Single Mother: Struggling With The Dangerous CEO
Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Accusations Adriana couldn't help but blurt out her thoughts.She spoke too carelessly but soonrealized that what she said was a little too much.So, she quickly explained, "I'm sorry for my outburst.Ijust...I care about you too much.I'm afraid I might lose you."

Patrick replied with a faint smile as if it was the only way to appease her.Adriana sighed and wrappedherself around his arm.

She continued, "Dad is forcing me to take over Clifford Financial Group again.I don't even have anyexperience running a business.The old man said I could go and learn from you.I'll be coming to workfor your company, okay?"

Instead of answering, Patrick asked her, "Didn't you say that you're not interested in any of that?"

Adriana didn't respond with a yes or no.

"That was before, but I am interested again now.What do you say about us working together at yourcompany?"

She tugged at his arm, waiting for an answer.

"It's up to you, '' Patrick replied and went along with the idea.

Adriana gave him a coy smile and said, "You're the best.I knew you couldn't say no to me"

In between her work at Evans Group and her part-time job, Sophia had two hours to arrange forEmma's transfer to another kindergarten.

She went to fill up the paperwork, but they told her that her mother had already paid the fees for thesecond half of the year.

And if she still wanted Emma to transfer out, she could only receive 70% for the refund.

With a pointed look and an impatient tone, the teacher even complained, "Emma and Harvey got intoan argument, and the boy's parents came here to make a scene.If Quentin wasn't involved and if hisfamily didn't settle the matter privately, that bit of kindergarten fee would not be enough to compensatehis family at all"

Sophia was furious, but she knew that the teacher only spoke the truth.

Without money, she wasn't able to do anything.

She warned, "Ms.Brown, I hope that you will treat the children equally in the future.This way, you won'thave to deal with more incidents like this"

After the minor altercation with Emma's teacher, Sophia led her daughter out of the kindergarten.

Emma tugged at her mother's hand and pouted her little mouth.

Using her sweetest voice and making puppy-dog eyes at her mother, she said, "Mom, I'll be good.

Please don't be angry at me' Sophia answered, "I'm not angry, baby.Nothing else matters as long as Ihave you by my side”

Her heart warmed at her daughter's expression.

Emma was her life.

As long as she was okay, she wouldn't be worried about anything else.

"Mom, how about we have a date sometime? Quentin said they have family dates every two days.Hisparents take him to the children's park.They also have big meals together"

Emma suddenly suggested.

While looking at her daughter's pure and innocent smile, Sophia felt her heart tighten for some reason.

She suddenly felt sorry for her daughter.

The lack of paternal love meant that Emma's growing environment would be different from otherchildren.

It broke her heart to know that Emma would always long for that missing piece of her identity.

After Sophia sent her daughter back home, she immediately rushed to her part-time job.

She had already been late to her part-time job once because of the blind date, so she couldn't afford tobe late again today.

On Wednesday morning, as soon as Sophia walked into the company building, she felt the thicktension in the air.

It was stifling to see how everyone was in a panic.

When she arrived at the elevator, she saw Patrick and John talking to a group of people from afar.

It seemed that there was an emergency, and they were discussing how to solve it.

Just as the elevator door opened, her eyes locked with Patrick's.

Before she could look away, she caught the conflicted look he was giving her.

His eyes had always been hard to fathom.

No one could tell his thoughts when they stared into the seemingly endless depths of his eyes.

When she arrived at her department's office, she saw a huge bouquet on top of her table.

Upon closer look, she saw a hundred blue roses that looked as expensive as they were extravagant.

She picked up the card and found that the flowers were from Brandon.She immediately placed theflowers in the corner of the room, but they still drew the attention of her colleagues.She knew shecouldn't avoid being the topic of their conversations.

Giselle even commented, "Hey Sophia, Mr.Phillip's way of showing his affection is as expected from abig shot company president, huh?"

The sarcasm was evident in her tone.

She didn't understand what a man such as Brandon Phillips liked about the plain and unremarkableSophia.

She continued, "I guess that's how he is usually.I really envy you, you know? As a woman, you can'treally resist these kinds of stuff, right?"

At Giselle's words, a few female colleagues quickly surrounded her and began to gossip more beforework.

"If you like it, then take it.I'm allergic to pollen anyway"

Sophia offered.

She didn't like how Brandon sent her flowers to her office.She was even somewhat resistant to the factthat he was showing her interest.She wanted things from the past to stay in the past,whether it wasAdriana, Patrick, or Brandon.

While she was lost in her own thoughts, a tall figure suddenly appeared at the entrance of theirdepartment.

"Ms.Hill, I need you to come with me for a moment.John was calling her.He had an unpleasant look onhis face as if he was about to face a storm.Sophia thought of how Patrick looked at her just now, andher heart started to beat erratically.Was he finally going to fire her from the company? "Mr.Ward, do youneed anything from me?" she asked warily.

Sophia tried to keep up with John's pace, not understanding where his anger was coming from.

"Ms.Hill, President Evans may be a bit sentimental about your shared past, but it does not mean thathe will tolerate you" John warned.

Sophia was slightly stunned.

"Mr.Ward, are you saying..."

John sneered at her and interrupted, "You will know soon enough They were now in the securitydepartment of Evans Group.The head of security, Mike Simmons, and two subordinates sat in themiddle of the table.John stood at the side and listened with his arms crossed as they started toquestion Sophia.

"Ms.Hill, may I know where you were and what you did last night? Who were you with?" Mike askedwith a serious expression.

Sophia was startled.She asked, "What happened exactly? I think I have the right to remain silent beforeI know what happened."

Mike explained, "Last night, someone sneaked into the company's data room and stole a large amountof data from us.Unfortunately, our system shows that the last person to swipe her employee ID and

enter the room was you, Ms.Hill"

"An employee ID?"

Sophia began to panic.She quickly added, "My employee ID is missing"

Mike smirked and probed further, "Are you sure, Ms.Hill? Will you tell me that the fingerprints on thedoor were fake, too?"

In a large company like the Evans Group, every employee had their blood collected and fingerprintsrecorded.

These were preventive measures to keep anyone from leaking the company's secrets.

Mike took out the fingerprint sample he had collected and said aggressively, "Unfortunately, thefingerprints that were left on the door match exactly with yours."

Sophia's eyes were brimming with tears as Mike continued, "Ms.Hill, please cooperate with us in ourinvestigation.We don't want to escalate this matter to the police.If word got out, it would be bad for youand the company"

So this was why John called her? Was this Patrick's plan all along? Sophia was speechless.

Coincidentally, all the signs pointed to her.She wasn't stupid.

Perhaps this was Patrick's ultimate goal.

He wanted to force her out of the company in the worst way possible.

Just as he was five years ago, he never did anything sloppily.

Mike scratched his head in frustration.

They were not making any progress.

Just then, the door opened to reveal a man's tall and broad figure.

"Mr.Evans."

When Mike and the others saw who it was, they immediately stood up to greet him.

"Mr.Evans, please take a seat" Mike offered.

"Very well, Patrick replied.He went around to the center of the table and sat face to face with Sophia.

"Mike, you guys continue.Don't worry about me" he instructed.

Patrick spoke in a light tone as if he didn't feel the added tension by his own authoritative presence inthe room.

Mike nodded and started to speak, but Sophia opened her mouth to interrupt.

"Mr.Evans, can we talk privately for a moment?"

Patrick took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.He tacitly agreed and waved his hand to the otherpeople in the room.

"You guys go out first"

Mike led his subordinates and went out in a hurry, while John slammed the door as he left.He neverliked the way his boss acted towards Sophia.

The way he saw it, the president might have been protecting her since she came to work for thecompany.

When everyone else left the room, Sophia grumbled, "Enlighten me, Mr.Evans.Does it please you tosee a woman humbly beg you for her life? Do you take pleasure when she loses both her pride anddignity in front of you? Are you having fun? Huh?"