Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

During dinner, Max discreetly observed Bella's reactions. Ever since they got married, Max had been determined to keep Bella from working, not out of concern for her exhaustion or stress, but because he feared that her going to work might detect his relationship with Pearl.

Discovering that Bella worked at the same company as he did wasn't surprising, considering it was her father's subsidiary company. It was only natural for her to work there. However, if Bella continued working, it would become easier for her to uncover the relationship between Max and Pearl, especially given the numerous rumors circulating within the company about their close bond. Max, however, couldn't find any fault to blame Bella or any reason to demand she quit her job.

"Why so serious?" Bella asked, noticing that her husband wasn't eating his dinner.

Max chuckled after a moment and then asked, "How's your time been at the company? I see you've entered the competition for designing the new product packaging this time. I didn't know you had design skills. If you joined out of curiosity, you should reconsider. It can be quite stressful."

Hearing this, Bella couldn't help but smirk inwardly. In her husband's eyes, she was just a homemaker who knew nothing beyond cooking and cleaning. However, in the past three years, she had been so devoted to her husband and household duties that he had forgotten they both graduated from a prestigious university together.

"I'm aware of my abilities. As the CEO, you should encourage your employees instead of discouraging them from participating," Bella replied gently, but her words irritated Max, who had never seen Bella look down on him like this before.

To extinguish the fire quickly, Max smiled and said, "That's not what I meant. It's just that you're new to the company, and your job may not be completely mastered yet. Participating in the competition might affect your work."

Max's words might have sounded concerned and considerate to others, portraying him as a kind boss looking out for his employees. However, Bella didn't see it that way. "It's okay, I know what's best for me. This is a great opportunity to advance in my career. If I'm not chosen, I'll consider it an interesting experience. You're my husband, you should be encouraging me, not the other way around."

Bella emphasized the word 'husband,' causing Max to raise an eyebrow slightly. Since the employee list had been published, she knew that Pearl was also participating in this competition so that's the reason it seemed like Max didn't want Bella to be part of it. Bella narrowed her eyes at Max, who was having his meal, wanting to emphasize and remind him of who his real wife was.

Max, not wanting to escalate the situation, just chuckled. He wanted to find something to tease Bella about so that she would quickly quit her job and return to being a homemaker, just as she used to be.

However, Bella always returned home before Max and prepared a perfect dinner without needing any assistance from him. Sometimes she worked overtime, but she had already hired a housekeeper to help her prepare dinner before her husband returned. The house was always clean, even when Bella had to work. She had never let Max lift a finger for household chores or asked him for help with anything.

And what was especially impressive was that Bella always spoke gently, making Max feel comfortable. Everything Bella did was so perfect that it was impossible to find fault, and that was what made Max want to go home instead of staying at Pearl's house.

Pearl knew that Max couldn't persuade Bella to quit the competition, which frustrated her.

"If she won't quit, then just remove her name from the participant list and come up with some excuse," Pearl snuggled up to him, but Max didn't want to do that. It was just a small competition, not worth making a fuss about. He was also confident that Pearl would win, so there was no need for such unnecessary actions.

Max gently reassured her, "Don't worry, Bella is just a homemaker. All she knows is cooking and cleaning; she doesn't know anything about design."

"But..." Pearl wanted to say more. She thought like Max, but she didn't want to see Bella on the competition list. In Pearl's eyes, aside from cooking and cleaning, Bella didn't deserve to stand alongside her.

Max picked up his documents and started working, sensing Pearl's unease. He continued, "You're worried she'll win, aren't you? Don't worry; she's too clueless to beat you."

Hearing that, Pearl finally smiled contentedly, and Max's act of disliking Bella put her at ease. She spoke gently, "I'm just worried about you. There are a few people in the company who know Bella is your wife, and if she performs too poorly, it might reflect badly on you."

"Pearl, you're really kind. That foolish woman just doesn't know her own limits. But it's okay; if her achievements are lacking, it's her own doing, and she won't dare to participate in any competitions in the future." Max kissed Pearl on the lips, realizing that Pearl was actually so good-hearted and thinking about his reputation.

At the office, Bella always performed her job excellently. Only when she got home did she focus on matters related to the competition because she believed in keeping these two aspects separate. Lauriel noticed Bella's continuous dedication to work even when there was no urgency.

"You're really diligent, Bell. Although we won't need the content of that project for another three months, and you've already finished it all," Lauriel marveled at Bella's speed.

Bella chuckled softly, explaining that she wanted to reduce her workload to concentrate more on the competition. The project her team was working on and the competition were happening concurrently, with only a short gap between them. "I want to lighten my workload and have more time to focus on the competition. Make the most of the time."

During the lunch break, a male colleague sipped his coffee and chuckled. "I haven't seen the executive secretary of the CEO bothering us lately."

Another female colleague nodded in agreement. "You're right. Let's see. I think she stopped causing trouble ever since Bella joined."

Bella silently listened to their conversation until they mentioned her, then feigned surprise and confusion as if she didn't understand what they were talking about. "Really?"

Bella secretly chuckled to herself. Her colleagues might not know that she was the daughter of the company owner, and Max's position as CEO was also due to her father's appointment. As for Pearl, she and Bella used to be close friends, so of course, Pearl knew who Bella's family was.

So, Pearl didn't dare to cause any trouble here like she used to. Although Bella didn't know what Pearl had done, listening to her colleagues talk gave her some insight into Pearl's irrational behavior.

Mainly, they mentioned that Pearl wasn't fulfilling her role as the executive secretary and was abusing Max's authority to manipulate employees in different departments. However, their superiors didn't find these actions too serious, so they didn't want to get involved too much.

The competition happened very quickly because there were relatively few employees participating, making the process much faster and simpler. Bella created a new email account and used that email to submit her entry because she suspected someone might be trying to sneak a peek at her submission.

While at home, Max asked Bella several times about the design she was using for the competition. He wanted to take a look and offer some feedback, but Bella firmly declined and suggested he go to bed separately because she needed to focus on her competition design.

"I can't show it to you; it's confidential until I submit it to the leadership team. I won't let anyone see it before then," Bella said firmly.

Max felt somewhat embarrassed for asking and was uncomfortable with Bella's refusal. She had never been this way before. In reality, Bella should have asked for his help rather than rejecting him so bluntly.

"Your attitude towards me has changed since you started working. Bella, what's going on?" Max angrily exclaimed.

Bella couldn't understand why Max suddenly became so angry when she hadn't done anything wrong. Moreover, this was the first time Max had raised his voice at her.

"What are you talking about? Is there something wrong with my attitude?"

Faced with Bella's question, Max didn't know how to respond. He angrily grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the house, saying, "You need to take a good look at yourself. Ever since you started working, you haven't cared about me anymore."

Bella heard the sound of the car driving away and couldn't help but smirk.

"Wants me to take a good look at myself? Why should I care about a dirty person like him?"

Bella was certain that Max was heading to Pearl's place. They had never argued or raised their voices after getting married.

In the car, Max couldn't understand why he was so angry. His wife had secrets and was hiding things when she started going to work, which was something Max didn't like. Previously, she had always shared everything she knew with him and had never kept anything from him.

"Damn it!" Max angrily slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

Pearl heard the door open and knew that Max had arrived. She intentionally changed into a seductive nightgown and embraced him.

"I've missed you so much, Max..."

"Me too," Max replied. He kissed her passionately, and Pearl's gentle and affectionate demeanor pleased him.

Taking advantage of their closeness, Pearl asked, "Have you seen Bella's competition design? What's it like?"

Max felt irritated when he remembered Bella's attitude, and he sighed heavily. "I don't know. She won't show it to me; she says it's confidential. Now she even has secrets from me, and it's driving me crazy."

Hearing Max's words, Pearl felt disappointed. She knew that if Max could see Bella's competition design and tell her about it, she could finally feel at ease.