Key nodded. “Yeah, 11ht her to check if you needed anything. She came back shortly afterward, though
Zack leaned back against the soda, his expression thenghtful.
The next morning, Charlotte Woko matly
Seeing Olivia still asleep, she went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. She’d only had a small cake on the yacht the night before and had been so hungry by 3 AM that she’d almost gone et in search of food
After eating, with time to spare, she wandered around the hotel.
The property was filled with nostalgic Portuguese chanju.
The tropical garden radiated vibrant energy. Tall palm trees rustled in the wind, and standing beneath them, the closed her eyes to feel the sunlight filtering through the leaves onto her face.
The morning breeze was gentle, filling her lungs with the fresh scent of plants and foliage
See, she thought–the world remains vivid, passionate, and fresh. It doesn’t turn gray just because there’s no man or love in it
Tootsteps approached from a distance.
The light before her dimmed as the fresh air became infused with the rich scent of male pheromones after exercise.
She opened her eyes.
Her vision filled with a broad chest wrapped in black athletic wear.
Well–defined pectoral muscles, elegant collarbones glistening with sweat, a masculine Adam’s apple, rose–tinted lips….
“Miss Whitmore, something wrong with your eyes?”
His warm breath felt like a tropical breeze against her face,
A handsome face leaned down with concern
Charlotte suddenly snapped back to reality, touched her eyes and stepped back. “The sunlight was too bright. I felt a bit dizzy,
Zarek remarked dryly. “Stare any longer and you won’t just he dizzy, you’ll go blind.”
Charlotte: “…
She rubbed her eyes, remembering last night’s awkwardness
“Do you run every morning, sir?” she asked, searching for neutral conversation.
Zarek gave a slight “Mmm” while wiping his sweat with a towel. After standing under the tree for a moment, be abruptly said, “It was you spying on the third deck of the yacht last night, wasn’t it?”
Charlotte was caught off guard and looked at him sharply.
Want, spying?
Who was spying?
“I wasn’t spying! I went up there and immediately saw your doing that… thing, and I left right away. Really, I barely saw anything-
“That thing?” Zarek’s expression remained neutral.
You know, that!
specific.”
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The Moment I Let Go My Uncle: Escaping the forbidden Past
Chapter 52
Charlotte was speechless. Seeing his persistent nace, demanding clarification, the finally blurted at, “ing Very passionate kissing
saw incly
Zarek stated this matter of firth.
Charlotte didn’t believe him, of course, but the mould pretend is Whether they kissed or not yet none of her business.
She nodded, playing along. “Alright, I was mistaken.”
“You don’t believe me?”
Zarek seemed unsatisfied with her response. He frowned and studied her for a moment. “You
do really
I don’t like kissing, especially women.
Charlotte Grit like she had stumbled upon some earth shattering secret,
Se his orientation was, male:
But that couldn’t be right–wasn’t he in this love hate relationship with Olivia?
Did he previously like women and now prefer men?
She blinked rapidly, her mind thoroughly confused..
Zarek clarified: “In any case, I’m correcting you because you’re wrong. No kissing occurred. As my secretary, you cannot have such misconceptions”
Charlotte nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, of course. Understood, completely understood.”
Only then did Zarek walk away.
Charlotte watched his tall, straight figure retreat Though, honestly did she really need to know this much about his private life?
When she returned to her room, Olivia was already up.
She was fully alert now, having regained her cool, black swan–like demeanor from when they first met at the dock.
“Miss Whitmore, thank you for last night,” she said gratefully
“No need for thanks,” Charlotte smiled.
“I should get going. See you at the company,” Olivia bid farewell, exited the room, and left directly.
At nine o’clock. Zarek took Charlotte, Rex, and two senior executives from headquarters who had arrived days earlier to the branch office
The staff there had been on high alert since receiving notice of the CEO’s inspection visit, fearing he might show up umannounced.
Olivia had changed into a pristine white business suit, looking both intellectual and capable.
When Zarek arrived at the company entrance, she was waiting with the entire management teams to greet him respectfully.
“Welcome, Mr. Weasley. We’re honored by your visit and guidance.”
Zarek’s gaze merely passed over her face as he briefly greeted the executives and directed everyone to the conference room.
They spent the entire day at the branch office.
Meetings, performance reports, company accounts, project progress updates…
09:57
The Moment I Let Go My Uncle Escaping the Forbidden Past.
Chapter 52
For bunch, Olivia had arranged a restaurant featuring local specialties.
In the evening, she organized a dire
with bey
The branch vice president and financial director al attended, filling the burit private dining room.
Charlotte and Rex had been assisting all day and were throughly exhausted
They sat in the waiting area outside the private room
“Charlotte, have you noticed how Olivia seems like two completely different people from last night to today? Rex goed
After two days together, they’d grown confortable enough for him to use her first name.
Charlone was focused on her tablet, not looking up as she responded, “Last night was her emotional side. Today is work. She’s keeping personal and professional separate.”
Then you haven’t seen her when she makes the two”
“Well, the boss’s romantic entanglements are his problem.”
“You were pretty spooked last night, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, definitely. Too complicated…
Remembering Zarek’s comment about not liking women, she couldn’t help glancing at the handsome, refined Rex with a complicated expression.
Rex noticed: “Why do you keep giving me that weird look?”
Charlotte looked away. “It’s nothing,” she said, returning her attention to the tablet.
Rex, seeing her constant focus on the screen, leaned over curiously. He discovered she was examining factory attendance records and payroll
Statements
“Found a problem?
“Something strange. The attendance numbers match the payroll, but when I checked the actual on site personnel list in the attachments, I counted–there are always two people missing. Every day.”
“…That can’t be right.” Rex took the tablet to look
It took him a while to spot the discrepancy,
Since attendance records matched payroll, and on site presence didn’t include statistical summaries, the financial department wouldn’t typically scrutinize the detailed attachments. The issue wasn’t easy to catch at a glance or even with careful review.
The CEO’s inspection would certainly miss such a minute detail.
Charlotte explained: “This shouldn’t happen. The factory manages everything from recruitment to on–site attendance. The clock in system shows 1,024 people, but on-site there are only 1,022. The only possibility is someone exploiting a management loophole to collect paychecks for ghost employees. Without more information, I can’t say who’s behind it or how they’re doing it.”
Rex reviewed the numbers again. “Over ten years, converting to euros, these two phantom employees have collected nearly 600.000 euros in wager
“I suspect factory management is colluding with someone inside the company. The fact that no une discovered this for ten years is mind boggling.”
“We should tell the CEO, but tomorrow he’s attending that government business summat.”
How
about this–tomorrow I’ll visit the factory first and identify these ghosts.”
“Good idea.”
As they were talking, someone exited the private dining room, overheard their conversation, and their expression flashed with tension and a hint of murderous unent
Faraning the Forbidden Past
Chapter 53
