Secret Wealthy Marriage
Chapter 628: To Each Their Own (8)

Chapter 628: Chapter 628: To Each Their Own (8)

Carolline Ruiz pondered for a moment, then called Gary Skate, "Dean Skate, thank you for the invitation, but I’m busy tonight. I promised my son that I’d be home for dinner, so I can’t make it to the dinner tonight."

"Carolline, although tonight’s invitation is a personal one, the issues I want to bring up are not personal. I’m inviting you for dinner not to curry favor with you, but to discuss important matters. Just because it’s not in a meeting room does not diminish its importance. As a head nurse, the issues I want to address are related to your job. Do you think you can skip it just because you don’t want to go? I don’t want to reschedule just for you."

Gary Skate’s response was rather cold and somewhat assertive, as Carolline see it.

"Why not just have a meeting beforehand instead?" Carolline was speechless. Why did it have to be after work hours?

"This isn’t a staff meeting. Besides, management’s work hours are much shorter than those of front-line staff, aren’t they? What’s wrong with occasionally using some personal time? If you don’t show up, I’ll count it as absenteeism. Consider it carefully." After finishing his thought, Skate spoke again, "You know what the consequences are for missing work three times, don’t you, Nurse Ruiz? I think I don’t need to point that out, do I?"

"..." Carolline gritted her teeth, feeling like Gary Skate was deliberately targeting her.

But she knew she couldn’t skip the dinner that night.

With no other option, she called Axel and Bryan Hawkins separately to explain tonight’s situation. Naturally, Bryan was dissatisfied. "What time will it end? I’ll come to pick you up."

"I don’t know when it will end. I’ll call you before it does." Carolline replied helplessly.

"Alright, honey, if you feel wronged, maybe we should quit." Bryan tried to persuade her once again over the phone. He hoped that Carolline would quit her job since he could afford to support their family. Plus, he loved the idea of Carolline being with him all day long.

"... This is not an issue. I know how to deal with it." Carolline nodded, aware that Bryan cared for her.

However, she didn’t find this slight setback discouraging enough to force her into submission.

At 5:30 PM, Carolline arrived at the location for Gary’s dinner in Andy Aguirre and Megan Clifton’s car. The three of them, not big fans of Gary, sat together.

"I heard he was parachuted in, no one knows what his background is." Megan Clifton spat, none of them had ever seen such a young dean before.

"He must have a strong background." Carolline nodded, surprisingly agreeing with Megan’s acidic words for the first time.

Andy looked up in surprise at Carolline, "You two really don’t seem to like him. From what I hear, he’s a competent person, although he does have some background."

"Having a background is enough; his competence is secondary." Megan insisted on her own view.

Andy shook his head, he would rather not interject in women’s chatter.

The two continued their animated conversation until Gary Skate arrived, escorted by George Edwards and his group. Gary glanced at the three of them.

Henry Ruiz was not present today; he voluntarily stepped down as the head surgeon before the New Year. He was soon to retire, so Henry Ruiz was just an ordinary person now.

Today’s deputy head surgeon was the old one. A head surgeon had not been selected yet. Some said the position was being kept open for Gavin Campbell, and he would become the official head surgeon after his one-year tenure.

Although Gary Skate was young and many present were older than him, this was the norm in the officialdom – rank mattered more than age. Therefore, everyone treated Gary Skate, the latecomer with a fair amount of respect and courtesy.

In reality, during the dinner, Gary didn’t discuss many substantial topics. He simply delegated roles to different departments and envisioned the future scenarios, much like a morale-boosting session.

Carolline had absolutely no appetite, she was never a fan of such occasions.

Megan felt the same, being pregnant, it was normal for her to feel sleepy. After the meal, she yawned continuously.

Even so, Gary managed to stretch what could’ve been a one-hour meal into two. When they were dismissed, Carolline and Megan made a quick exit, unlike George Edwards and his group who were still seen huddled around Gary Skate, discussing something.

"Let’s drop you home." suggested Andy to Carolline.

"No need, I’ve called, there’s a dedicated driver." She shook her head. During her restroom break, she had called Bryan Hawkins who was already expecting her call and picked up immediately.

"Alright then, take care. We’ll be off now." Andy and Megan took the elevator directly to the underground parking lot.

Carolline, on the other hand, left the elevator and waited at the hotel entrance.

When Gary Skate came out alone, he saw Carolline standing at the entrance. He had driven his own car, but since he had been drinking, he now had to either hire a driver or take a cab.

But he was a cleanliness freak and didn’t like others to drive his car, so he decided to hail a cab.

He knew Carolline was very dissatisfied with him. The forcefulness with which he made her attend the dinner added to her resentment from earlier in the morning. When Carolline saw him, she turned her head away displaying an unmistakable displeasure.

Contrary to getting upset, Gary’s lips curled up in amusement.

Gary walked up to her, "No car? How about we share a cab?"

"Aren’t you a rich second-generation guy? Do you need to share a cab?" Carolline fired back straightaway, repeating the tidbits she had picked up from Megan. For the first time, she was open and direct about disliking someone.

Having said that, Carolline moved a few steps to the side, trying to avoid him as much as possible.