Chapter 204 For his sake
“Alana, do you really have to keep arguing with me just for his sake?”
Seeing Cole’s attitude growing increasingly confrontational, Alana felt both exhausted and frustrated.
“Cole, I’m begging you, please stop meddling in my personal affairs. If you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to resign!”Her tone was resolute, as if to make it clear she wasn’t joking, she really would quit.
Cole had been seething with anger, but Alana’s cold-hearted threat of “resigning”deflated him like a popped balloon.
He looked at Alana with a helpless expression. She knew exactly how to handle him with ease.
“Fine, I won’t ask anymore.”
Alana nodded. “Good, I’ve reorganized the scattered documents on the floor and placed them on your desk, all sorted by category. You can check them anytime. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
Cole didn’t dare to insist she stay. “Alright, go ahead.”
Alana left.
She returned to her desk, staring at the computer screen, unable to focus on her work for a long time.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that working alongside Cole wasn’t a wise decision. At first, even when Dane was harassing her at the company, she hadn’t felt a strong urge to quit and leave.
After all, she hadn’t done anything wrong, why should she be the one to leave?
The one who should have been fired was Dane, that scumbag who harassed female coworkers. At the end, Dane ended up getting fired.
But after Cole appeared, although he didn’t harass her as brazenly as Dane did but his relentless “concern” made her feel suffocated, as if she couldn’t breathe.
If she stayed here any longer, she feared she might lose her mind and it wasn’t in a good way at all.
Alana paused for a moment, then opened the document and typed the words “resignation letter.”
After finishing the resignation letter,
After much hesitation, she decided to send it to the Human Resources department’s email.
***************
Cole sat in his office, still chiding himself for his uncontrolled outburst.
He didn’t want to act that way, but he simply couldn’t control himself.
From the moment he learned that Alana had a boyfriend, his emotions had been
teetering on the edge between reason and loss of control.
The girl he had once cherished and protected was gradually drifting away from him, into the arms of another man.
How could he... bear it?
A bitter smile spread across Cole’s lips. Alana, why can’t you understand how much I care about you?
Just then, his phone rang.
Cole took a deep breath, answered the call, and his voice gradually steadied. “What’s up?”
The HR representative said, “Hello, Manager Cole, we just received a resignation letter from your assistant, Alana, addressed to our HR department. Would you like to approve it?”
Cole’s breath caught in his throat.
She really wanted to quit?
Just because he’d lost his temper a moment ago and called her boyfriend a cowardly, weak, and incompetent man?
He was clearly just looking out for her, how could she act so impulsively over something like this?
Cole desperately wanted to call Alana right away and demand to know why she’d done this.
But he quickly regained his composure. Doing so wouldn’t stop her from wanting to quit; on the contrary, it would only make her want to distance herself from him even more.
He’d gone to great lengths to arrange for himself to work by her side; he absolutely couldn’t make another mistake.
“Hold it up...don’t approve it! If Alana asks why you haven’t approved her resignation, just make up an excuse, say you haven’t found a replacement yet, and you’ll approve it once you do!”
“Understood.”
After hanging up the phone, Cole’s eyes darkened.
Alana, this time, he would absolutely not let her leave his side so easily!
**************
Alana had made plans with Eve for after work.
Before heading out, she messaged Stephan, but he didn’t reply, he was probably busy.
The two arranged to meet at a restaurant. When they met, the two sisters hugged each other.
Eve let go of Alana and took a good look at her outfit for the day, her face full of curiosity.
“Lana, you’re... wrapped up so tightly. What’s the deal? Is there anything your best friend isn’t allowed to see?”
Alana felt a bit embarrassed and covered the scarf around her neck with her hand, using it to hide those suggestive marks as well.
“It’s, it’s nothing. Don’t get the wrong idea.” Her stammering made it clear she was feeling guilty.
Eve snorted, seeing right through her and calling her out, “Cut the crap. Marks
that obvious? They’ve definitely been left by a man!” Suddenly, her sharp eyes caught something, and she gasped, “Holy crap, there are even teeth marks! Is your boyfriend a dog?!”
Alana blushed and nodded hesitantly,
“Yeah, he does have a bit of a dog-like nature.”
Eve rolled her eyes. “Looks like all men are the same, just gnawing all over
women!”
Alana was taken aback. “What? Your boyfriend does that too...?”
She’d thought only Stephan would act like that, but she never expected other men to be like this too...
Eve whined, “You have no idea! What he does to me is way worse than what your boyfriend did!”
Alana was intrigued. “Huh? How much worse?”
Eve said with a straight face, “He makes me wear a uniform to seduce him! He even made me wear handcuffs and ankle cuffs. He’s into BDSM and he whips me a lot.”
“What?!”
Wait, was that even something a person would do?!
“Eve, your boyfriend is way out of line, he’s actually abusing you?”
Whipping someone with a whip, that must hurt so much!
It was terrifying just to think about it.
“I’m telling you, you need to break up with him right away. There are plenty of other guys out there, you’ll definitely find someone better! Or are you into stuff like that?”
Eve gave a low cough. “Well, we’ll definitely break up eventually. No rush, filling our stomachs is the priority right now!”
Alana looked serious. “Eve, this is a serious matter. I’m really urging you!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be the one at a disadvantage. When he whips me, I’ll whip him back!”
What did she just hear? These two were abusing each other?!
Then was her best friend truly into it?
“Ahem, ahem, we’re eating. Let’s skip this topic and move on to something else!”
She certainly wasn’t going to tell Alana that it was because, on one occasion, she was reading some explicit content when that man happened to catch her in the act.
The very next day, he cornered her and reenacted that entire scene, step for step.
Suffice it to say, it was very explicit and violent.
Too bad innocent Alana didn’t get it.
Alana swallowed a mouthful of rice and nodded, but then, as if remembering
something, added, “By the way, I’m
planning to quit my job. Do you know of any good job openings?”
It was usually safer to secure a new job before quitting.
Eve was surprised. “Huh? Quit? Why are you quitting? Weren’t you doing just fine there before? That Manager Dane who was harassing you got fired, you don’t have any threats now! Besides, you’ve already been officially hired, haven’t you? You finally made it from probation to a permanent position, don’t you think it’s a shame
to quit now?”
Alana sighed, “That’s true, but Cele is my boss now. Working under him feels weird.”
“What’s so weird about it? Is he picking on you?”
“No, it’s just that he’s a bit too controlling.”
After a pause, Alana added, “The kind where he meddles in people’s personal lives.”
Eve’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh my god, that Cole guy, he’s not still harboring those feelings, is he?”
“He said Stephan isn’t good enough for me and that I should break up with him.”