Flash Marriage: Shrewd Wife, Devious Husband
Chapter 45: The Past She Tried to Forget

Chapter 45: The Past She Tried to Forget

Marcella stood by the entrance of her office building and took in a deep breath. Last night it was very late when they got home. Tony asked her to stay at home that day but she decided to come to work.

She didn’t want to lose her job.

Everything felt surreal for her. The number of visiting cards and business cards she received from the elites of the city was tremendous. She was yet to file them.

She didn’t think she was someone who had the clout to move in that circle. Her father never was. He was new money and the elites tried to keep him at bay. She didn’t want to fall for whatever the elites were planning.

Some of them were having good opinions about her father as he had helped them. Some mentioned that her father had helped them and she knew the "help" her father did was not legal and they don’t want it to get out.

She thought the funeral would reveal who was after the codex. But she was only left more confused. For now, she decided to resume her normal life. She didn’t want to pose a threat to anyone. The water was muddied. She wanted everything to settle down to see clearly.

Thankfully, Randy’s daughter was willing to babysit the baby. She looked smart and Marcella believed Rosy can look after Joey. She did give her pointers of everything she knew. She asked Rosy to call her if there was an emergency.

She patted her face with her handkerchief and only then she saw the glittering ginormous ring on her finger. At first, the ring felt so heavy as she was not used to wearing heavy rings on her fingers but she was already used to it in the past few days.

But...

She removed the ring and stored it safely in her purse’s inner zipper pocket. She was not ready to face the curious glances of her coworkers yet. Especially, not Gloria.

As she expected, Gloria acted as if she had risen from the dead annoying everyone else. The work time started, and Marcella had to push Gloria back to her seat.

At lunch break, they went to the restroom. Their restroom was crowded and small so usually they would use the ones secretaries use. For some reason, secretaries were higher on the totem pole of the female staff and they had the better restroom.

Her bad blood with Cindy Thompson developed because Cindy thought of her as too low skilled to be on her level. But telephone operators were not simple. The role demanded quick decision-making, meticulous attention to detail, a very good memory for names, and the ability to handle criticism. Switchboard technology was a physically demanding task, involving numerous plugs, keys, lights, connecting cords, and complicated protocols for establishing connections.

They didn’t think they were in any way lesser than the secretaries who boasted of "handling" the great bosses. The secretaries thought that they run the companies because they make sure the boss gets the right type of coffee. Imagine a telephone operator not doing her job properly. Imagine a telephone operator connect the call to the wife accidentally when the boss asks for his mistress... Chaos will ensue.

Who is more important then? Wrong coffee does not break marriages.

"Let’s get out before that swine comes," Gloria pulled Marcella into the restroom of the secretaries.

Marcella followed her. She was all for equality. The restroom was empty. The secretaries usually would take ten minutes longer to get there because "their horrible bosses never let them go". Their loss was her gain.

Just as they were about to get out of the restroom, they heard the clacking of heels and the obnoxious squeaky laugh of the secretaries. Marcella grabbed Gloria’s hand and rushed into one of the cubicles.

She didn’t want to fight with Cindy Thompson today. She knew Cindy would take it on her after seeing her with Tony the other day. Cindy never forgets or take the high road. Cindy always gets back.

Giggling and complaining about their horrible bosses, the secretaries filled the room bringing along with their overpowering scent of luxury brand perfumes.

Gloria pinched her nose with her fingers. "How can they live with this scent on them all the time?"

"Shh!" Marcella giggled and shushed her.

Cindy Thompson, the queen bee, was the first to complain. But this time she was not talking about her boss.

"Have you heard? Don DeAngelo’s daughter died recently," Cindy said.

Marcella clenched her jaws. The others joined her in discussing the gruesome murder of Mellissa Romano. Some of them were compassionate as a baby lost his mother.

But not Cindy.

"Live by the sword, die by the sword," Cindy snored. "She pays for what her father did."

In the cramped-up space, Marcella fisted her hands. She didn’t expect common courtesy from Cindy but how can she talk about the death of a young mother like this? How hard is her heart?

One of the secretaries spoke up. "Come on, it still is pitiful. She had a small baby."

"I hope he died too," Cindy said. The entire restroom went silent. Even the few who could agree with everything Cindy says kept silence.

Marcella scoffed. Demon! Cindy is a demon! She took in a deep breath to compose herself. Murder is still a crime. If she murders someone here, she will be caught.

While she was holding herself back from murdering Cindy, Gloria, gritting her teeth, tried to step out. Marcella held Gloria back.

"Let me ask her~"

Marcella covered Gloria’s mouth. "Shh..." she shushed her. Seeing Gloria mad, Marcella became a little composed.

Cindy did not stop there. "Come on, girls. What’s with that face? He’s that guy’s grandson. What right does he have to life? Someone else will take him down as he grows up. At least now~"

"I heard Don DeAngelo had another daughter!"

Another secretary interjected Cindy, stopping her from spouting more of those cruel words.

"Yeah," joined another secretary. "Didn’t she leave home because she didn’t want to marry the guy her father wanted to?"

Marcella leaned on the cubicle wall covering her mouth. Her heart started to race remembering the past.

She wanted to forget that "incident". But she never could. It was the biggest mistake she did next to leaving home.

"Good for her if she could stand up against her father. No one should be forced to marry a man they don’t like!" said one.

"Heh!" Cindy scoffed. "That was not all. He was no random man. She slept with that guy and refused when her father asked her to marry him. He was fine for her to sleep with but not to marry. She’s a slut with a capital ’S’."