chapter2233

That very day Lucille said goodbye to Madeline, packed up, and transferred to

Jamieson Group.

Jamieson Group.

The moment she arrived, Cecilia ditched Nathaniel and headed out shopping with her.

Concerned, Nathaniel offered, "I'll come with you two."

Cecilia shook her head at once.

"It's girls' shopping time. A grown man trailing us would just be awkward, and Lucy wouldn't relax. With you there she'd feel like a third wheel."

Nathaniel let out a soft sigh. "Then I'll have Mason come over."

"Mason still needs to work," Cecilia said with a playful smile. "And you promised to help with my tasks so I could take a proper break and have some fun, remember?"

The longer Nathaniel watched the grin on her face, the more sour he felt.

He suspected Cecilia was only pretending to be strong, yet letting her and Lucille slip away for a little distraction might still do her good.

"All right," he nodded, "enjoy yourselves. If you need anything, call me."

"Thanks." Cecilia bent down and brushed a quick kiss across his cheek.

Nathaniel's eyes stayed on her, heavy with worry, as she walked off.

Cecilia had sensed something off in Nathaniel these two days, and she blamed it on the trouble with Nicholas and her own injury, never realizing he had drawn the wrong conclusion.

Outside, Lucille had just finished packing and looked at Cecilia. "President Xia, are we heading out now?"

Inside the office she naturally addressed Cecilia as President Xia.

"Of course. Why else would I have asked you over?" Cecilia figured that with Nathaniel handling the paperwork, she might as well take a breather.

Because of Nicholas, her nerves had been stretched tight for days, constantly afraid the nightmare would repeat.

Lucille beamed. "Having my bestie for a boss is just the best feeling ever."

Cecilia laughed at the remark. "Come on, let's hit the stores."

"Mm-hmm," Lucille agreed with an emphatic nod.

The two women headed to the mall in high spirits, unaware that Nathaniel trailed them from a distance.

He had meant to assign bodyguards, but unease pushed him to shadow them personally.

Shopping ate up hours; by the time they finished picking clothes and getting manicures, dusk was already closing in.

"Ugh, time to head back," Lucille said after checking the clock.

Cecilia was about to nod when Lucille's phone began to ring again.

The caller ID showed Mason.

"Honey, are you and President Xia still shopping? I'm about to freeze into an ice cube out here," Mason complained.

Last time, when Cecilia and Lucille flew back, Mason had been the last to arrive to pick up Lucille.

Lucille hadn't been angry at first, but Nathaniel claimed Mason had slipped out of the office early and still showed up later than he did.

That remark had annoyed Lucille,

and she still hadn't forgivene

tonight she'd purposely told him to come early so he could shiver outside

What she didn't know was that Nathaniel had lied just to give her an excuse to mess with Mason.

Now Mason stood in the biting wind, feeling thoroughly wronged.

Seriously, Mr. Nathaniel was

unbelievable—over one tiny joke he'd taken revenge and made Lucille think Mason had been stalling on, purpose

"Can't handle a little wait?" Lucille said with mocking sweetness. "Remember how long I waited for you last time? Compared with that, this is nothing."

Cecilia overheard and felt a twinge of sympathy for Mason.

She silently blamed Nathaniel; if he hadn't run his mouth, Mason wouldn't be suffering now.

Lucille hung up. "Ceci, let's take our time heading out."