The Ex Who Became His Obsession Novel Ch 58

The Ex Who Became His Obsession Novel Ch 58

Joseph froze and wondered, ‘Wait? Were Mr. Rivera’s words just now not just aimed at Ms. Clairmont? Could he actually be tired? But he spends all day lying in that hospital bed, not even dealing with work. Why is he tired?’

Noticing this, Milena quickly put on a gentle, understanding smile and said softly, “Leon, I won’t bother you. I just-”

“Get out.” Leonard’s mood flipped like a switch. He snapped, “Who the hell invited you here?”

Milena stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

In all these seven years, he had never spoken to her like this, never once shown such an impatient expression.

“Leon?” Tears instantly welled up in Milena’s eyes as she sniffled dramatically, “How could you be so mean to me?”

Leonard’s expression didn’t soften in the slightest. In fact, his face darkened ominously.

But what truly stung Milena was how Leonard completely ignored her, turning all his fury on Joseph instead. Leonard snapped, “Joseph, are you brain- dead or what?”

Joseph snapped out of his daze and all but shoved Milena out the door. “Ms. Johnson,” he said urgently, “Mr. Rivera is exhausted and doesn’t wish to see anyone. Please go back for now.”

Milena made one last, futile attempt to resist. However, with a bang, the hospital room door slammed shut, the sound echoing through the hallway.

Without missing a beat, Joseph yanked the curtain across the observation window, completely blocking any view from outside.

Joseph turned around, pressing his back against the door. Facing the furious Leonard, he stammered, “M-Mr. R-Rivera, th-they’ve all left.”

Leonard gritted his teeth. “All?”

Joseph nodded frantically, stammering, “Y-yes, yes, both Ms. Clairmont and Ms. Johnson have left. Y-you can finally get some rest now.”

Leonard ground out through clenched teeth, “Joseph?”

Leonard thought to himself, ‘How the hell did I put up with this imbecile for over twenty years?’

Before Alyssia even reached Rosalie’s hospital room, she got a call from Charlie.

“I just heard you’re transferring departments?” he said.

Alyssia replied absentmindedly, “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Charlie asked, a rare note of reproach in his voice.

“I-It’s nothing. Honestly, I’ve already signed the papers,” Alyssia sighed wearily. “Does it really matter which department I’m in?”

Back at the office, Alyssia had been in a hurry to leave, her mind preoccupied with Beatrice.

Diana pressured her for an immediate decision, so she didn’t hesitate.

“HR was waiting for my answer, and I couldn’t really keep them hanging,” she said. “Honestly, getting to become a regular employee ahead of schedule actually makes me pretty happy.”

On the other end of the line, Charlie’s silence stretched on, long and heavy.

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Chapter 58

A suffocating silence stretched through the stillness, pressing down on Alyssia until she could barely breathe.

“Charlie,” Alyssia said, unable to explain the tightness in her chest, “I’m sorry.

Please don’t be mad at me.”

“No, I’m not mad,” Charlie cut in the moment she finished, his voice tinged with a desperate need to explain. “I- Alyssia, where are you right no

“At the hospital,” Alyssia replied. There was no point hiding it.

But Charlie, clearly misunderstanding, asked with concern, “What’s wrong with Rosalie?”

“Nothing serious,” Alyssia murmured.

Charlie said urgently, “I’ll be right over. Don’t go anywhere.”

By the time Charlie arrived, Alyssia was sitting alone in the hospital courtyard, wrapped in a quiet despondency.

Sometimes, the second wound cut deeper, eroding one’s spirit far more than the first.

“Alyssia, are you okay? Is Rosalie alright?” Charlie, noticing her subdued demeanor, asked with concern.

Alyssia looked up, her face calm and gentle. “I’m fine, Charlie. What brings you here?”

Charlie let out a soft sigh of relief, then quickly explained, “I wasn’t blaming you just now. With that William interview under your belt, you could’ve become a full-time employee early. There was no need to switch departments at all.”

There were things Charlie just had to say to Alyssia’s face. Otherwise, he wouldn’t rest easy.

He knew his character was ingrained, with some habits he just couldn’t shake, but he was determined not to hurt Alyssia because of them again.

Alyssia smiled, her mood already back to normal. “What’s wrong with transferring to the Finance Department?”

Charlie hesitated, words caught in his throat.

“You said before, Charlie, that if there was a chance, I could go to another department,” Alyssia met his gaze. “So when the opportunity came up, I just

agreed.”

It was obvious Diana was using the full-time offer as leverage, quietly pressuring her into transferring departments. She even went on about this being a

now-or-never deal.

Alyssia thought to herself, ‘So much for that promise about getting me promoted if I landed the William interview. Figures. It was all just talk.’

If all these things hadn’t piled up today, Alyssia might have given it more thought.

‘There’s really nothing left for me to think about now,’ Alyssia thought to herself. ‘Is staying in the Entertainment Department really that safe?’

Alyssia knew exactly what was troubling Charlie.

“Alyssia?” Charlie called out softly.

“Hmm?” she said.

“Are you okay?” Charlie asked, concern evident in his voice.

Alyssia shook her head. “No, why do you ask?”

“Why did you-” Charlie began, his voice trailing off as he hesitated to ask more.

ΓΙΑ

Chapter 58

“I got my full-time position today and transferred to the Finance Department,” Alyssia said, rising slightly on her toes with a playful bounce. “How about! treat you to dinner to celebrate, Charlie?”

She cut him off before he could get the words out.

Charlie chuckled, playing along. “Sounds good. What are you going to treat me to?”

“I’m kinda broke right now,” Alyssia said, fidgeting with her fingers. “So I can probably only treat you to some ordinary meat.”

“Sure, no problem. Back in college, didn’t we eat at those off-campus joints all the time?” Charlie readily agreed.

Alyssia smiled nostalgically as the conversation naturally shifted. “Yeah, those little eateries outside Ravendale University were amazing. Too bad Ravendale’s so far away now.”

“Don’t worry. The food plaza outside Elmbrook University also has plenty of great options. Do you want to go check it out?” he offered.

“Great.” The faint melancholy that had lingered around Alyssia had completely dissipated. “But after we eat, I need to come back and check on Rosalie.”

Beatrice was currently with Rosalie, so Alyssia thought it best not to intrude.

Charlie nodded and, chatting and laughing with Alyssia as they walked out of the hospital, positioned himself to shield her view on one side while discreetly casting a glance toward the garden behind them.

Leonard stood motionless, his gaze unblinkingly locked on the retreating figures of Alyssia and Charlie.

His presence was beyond dark now. It was downright suffocating, as if the very air around him had turned to lead.

Just a damn minute late, and she’s already skipping off with Charlie,’ Leonard seethed internally. ‘I was never the only fish in Alyssia’s pond. I was just one of many!’

“Get me discharged. Now,” Leonard commanded Joseph coldly.

Joseph’s heart pounded wildly, his voice trembling as he stammered, “M-Mr. Rivera?”

Joseph thought to himself, ‘Mr. Rivera just got out of the operating room today, and now he’s checking out? Is he trying to get himself killed?’

Leonard fixed him with a glacial stare. “If you won’t do the job, there are plenty of people who would,” he said icily.

Joseph had been with Leonard Rivera for years-steady if unremarkable, but above all, fiercely loyal and always gave his all.

So, normally, even when Joseph made minor slip-ups, Leonard would just turn a blind eye. Today was the first time Leonard threatened to fire Joseph.

Trembling with fear, Joseph scrambled to process the discharge paperwork while anxiously rushing to complain to Beatrice.

“Mr. Rivera, Ms. Clairmont was being so difficult. Mr. Rivera merely asked her to wait a moment, and she just ran off with Charlie. Now Mr. Rivera is so furious he’s demanding to be discharged,” he said.

Stunned for a moment, Beatrice wondered, ‘If Joseph has one redeeming quality, it’s probably his inability to lie convincingly.”

Beatrice exploded, “Wait a damn minute? Who the hell is really being difficult here? If he wants to check himself out, let him. Who does he think he’s threatening, anyway?”

‘I’m done with this,’ Beatrice thought angrily. ‘Might as well have raised a brick. Let him ruin himself.

“Brianna,” Diana said, raising her wine glass with a smirk, “Alyssia will be reporting to your department tomorrow. Have you decided what tasks to assign her yet?”

Chapter 58

“There’s a ton of work in our Finance Department, We’ll figure it out later,” Brianna said, her good mood obvious, “Honestly, thought Charts would come to make a fuss, so I had a whole speech ready. Turns out, all that waiting was for nothing.”

“I told you, there’s no way Charlie would ever have real feelings for her. Girls like her think their looks will get them everything. She can just keep dreaming.” Diana chimed in. “Come on.

“As if she could really marry into old money. Those elite families only care about matching social status. Everyone at Vanguard Madis known, parand Charlie-your families have had that arranged for ages.”

Diana had originally wanted to stay out of the corporate fray and keep her distance from the cutthroat office politics, but then Brianna approached tee with a clear-cut offer, spelling out exactly what was in it for her.

There was currently a deputy head vacancy at Vanguard Video. Brianna promised Diana that if she could help transfer Alyssia to the Finance Department. she would recommend Diana for the position with a 90% chance of securing the promotion.

Everyone had their price. So Diana assigned Alyssia the impossible task of interviewing William. As planned, this was an impossible mission

At that point, Diana could use Alyssia’s poor performance as an excuse to kick her out of the department, and then the Finance Department would swoop in, playing the white knight to take her under its wing-all according to plan,

To their utter shock, Alyssia actually returned with the completed interview transcript. Well, that just made their job a whole lot easier.

Diana dangled the carrot of early full-time status before Alyssia with the catch that she’d have to transfer to the Finance Department.

Diana and Brianna had gone over this plan again and again, convinced that Alyssia would run straight to Charlie to complain. They had prepared a whole arsenal of excuses in advance.

To their surprise, Alyssia signed without hesitation, accepting both the full-time position and the transfer to Finance.

And to their surprise, Charlie still hadn’t shown up to confront them.

With everything going so smoothly, Brianna and Diana went out for a celebratory dinner after work.

Word was, a pretty good BBQ joint had just opened at the food plaza outside Elmbrook University.

They picked a window seat, perfect for gossiping and people-watching.

Hearing Diana’s flattery, Brianna couldn’t help but smirk, but the next instant, her expression froze solid. She stared daggers out the window at the world below.

Diana followed Brianna’s gaze out the window and gasped in shock. “That’s Charlie and-”