Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 200: Where Have You Been?

As Andrew asked for her scarf, all the employees eyes turned to Anne in an instant, curiosity and interest dancing in their eyes.

"Please." He added, the word not sounding like a plea at all, instead she could see the teasing glint in his eyes. He was pushing her to a corner, if she refused to give her scarf to him after he’d asked politely in front of so many people, they would assume she wasn’t afraid of him like other employees were, which would most likely further fuel the rumors on the forum.

Glaring at him she stealthily pushed her long wavy hair over her shoulders hoping it would cover up her neck where the red mark had been, and slowly took off her scarf handing it over to him.

He took the soft wool yellow scarf and wrapped it over his palm.

"Thanks." He muttered with a smirk on his sinful lips before walking into the elevator, the shareholders behind him giving her curious glances as they followed behind him.

All the team A employees had already exited the elevator by then, going forward to carry out their dinner plans while pretending what just happened wasn’t juicy news that would spark more conversation.

Director Sterling, of all people, had asked for Anne’s scarf. Though no one else in the group was wearing a scarf, him asking her still made it seem like something special.

Anne walked at the back, internally cursing Andrew for putting her in a spot. She only hoped her hair would remain in place so the mark she was desperately trying to hide wouldn’t be seen.

At the restaurant, the team hired a private room which had a large table that could accommodate over twelve people.

They ordered, ate and laughed while sharing stories with each other.

"Anne, do you have an embarrassing story that makes you cringe to this day?" Hailey asked after everyone had shared their own hilariously embarrassing experiences.

"Hmm, there was one time I went to a Chinese restaurant with my friend, she challenged me to select the spiciest food on the menu, I was a lot younger so I gave in to the dare, I never knew Chinese food could get that spicy, especially the Szechuan chicken. I was tearing up so much that a few waiters came by to console me thinking I was crying over a heartbreak, they even offered me a free meal on the house. Turns out the Szechuan chicken wasn’t spicy to them at all and I just ended up being a weirdo, so that was embarrassing."

They laughed at her story and the conversation continued from there.

Sharing cringy moments here and there made everyone feel somewhat closer. With the suddenly harmonious air, one of the employees took this chance to speak,

"Anne, you must have seen the rumors on the forum right?" Larry was one of the males in the team and he was somewhat more mature so he brought up the topic first.

Anne nodded solemnly. The news seemed to have spread fast that Anne knew it couldn’t be controlled anymore.

"Then I’m afraid Elsie owes you an apology. She got too excited yesterday when director Sterling came to our department to talk to you so she posted it on the forum, I’ve been meaning to tell you about it, but I wasn’t sure how you would take it so I waited till this dinner." He narrated it all to her calmly, and as he spoke all the other employees showed a guilty expression.

"He’s right, we only realized it after the post was up in the forum. We were just curious what your relationship was with director Sterling, but thinking about it now, it was none of our business, we shouldn’t have put you out publicly like that." Ashley chimed, speaking remorsefully.

"I’m really sorry manager Thompson, your personal relationship really is none of our business. I was the one who posted it on the forum, but I promise I already deleted it earlier today, it’s just... people won’t stop talking about it. But I could make another post to clear it all up and call it a misunderstanding." Elsie quickly apologized.

As her words fell, all the other employees echoed her words of apology. Since Anne had joined them recently, they hadn’t had the chance to get to know her more, hence they made speculations about her. Though she was evidently very friendly, a mysterious person always attracted curiosity, and quite frankly when it came to matters related to the Sterlings, anyone would be curious.

"It’s okay, you all don’t have to repeatedly apologize. I’m glad you’ve all realized it and openly admit to it, I won’t take it against you. Let’s just forget about it, and I’m sure everyone in the forum will soon forget about it too."

Anne’s words came with a harmless smile, that made everyone feel at ease, in the end they relaxed, and everyone had the rest of their meal in harmony.

.....

An hour later, Anne returned to the Black Thorn Manor.

The entire entrance hall wad unusually dark, making it seem like everyone in the manor had retired and gone to sleep.

Anne stopped in her tracks upon entrance, her hands groping against the nearest wall for the light switch. Immediately her hand came upon one, she flicked it, bringing light into the space.

Weird, it was just ten thirty, where had everyone gone?

Anne almost jumped out of her skin the moment she turned with the intention to go upstairs, that was because there was a figure sitting on the maroon red leather arm chair in the living room. She hadn’t expected to see anyone there with the whole place being so dark, so it caught her off guard that she almost screamed until she swallowed the sound down her throat leaving only a small audible whimper that could be heard from her.

The air around him was quietly dominant, he was dressed in a sharp white leather dress shirt and dark blue trousers evidently from the one he had worn to work. He sat reclined slightly, one leg crossed over the other, his hand raised up to his face, fingers brushing lightly over his lips in what looked like impatience, she couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes, his gaze was half shadowed by the somewhat dim lighting.

She couldn’t fathom how him sitting quietly could still make him exude an air of authority that made her heart tremble slightly noticing how his gaze was pinned unwaveringly on her.

"You frightened me." She broke the tense silence, wondering why he was looking at her as if she’d done something wrong when in fact, he was the one who did something,

"You did that on purpose earlier, didn’t you? I told you, we can’t be seen talking to each other in public, everyone is going to think that..."

Her words were barely completed when he abruptly cut her off with a sharp question,

"Where have you been?"

She was taken aback by the sudden question.