Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Two

Bella was in a cheerful mood, so she was extremely productive at work. Her colleagues noticed her mood and asked, prompting her to speak with a smile.

"Nothing special really, just been able to do some interesting things lately, so my mood isn't bad."

"What interesting things?" A curious male colleague asked.

Bella casually mentioned a few things she couldn't directly say: that Max was her husband and Pearl her close friend, and they were in a complicated relationship, while she, like a scorned wife, was trying to find ways to punish them.

Her colleagues, though friendly, were not discreet. They had no qualms about divulging others' secrets within the company. To them, even Bella, the secrets of others were just stories for gossip and discussion.

The colleagues who had been eagerly listening were disappointed. They thought they would hear something exciting and interesting from Bella. They then started discussing the company's CEO, Max Cooper, and his secretary, Pearl. Initially, whenever Bella heard her colleagues mention the two, she would visibly show signs of anxiety and confusion. Luckily, her colleagues were too engrossed in their conversation to notice her. But now, Bella found herself intrigued by the stories surrounding the two, sometimes even pretending not to understand and showing interest in hearing more.

Bella felt it was absolutely right to conceal her true identity as Max's wife. If she didn't, how could she hear the interesting stories and things she never expected about their relationship?

"Lately, Pearl seems to be getting more difficult. She used to be bossy, but not to the point of getting angry like now," a female colleague sighed.

Pearl's habit of abusing power and bullying employees was well-known within the company. Instead of reporting her to superiors, colleagues chose to remain silent because they knew about the ambiguous relationship between CEO Cooper and Pearl. Moreover, even if they filed complaints against Pearl, they would be immediately dismissed with unreasonable justifications, despite their superiors not specifying what was unreasonable when the reality was clear.

After their complaints were dismissed, employees tacitly understood that Pearl was not just an ordinary secretary, but most likely the CEO's mistress or girlfriend.

"Maybe Mr. Cooper is no longer interested in her," another female colleague speculated.

"How do you know that?" Another colleague exclaimed in surprise.

Bella also eagerly awaited their opinions on Max and Pearl, pretending to be unaware and innocently listening to her colleagues' conversation. After a while, Bella understood why Pearl was often angry and mistreated other employees—it was because she was no longer receiving attention from Max. Previously, whenever Max went somewhere, he would take her along, but lately, he had been taking a male assistant instead.

Though this incident occurred only a few times, the employees in the company were sensitive enough to detect something in the relationship between Max and Pearl. The ambiguous relationship between the CEO and his beautiful secretary was always a hot topic for everyone in the company.

Everyone was busy discussing, unaware that Bella had returned to her desk, her lips curled up in a satisfied smile. Perhaps because of the feeling of victory, Bella's mood was exceptionally good—triumphant, smug, and satisfied.

But not everyone in the company discussed this hot topic. Therefore, to ignite this flame, she needed to exert more effort.

Soon it was lunchtime, and Max deliberately waited for Bella in the underground parking lot. From the beginning, Bella didn't want the employees in the company to discover their relationship, so Max complied with her wishes.

Max deliberately chose the most luxurious and extravagant restaurant. This wasn't the first time he had taken his wife to such expensive places, but in three years of marriage, their outings were so rare that they could be counted on one hand.

"In the future, I'll take you to places like this more often," Max said tenderly.

Bella smiled happily at him, knowing that Max was trying to make up for his mistake from this morning's argument and interrogation. Perhaps due to men's pride, he wouldn't actively apologize, but instead, he showed it through actions. Bella thought it was good that way. Previously, because she was thinking about their future, despite her father being very wealthy and Max having a lot of money, she didn't dare to spend extravagantly, especially on expensive meals like this.

But now Bella only feels foolish for thinking that saving money was the best, there's nothing best about it here. Bella looked gently at Max, her voice soft, "I've always wanted to go on more dates with you. You know, even though we've been married for over three years, I still want us to be as happy as we were in the early days of our relationship."

Upon hearing this, Max became extremely enthusiastic. Whenever he was with Bella, he couldn't understand why he always felt so relaxed and pressure-free.

"In the past, I was too indifferent, only caring about work, but I promise now and in the future, I'll care more about you and you alone, Bella."

If Bella had heard Max's confessions like this before, she would have been unable to contain her joy and would have jumped for joy, but now she just feels scornful and disgusted. It seems that Max is starting to feel bored and no longer wants to be close to Pearl, so he's coming back to win the affection of his neglected wife.

Although Max hasn't reached the point of abandoning Pearl, with the current situation, Bella has still succeeded to a considerable extent.

Bella pretended innocently, "What's wrong, honey? I've always been by your side, I know work is very important to you. You don't have to-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Max took her hand and looked at her with pleading eyes, "You're my wife, taking care of you is my duty as your husband. Now I realize that only you can put my mind at ease, only when I'm with you do I feel most comfortable."

Bella also comforted Max with a smile, pretending as if she knew nothing and didn't ask anything further. The two of them chatted happily, of course, Bella didn't forget to take many "memorable" photos. Besides the photos of food on the table, there were also intimate ones of Max kissing Bella's hand, Max holding her hand, and toasting with her...

When she returned to work, Bella couldn't help but feel pleased when looking back at those previous photos. As soon as the work hours ended, she deliberately posted those photos on social media with sweet and affectionate captions. And this time too, she blocked everyone, allowing only Pearl to see.

After completing a series of actions, Bella turned off her phone and waited for Pearl's reaction. She wondered how Pearl would react after seeing those photos. Before discovering the betrayal of the two, Bella and Pearl were still close friends admired by many, and also because Bella had once cherished this relationship greatly, she understood her best friend very well. Surely Pearl will not leave this alone.

While having dinner with Max, Bella received a message from Pearl.

"Who's texting you?" Max asked, because of what happened this morning, he didn't dare to show his discomfort when Bella received a message from anyone.

Bella furrowed her brows at the phone message, without hiding anything she said, "It's Pearl, she's asking me to meet her... She said she has something to talk to me about."

As she spoke, Bella raised her phone in front of Max, and as soon as Max saw Pearl's message, his face turned pale.

"Why would she want to meet you in the evening?" Max asked, trying to suppress the unease in his heart.

Bella could see her husband's unease, but she didn't expose it and continued, "Before we got married, I used to hang out with Pearl every evening, you know that too. I've noticed her mood hasn't been good lately, maybe she wants to confide in me. So tonight you'll have to stay home alone, I need to-"

"You can't go!" Max suddenly raised his voice, startling Bella. Confused by Max's sudden attitude, she asked gently, "Max, what's wrong?"

Realizing he had overreacted, Max sat down and lowered his voice, "It's nothing, I... just feel a bit tired... and besides, we haven't been home together for a long time, so could you please not go out tonight? Just stay with me... I don't want to be alone at home tonight."

"But..." Bella hesitated as she glanced at Max and then back at her phone.

Afraid that Bella might actually go out with Pearl, Max wasn't sure what Pearl would say to his wife, but he couldn't take the risk. Max feared that the foolish Pearl might reveal the secret they had been hiding from Bella for so long, If Pearl really did that, what should he do now?

Max was determined not to let Bella leave the house, but if he showed too much aggression, Bella would become suspicious, so he pretended to be melancholic and said, "Come on, she's not short of friends. Moreover, you're married now, you should care about me, not your friend. If you leave, I'll be very lonely. Can you make plans with her another time?"

Bella hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed with Max. However, as soon as she returned to her bedroom, Bella deliberately sent a provocative message.

[Sorry, my husband wants me to stay home with him, and he even said he'd be very lonely if I left. So let's talk another time, just the two of us.]