Allen was one of Jason's personal secretaries.

He was taken aback when he saw Olivia's resignation letter.

He was among the few at the company who knew about what was going on between Olivia and Jason.

Those familiar with Jason knew he never had any feelings for Olivia.

In their marriage life, he was cold toward her and rarely came home.

To get closer to Jason and win him over, Olivia had chosen to join the Hayes Group.

Her initial goal was to become one of Jasons personal secretaries.

But Jason wouldnt allow it.

Even when Jason's grandfather stepped in, Jason refused to budge.

In the end, Olivia had to settle for staying in the secretarial department as one of Jasons many ordinary secretaries.

At first, Allen had worried that Olivias presence would throw the department into chaos.

But contrary to his expectations, Olivia, though she used her position to get closer to Jason, knew when to draw the line and never overstepped.

In fact, perhaps to prove herself to Jason, Olivia took her work seriously and was highly capable.

Whether during pregnancy, after giving birth, or at any other time, she always followed company policies and never asked for special treatment.

Over the years, Olivia had risen to become the team leader in the secretarial department.

Allen had always been aware of Olivias feelings for Jason.

Honestly, he never expected Olivia to resign.

He didnt believe she would ever willingly step down.

Her resignation now likely meant something had happened between her and Jason that he wasnt aware ofsomething that led Jason to force her out.

Though he regretted losing someone as capable as Olivia, Allen handled the matter professionally. Ill accept your resignation letter and arrange for someone to take over your duties as soon as possible.

Alright.

Olivia nodded and returned to her workstation.

After attending to some tasks, Allen reported his work to Jason via video call.

As their discussion wound down, he suddenly remembered Olivias resignation. By the way, sir, about

Although he had told Olivia he would quickly arrange a replacement, he wanted to sound out Jasons intentions regarding her departure.

If Jason wanted Olivia gone by the next day, he would make arrangements immediately.

But just as the words were on the tip of his tongue, he recalled that when Olivia first joined the company, Jason had explicitly stated that all matters related to her should be handled according to company policyno special reports were needed.

He wouldnt interfere.

And that had indeed been the case.

Over the years, Jason had never once inquired about Olivias affairs at the company.

Whenever he encountered her at work, he treated her with the indifference of a stranger.

When Olivias performance stood out a couple of years ago, and they considered promoting her, they had cautiously brought it up to Jason, considering his dislike for her.

They implied that if he objected, they would drop the matter.

At the time, Jason had frowned impatiently and reiterated that he wouldnt interferethey were to follow company procedures.

He also told them never to consult him about Olivias office matters again.

Noticing Allens hesitation, Jason frowned. What is it?

Allen snapped back to attention and quickly said, Its nothing.

Since Jason was already aware of Olivias resignation but hadnt mentioned it, it clearly meant he didnt consider it important.

As always, Allen would handle it according to company policy.

With that in mind, he said nothing more.

Jason ended the video call.

*****

Whats on your mind?

At noon, a colleague suddenly tapped Olivia on the shoulder.

Olivia snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head with a smile. Nothing.

Arent you calling your daughter today?

No, I don't have to.

She usually called her daughter twice a dayonce around 1 a.m. and again around noon.

Her colleagues were aware of this habit.

What they didnt know was that her daughters father was the boss of their company.

After work, Olivia went to the market to buy some groceries and a few potted plants for her new home.

After dinner, she went online to check information about an upcoming tech exhibition.

Then, she made a call. Reserve a ticket for me for next months tech exhibition.

Are you sure? The voice on the other end was cold. The last two times you said the same thing, but you never showed up. So many people dream of getting these tickets, and you just wasted them.

The annual domestic tech exhibition was a major event in the industry, and tickets werent easy to come by.

Their company had secured a few spots, and many of their top talents were eager to attend.

Every ticket was precious.

If I dont show up this time either, Ill never ask you for another ticket.

The other end fell silent, then hung up.

Olivia knew that meant agreement.

She smiled slightly.

What she didnt say was that she was planning to return to the company.

As a partner, she had chosen to step back after marriage and childbirth to focus on taking care of her family, disrupting the companys development plans and causing them to miss many opportunities.

Her colleagues had been both frustrated and disappointed with her.

Over the past few years, they had barely stayed in touch.

She did want to return, but her focus had been on her family for so long.

She had been out of the loop for too long.

She was worried that if she returned without preparation, she wouldnt be able to keep up.

So, she planned to spend some time diving deep into the current state of the industry before making concrete plans.

In the following days, Olivia focused on her work during office hours and devoted her free time to her own pursuits.

She didnt reach out to her daughter or Jason.

Unsurprisingly, they didnt contact her either.

This had been the case for over half a yearstaying in touch had become her one-sided effort.

They had only ever passively accepted her attempts.

*****

In Sylvaria, Amelia had developed a habit of calling Penelope first thing every morning after waking up.

One day, as usual, she called Penelope right after getting up.

But before long, she burst into tears.

Penelope had delivered some devastating news

Penny is going back to her home country!

Heartbroken, Amelia immediately called Jason after ending the call with Penelope. Daddy, did you know about this?

Jason flipped through documents in his office. Yes.

How long have you known?

For a while.

You Daddy, youre mean Amelia sobbed, clutching her pink pig plushie. Why didnt you tell me? I dont want Penny to leave! If shes not here, I dont want to stay, either. I want to go back home! Boohoo!

Jasons tone remained calm. Its already being handled.

Amelia didnt understand. W-What do you mean?

Were going back home next week.