The car started moving again after Jared sat down calmly. He looked calm, but his heart was racing. He could even hear his own heartbeat. This was the first time he had ever felt so intimidated sitting beside someone. Caroline had truly given him a feeling he had never experienced before.
Jared turned to look at Caroline. He wanted to start a conversation between them several times, but he had no idea what to talk about. He had never been close to any woman, so he didn't know how to speak with one except about work.
“Caroline.” Jared called to her gently, his voice trembling slightly as his heart began to pound harder.
Caroline turned to look at him.
“Uh—”
Caroline's phone suddenly rang.
“One moment, Mr. Madison.” Caroline cut Jared off. She reached into her bag, pulled out her phone, and answered the call.
“Hi, Mom? I'm on my way. I'll be home soon.”
Jared could only sigh as he listened to Caroline talk to her mother. He wanted to get to know Caroline better. He wanted to meet her parents and get close to them. However, he understood that it would seem far too rushed. Especially since his nephew had dumped and humiliated Caroline in public. He was sure Caroline would get the wrong idea about him if he moved that quickly.
“There was a little extra work. Don't worry, Mom. I'm fine. You and Dad should just rest at home. I'll be there soon. Bye. Love you.”
Caroline put her phone back in her bag after ending the call.
“Are you an only child?” Jared asked casually, trying to ease the nervousness and awkwardness weighing on him.
“Actually, I have an older sister, but she left Perth a few years ago. We haven't heard anything from her at all. I've tried to find her to ask for help, but I've completely lost her trail.” Caroline answered honestly.
Jared tried to remember every little detail he knew about Caroline.
“Do you have a picture of her? Maybe I can help.”
Caroline looked at him with a furrowed brow. “You want to help me find my sister?” she asked to make sure.
“Yes. You're my assistant now, so I should help solve your problems so you can focus more on your work.” Jared tried to come up with an excuse.
Caroline looked happy. She truly hadn't expected working for Jared to bring her so much kindness. She had never imagined that the place where she worked would have a system so beneficial to its employees, unaware that Jared was doing all of it solely for her. Jared was doing it because he was interested in Caroline, not because he was a good boss.
Caroline took out her phone again. She scrolled through the screen, then showed Jared a picture. “Her name is Aalya. She's four years older than me,” the woman explained briefly.
“Four years older? You mean she's twenty-seven?” Jared asked to confirm.
“Yes. She left home five years ago after arguing with my father. I've searched everywhere for her, but she truly didn't leave any trace behind. All of her social media accounts have also been inactive for a long time. I really don't know where else to look. My father is sickly now, and he really wants to see my sister. Our house was seized by the bank, so I brought them to live in the apartment I rent. My father owes two million dollars, and we have to pay it off within a year.” Caroline told him the whole story in detail.
Jared listened in silence.
“I'm not telling you this because I want your pity. I just don't know who else to talk to. Jake was usually the one I vented to, but you know what happened between us.”
“Send me her picture,” Jared said. “I'll do everything I can to help find your sister.”
“Give me your number!”
Jared gave her his personal number, not the office number he usually used to discuss work. To him, Caroline was more than just an employee.
“We're here, Mr. Madison,” Thalius informed him.
“This is your house? What file am I supposed to pick up?” Caroline looked at Jared for an answer before getting out.
Just tell them you're here to pick up one of my files. I've already informed them.” Jared answered casually.
Caroline nodded, then got out of the car.
“Donny, find out everything you can about Aalya. I've sent you her picture. Handle it and tell me even the smallest piece of information you find.” Jared ordered his trusted subordinate.
“Yes, sir.”
Jared turned to the window and gazed into the distance at Caroline standing in front of the luxurious house. Not long afterward, the woman returned to the car carrying a folder full of documents.
“What am I supposed to do with these documents?” Caroline asked after sitting back down beside Jared.
“I'll take them home. Thank you for picking them up for me.” Jared took the documents from her.
Caroline merely shrugged. She was confused about being asked to come along just to pick up some documents. Donny and Thalius were with him, after all. Either one of them could have gotten out to retrieve the files Jared wanted. He could even have asked the lawyer who delivered the documents to bring them directly to the car. However, she couldn't complain because Jared was her boss.
“This is a tip for you. Consider it overtime pay since I gave you extra work outside business hours.” Jared handed Caroline one hundred dollars.
Caroline stared at him wide-eyed. She couldn't believe she had gotten money so easily. A small smile bloomed on her lips. She happily accepted it because she really needed money to pay off her parents' debt.
“Is there anything else I can do for you? If you need help, just call me. I'm available twenty-four hours a day for you, sir,” Caroline said with a smile.
“That will be all for today. You should go home and get plenty of rest. Come back to the office during working hours tomorrow.”
Caroline nodded quickly.
“What's the address of your apartment?”
Caroline showed him the way to where she lived. Jared tried to memorize the route so he could pick Caroline up tomorrow morning.
“Thank you, sir. If you need my help, just call me,” Caroline said with a sweet smile when the car stopped at her destination.
“You don't need to call me sir outside the office. It feels strange because you usually call me Uncle,” Jared complained again about the way Caroline addressed him.
“It's more respectful and keeps a boundary between boss and employee,” Caroline insisted.
“I'll fine you every time you call me boss outside working hours,” Jared threatened.
“But—”
“I'll fine you ten dollars every time you call me boss outside working hours,” Jared stressed.
“Fine. Whatever you say.” Caroline finally gave in.
“Call me Uncle.”
“Okay, Uncle,” Caroline replied indifferently. “You should go home. I have to go inside now. Goodbye.” Caroline waved, then walked away.
“Mom, what happened?” Caroline looked panicked when she arrived at the apartment. The front room was a complete mess. A flower vase was shattered, and belongings were scattered everywhere. What shocked her most was finding her father sprawled on the floor, his body covered in bruises. The middle-aged man appeared unconscious.
Caroline hurried over and tried with all her strength to wake her father.
“Who did this?” Caroline stared at her mother with red-rimmed eyes. She was angry, sad, and panicked, all her emotions tangled together. No wonder her mother had called earlier with a panicked, trembling voice. She had no idea her parents were facing such a terrifying situation.
“Aalya came with her boyfriend,” Bonnie said weakly. She still couldn't believe that the eldest daughter she had missed all these years could bring herself to do something like this to them. Instead of reuniting with them, Aalya had attacked them.
“Aalya?” Caroline repeated the name, her tone and expression filled with disbelief. She had just been discussing her sister with her boss, and now the woman had appeared in a completely unexpected way.
“Why would she do this?” Caroline looked at her father with tearful eyes. Her father always murmured her sister's name in his sleep. He never seemed to notice Caroline's presence there. Anthony thought about Aalya all the time. This incident hurt Caroline deeply.
“She came home to ask for her inheritance. But she got angry when she found out our family had gone bankrupt. She demanded the certificate for this apartment so she could sell it. I told her this apartment doesn't belong to us—we're only renting it. But she didn't believe me. She thought your father and I had prepared this apartment for you. She was angry because she thought we were playing favorites.”
“How did she know we were here?”
“I don't know.” Bonnie shook her head weakly.
“We have to go to the hospital now.”
“But we don't have any money.”
“You don't need to worry about that. The most important thing right now is Dad's safety,” Caroline insisted. She immediately called an ambulance.
The paramedics carried Anthony's body to the ambulance, then rushed him to the hospital. His condition looked extremely concerning.
Caroline tried to calm her mother while she herself looked anxious and panicked. She had no money on hand at all. The only money in her pocket was the one hundred dollars Jared had given her earlier.
Caroline had no choice but to call Jared. No other name came to mind except his. If she asked Jake for help, she would certainly receive nothing but insults and abuse.
“Uncle, can I ask you for help?” Caroline asked hesitantly after the call connected. She bit her nails to ease her anxiety, repeatedly glancing at her mother, who was sitting in a chair in the waiting room ahead. She had deliberately moved away while speaking with Jared so her mother couldn't hear their conversation. She didn't want her mother to feel even more pressured worrying about the hospital bills.
“What kind of help do you need?” Jared asked without hesitation.
Caroline was silent for quite some time. She had only just started working for Jared. There was no way she could immediately borrow a fairly large sum of money from him. She was sure Jared wouldn't help her.
“Are you listening?” Jared asked again when she didn't answer.
“I want to borrow some money,” Caroline said softly. She could barely hear what she had said herself.
“Could you repeat that? I can't hear you.”
“How much money can I borrow from you? You can deduct it from next month's salary. I know I just started working for you. I also realize we're not close enough to borrow money from each other. But I promise I'll work even harder.”
“How much do you need?”
“Five thousand dollars.”
“Send me your account number. I'll transfer it now.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Caroline said happily. A small smile bloomed on her lips. Half of her burden had been lifted. She no longer had to worry about the hospital bill tonight. Once again, Jared had helped her—twice now.
Thalius stopped the car when they arrived in front of Caroline's apartment. They waited for a while, hoping Caroline would come down and join them. However, there was no sign of her after they had waited for thirty minutes.
[Have you left yet?] Jared texted to confirm Caroline's whereabouts.
There was no reply.
“Go check!” Jared ordered Donny.
The broad-shouldered man immediately did as his boss asked. He knew which apartment belonged to Caroline because he had followed the woman yesterday. However, he returned to the car with a panicked expression after coming back from Caroline's apartment.
“Sir, her apartment is empty and a mess,” Donny informed him uneasily.
Jared fell silent at the news. His thoughts began to run wild. Caroline had borrowed five thousand dollars from him the night before, and now she had disappeared. He began to feel a pain in his chest from the betrayal. He thought Caroline was just like every other woman who only wanted money. She had even ignored his message that morning. Caroline had taken advantage of his kindness.
He didn't care about the five thousand dollars he had given her. What upset him was that his trust had been betrayed. He had thought he could open his heart to Caroline, but apparently, he couldn't.
“Let's go,” Jared said weakly. He had only just begun to feel the stirrings of love, and now he had been stabbed in the back.
“Sir, isn't that Caroline?” Thalius pointed at the woman who had just gotten out of a taxi and was hurrying toward the apartment ahead.
A faint smile appeared on Jared's lips. He had been angry and disappointed, but seeing Caroline made him feel happy again. He found her number once more and tapped the call icon.
This time, Caroline answered immediately.
“I'm sorry, Uncle. I'm a little late. Please forgive me. Please don't dock my pay. I'll be at the office soon. I'm sorry,” Caroline said hurriedly.
“I'll wait ten minutes. You have to be in front of the apartment by then,” Jared stated firmly.
“Yes, Uncle.” Caroline agreed, then ended the call.
“Sir, isn't this a little suspicious? Her apartment is a complete mess.”
“Maybe she didn't have time to clean it because she was too busy working.” Jared began to think positively.
“No, sir. The mess is different. There are lots of broken things and belongings strewn across the floor. And not a single valuable item is left there. Didn't she live with her parents? Why is the apartment empty so early in the morning? And she just came back from who knows where.” Donny's detective instincts sensed that something was wrong.
Jared was beginning to realize that something was off. Why had Caroline borrowed five thousand dollars from him the night before? Why hadn't she told him she was having trouble?
“Find out what's going on. Tell me every little detail you learn,” Jared ordered. He clenched his fists tightly. He would not let anyone disturb the peace of the woman he loved.
“Did you sleep poorly?” Jared asked when Caroline approached him looking slightly disheveled. Her face looked worn, and the dark circles under her eyes were obvious. Apparently, she had stayed up until morning accompanying Anthony at the hospital.
“I'm sorry, Uncle. This is the last time, I promise. I'll improve my sleep so my performance at work won't be affected,” Caroline pleaded earnestly. She was afraid Jared would fire her. Where else could she find a job this good, with a salary many times higher than it should be? She didn't even have to spend any effort on lunch because the office covered it.
Jared smiled faintly at Caroline's pleading expression. Now he knew how dependent Caroline was on him. At least he knew the woman wouldn't suddenly leave him.
“You don't want to tell me what happened?” Jared began coaxing her to talk about what had happened.
“About what?”
“Anything you think I should know.”
Caroline shook her head. This was a family matter. She didn't want Aalya's actions to further damage her family's reputation. Her family was extremely poor now, with mountains of debt. She had been dumped by the man she loved so deeply, isolated and shunned by her friends, and now her sister had attacked her father. Who would stay by her side with family problems this severe? She didn't want Jared to fire her after learning what had happened.
“All right, then,” Jared replied casually.
They arrived at the office fifteen minutes after the workday had begun. When Caroline entered the office, she became the center of attention. She was a new employee and was already late during her first week on the job. She had been the subject of discussion since she first arrived, and now her name was becoming even hotter gossip.
Caroline tried to ignore it. She wasn't bothered as long as it didn't interfere with her work. She worked with intense focus, doing everything Jared assigned her.
Because of her lack of rest and the immense pressure she was under, Caroline got a nosebleed without realizing it. Drops of blood stained the documents she was reviewing. She tried to remove the stain, but it only spread farther. Caroline began to panic—not because her nose was bleeding, but because the documents in her hands had gotten dirty. She tried to clean them, but she still couldn't fix them.
“Can't you do your job properly?” Lenzy, who had been watching all along, began to reprimand her.
“I'm sorry.” Caroline apologized while wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
“You stained the documents. You should know better. Go to the back and wash your face.” Lenzy shoved her somewhat roughly.
A commotion suddenly broke out when Caroline refused to accept Lenzy's rough treatment. In an instant, they became the center of attention.
Thalius informed Jared about the commotion. The man immediately stepped in because it involved Caroline. If not for Caroline, he would have left the matter for Thalius to handle.
“You don't deserve to work here!” Lenzy shoved Caroline again, harder than before.
Caroline nearly fell, but Jared's muscular body shielded her. The moment everyone realized Jared was there, they froze. No one dared to look at him, much less speak. Only Lenzy seemed increasingly eager to curry favor.
“Mr. Madison, Caroline disrupted the work. Look at the documents I worked so hard on—they got dirty because of her nosebleed,” Lenzy said, pointing at the stack of documents that had been scattered after she messed them up.
“I'm sorry, sir. I'm really sorry. I'm a little dizzy because I haven't gotten enough rest. Please forgive me. I'll be more careful next time.” Caroline bowed repeatedly, begging Jared to forgive her. She couldn't afford to lose this job.
Jared looked at Caroline's deathly pale face. He let out a harsh sigh, put an arm around her, and fixed Lenzy with an icy stare. “You know your coworker isn't feeling well. Instead of helping her, you made things harder for her. Why was your work on her desk?”
Lenzy fell silent at Jared's question. She suddenly became nervous.
“You should also take sick leave if you're unwell. The company has never forced employees to keep working when they're sick.” Jared advised Caroline. However, his tone toward her was different. He sounded warmer and gentler when speaking to Caroline. This made the other employees even more curious about their relationship.
“I'll take you to the hospital.”
“Sir, I can accompany her to see the doctor,” Lenzy suddenly volunteered sweetly. She smiled broadly, putting on her most ingratiating expression.
“Get back to your work. It's my responsibility to make sure my assistant is all right.” Jared said firmly. He supported Caroline's weak body as he led her out of the office.
Thalius and Donny quickly prepared the car. A moment later, they sped toward the hospital.
“Don't overthink things, get plenty of rest, and don't forget to eat,” the doctor said after examining Caroline. “You haven't been resting enough, and on top of that, you're stressed and your eating schedule is irregular. That's why you suddenly got a nosebleed. The dizziness is from lack of sleep.”
“Is it dangerous?” Jared asked anxiously.
“Getting enough rest will help her recover quickly. I'll prescribe vitamins and an iron supplement.”
“Thank you.” Jared felt relieved that Caroline wasn't suffering from any serious illness.
“I'm sorry, Uncle. I'll work even harder—”
“Stop apologizing. I'm tired of hearing you say you're sorry.” Jared cut her off before she could finish. “What did you do all night to end up like this?”
Caroline didn't answer.
“I'll be angry with you if you aren't honest with me,” Jared threatened, trying to get Caroline to open up to him.
“Robbers came to my house yesterday afternoon. My father was attacked, so I stayed with him at the hospital all night because his condition was so serious.” Caroline slipped in a small lie. She didn't want to tell him that the attacker had been her sister.
“So the money you borrowed—”
“It was for my father's hospital bills.”
Jared massaged his temple at Caroline's answer. He couldn't believe she was trying to shoulder all of this alone.
“You should have told me!” Jared looked upset.
How could he not be? He had been incredibly worried and panicked when he found out. What if something bad had happened to Caroline? Who would have helped her?
“Get used to asking for help. Asking for help isn't a crime,” Jared said firmly. “I'll fire you if you don't tell me every time you run into trouble.”