"I wish to go to the Sea View Villa to visit my grandma.If you return to the villa, pull over and leave me
at the side of the road."
Nicole said, not wanting to go back there for the time being.She needed a change in scenery for a few
days in order to recuperate, and ease the tension between the both of them.
In response, he darted her a glance and said, "Okay, I'll take you to your grandma's."
Instead of facing him, she glared at him from the corner of her eye.
Soon after, the car pulled up in front of the Sea View Villa, and Nicole was about to get off the car when
Jared noticed that she still did not want to talk to him.
He stopped her, "Nicole, I'l] pick you up later tonight."
"There will be no need for that.I'll be staying here for a few days."
After having said that, Nicole got out of the car and stormed off to the gate, with Jared watching her in a
state of confusion.
‘What have I done to upset her?’ He clenched the steering wheel and took along breath, whereupon he
floored the accelerator and left the Sea View Villa.
Jared was still in a daze, even after he had arrived in his office, working on something at his desk It
was then that Max walked in.
"Mr.Johnston, as requested, these are the documents detailing the money that had been spent.""
Max placed the documents in front of him.
"What have you uncovered?"
Jared looked at him and asked.
"A lot of the funds have been withdrawn under the pretense that they would be used for important
projects, but in actuality, none of these projects were real or have been carried out," Max reported.
"Have you found out who was the one who had applied for them?"
Jared eyed maxed with a solemn look on his face.
"They were all applied by Murphy Johnston."
Jared slammed the documents on the table, "It seems that the father and son duo are up to no good."
"What do you want me to do?"
"There is no need to do anything just yet.For now, we'll let him have it, but once this quarter of the year
is over, we'll make him answer for the grand total that he has embezzled," he said, as his eyes glinted
with a spark.
‘If you are going to embezzle from the Johnston Group, you better be competent enough to do so"
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