Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 176: Hard To Break

Because of what the butler said, Anne stayed awake till very late that night but Andrew didn’t return.

It got to a point where she thought the butler might have been mistaken, so she went to his bedroom and knocked on the door several times but no one answered, after a second of hesitation she pushed the door open and walked inside.

The lights were turned off making the whole room look dark, when she switched the lights on, the familiar space immediately brought a sudden rush of memories.

Memories of the several times she’d been here but right now, Andrew was nowhere around.

"He really didn’t come home last night?"

She seemed to recall when she’d heard the sound of his car last night.

It was after she’d told him she wouldn’t have dinner with him. After she’d spat those words to him In her moment of fury.

Had he left in anger because of what she said to him?

Thinking about it now, Anne felt somewhat regretful.

"Don’t worry about him mistress, before the wedding, he never stayed here very often, he shifted back and forth from the estate to here so maybe he went back there last night. If you want I could call him and let him know that you’ve been worried..."

"No, there’s no need to call him. If he’d rather stay at the estate then that’s fine." Anne quickly interrupted the butler who she didn’t even hear coming into the room because in her haste she’d left the door open.

Did he leave because she’d thrown his own words back to him, or was it because he didn’t want to live with her under the same roof anymore?

Anne sighed quietly before retracing her steps and left the master bedroom.

When butler Jones watched Anne leave, he let the look of amusement show on his face.

It was said that distance breeds fondness, if mistress missed master enough, would she call him then?

.....

The next morning, after getting ready for work, Anne came out of her bedroom but suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Her gaze lifted up towards the door of the master bedroom. She hadn’t slept much last night despite feeling exhausted, though the butler told her that Andrew would most likely be at the estate, she still found herself listening for the sound of his car, mistaking every distant sound for him coming back only to find that she had been mistaken.

In the end she didn’t know when she’d eventually fallen asleep after hoping for a long time.

Taking a deep breath, Anne decided to get it off her mind and focus on her new job and bringing the ideas she had for the company to life. She left the manor and headed to the company.

She didn’t expect that immediately she reached, someone would stop her even before she entered the office.

"Miss Thompson, you’ve been summoned by HR."

Frowning, Anne wondered what could be the purpose of her being called in by HR so suddenly.

"Alright, thank you, I’ll head there right now."

When Anne reached the humans resources department, the messenger led her into the HR Manager’s office.

The man looked familiar, he’d been the one to handle the situation from last time. But the HR manager wasn’t the only one in the office.

Anne immediately understood what was going on immediately she saw Clara sitting there.

So her being summoned was Clara’s doing?

Though she expected Clara wouldn’t let her be just like that, especially now that they seemed to have equal positions in the company, she didn’t expect Clara would move this fast.

Clara had confidently said to her face that they would never be equals, but here they were and Anne knew this was something Clara wouldn’t easily accept or stand by without taking any action.

"Miss Thompson, please take a seat." Mr David kindly beckoned Anne.

As Anne’s eyes met Clara’s, the latter sent her a silent triumphant smile before quickly shifting her expression when the manager of HR looked towards her.

"There have been several complaints about you Miss Thompson, many don’t seem to agree with your new position. It is my job to ensure that everything in the company stays fair. Miss Hastings here was your previous superior and she has testified that your work ethics are lacking."

"Mr Hales, you were there last time. I was eager to leave my previous working environment because there were internal conflicts that I couldn’t handle anymore. Miss Hastings surely knows, she is the biggest orchestrator of these conflicts after all." Anne didn’t mince words as she stated this clearly holding Clara’s gaze.

"Are you accusing me right now?" Clara quickly shot back but before she got the chance to say anything more, David Hales interrupted.

"I didn’t bring you both here to argue, and frankly whatever internal displeasure you both might have with each other doesn’t concern me. Miss Thompson, I only called you here to let you know that there are high expectations placed on you, I believe you won’t disappoint the faith placed in you by the person who personally appointed you to this position."

Anne calmly nodded to the man without saying anything further and he turned to Clara next.

"Miss Hastings, I’m going to give you a very kind advice, and it would be in your very best interests to take it. If you and your gang of employees don’t want to lose your jobs overnight, then stop pursuing this matter. The person who appointed Miss Thompson has the power to annihilate anyone’s career with a single word, if you want to go against him for putting Miss Thompson in that position, by all means walk up to the chairman’s office yourself with your complaints, but do not drag me into it. This issue Is dismissed."

Clara’s expression became uglier and uglier with every word the man said.

She had almost forgotten, Chairman Sterling, his signature had been on that appointment letter given to Anne.

Clara suddenly felt suffocated, as if she couldn’t breathe by a heavy wall of hatred choking her chest.

She turned her eyes slowly to Anne, unable to fully hide the hate she was feeling within.

Slowly she got up with utmost composure and quietly left the office.

How had that nobody of a woman gotten the support of chairman Sterling? It didn’t make sense at all, it felt like Anne had something that she Clara didn’t.

She had known the Sterlings for a long time but she’d never truly gotten close to them, especially chairman Sterling, he was always strict to her and everyone else, how had Anne breached the wall into their family?

One thing was certain, Anne was becoming harder and harder to break down and get rid of.

This, was her toughest opponent yet, but Clara only felt fuelled by the challenge Anne posed to be.

She would tear her out of the Sterling family’s life no matter what, otherwise Clara’s dreams would forever be left unachieved.