Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 88

On the other end of the line, there was half a second of silence before a confused “Uh?” came through.

Right after, Charles’s voice followed, sounding a bit troubled.

“Ma’am, are you… are you asking me to take care of the boss?”

Zinnia immediately caught the hesitance in his tone and asked gently, “Is that inconvenient for you?”

Charles hesitated, stumbling over his words. “Ma’am, the company has a handful of major projects that need the boss’s attention this week. Now that he’s sick, I have to oversee everything myself. I really can’t get away, ma’am.”

“I see,” Zinnia murmured softly.

She’d never worked at a big corporation, but she knew Charles wasn’t making excuses. Especially with the end of the year approaching, it was the busiest time imaginable. As Landon’s top assistant, it made sense he’d be swamped right now.

Charles pleaded, “Ma’am, could you please look after the boss for now? You know how he is—other than work, he can barely manage to take care of himself. Now that he’s sick, I’m sure… well, it must be pretty rough for him.”

Zinnia fell silent.

She almost thought Charles’s voice was about to break.

How old was Landon again? Sure, he had a fever, but was it really so dire that Charles sounded like he was about to cry?

Life as an employee was tough.

She decided not to give Charles a hard time.

“All right, Charles, get back to work.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I really appreciate it.” Charles hung up so quickly it was as if he feared she’d change her mind and order him to look after the boss after all.

Charles had barely put his phone down when Yvonne, the executive secretary, glanced over at him, amused by his “survived a disaster” expression.

“Charles, who was that on the phone? You look like you just dodged a bullet.”

“Well, keep your eyes open from now on. The boss’s wife has never been to the company before, but if you see her, be welcoming, got it?”

They all nodded obediently. “Got it, Charles!”

“Charles, what does she look like?”

“She must be gorgeous if she’s married to our boss,” another secretary chimed in.

Charles remembered Zinnia’s face and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: the boss and his wife really were a perfect match.

“Come on, Charles, that’s too vague. There are plenty of beautiful women out there—what if we mistake someone else for her?” someone protested.

He had to admit they had a point. So he added, “The boss is about as warm as a snowman—if a woman’s close to him and he doesn’t mind, that’s definitely his wife. Honestly, how did any of you land a job here?”

As if managing the boss wasn’t enough, now he had to worry about this whole bunch, too.