Unexpected 37

Chapter 37
Hours had gone by, and still Ryland had not stepped out of his room. After the encounter with Ryland’s brother, Jay, Amanda was left feeling slightly guilty about it. What made matters worse was that Ryland had not allowed her to explain herself, and now she was left carrying a burden.
Amanda wanted nothing more than to march to Rylands room, kick down his door, and then forcibly explain herself, but she knew that such an act would only anger Ryland beyond what he was feeling.
Ryland’s calm behavior had been so completely out of character that even as Amanda was left standing in the center of the room, she was still confused as to why he had now acted out after seeing his brother leave his property. Not long after, there was a knock at her door. Amanda walked over to her door and unlocked it. There, standing in front of her door, was none. other than Ryland, standing there and looking directly at Amanda.
He looked uninterested by the sight of Amanda, but she saw that he was clinching his jaw, and that made her wonder if it was
anger or annoyance.
“I need you to be at the office this morning. I will join you soon after,” he said, and before Amanda could open her mouth to ask further questions, Ryland had already turned on his heel and was walking away from her. His level of arogancy had indeed shocked Amanda.
“Are we not supposed to be on our honeymoon?” She asked him as he was walking away, to which Ryland stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. She watched as he raised a questionable eyebrow in her direction. Amanda, who swallowed the lamp in her throat as she quickly remembered that Ryland hated having his instructions questioned,.
“Honestly, Amanda, I do not know how many times I have to tell you this: if you do not get the idea out of your head that this marriage is nothing but a contractual marriage, then you’ll suffer a lot. We are not married for real, and there is no honeymoon. So if I were you, I would get moving and prepare for it to work,” Ryland ordered her with a raised voice before turning and walking back to his room. Amanda shrieked at the sound of Ryland’s door slamming shut.
“Thank you so much for the amazing honeymoon,” Amanad said underneath her breath before retreating to her room, rushing into her bathroom, and getting herself ready for the big day. Her very first day back to work was literally less than twenty-four hours after her so-called wedding.
At the office building
Amanda had walked into the office building like she always did, but this time it felt different. There was a difference in the way people treated and greeted her. Everyone was suddenly all friendly and wanting to be her friend, while some were even offering to carry her handbag, which Amanda politely refused, but the reaction of other people was not so good. Amanda could tell that their evil stares were nothing but judgment, and she did not blame them.
While most people would have been enjoying their honeymoon, she was at the office working as if her husband were a mere employee rather than the boss who owned the company.
“Good morning, Mrs. Scorpio.” Amanda quickly turned as she heard the sweet voice greet her, and standing in front of her was none other than Layla, the office secretary. She was full of smiles, as always. The young woman had been the cheerful kind, leaving Amanda to wonder how no one had crushed her spirit in the few months she shared when working here.
“Good morning, Layla. Wow, it’s nice to see you.” Amanda said this while making sure that she too had a bright smile on her face. After many of her colleagues had been nasty to Layla in the past, Amanda felt it was now her responsibility to care for the young woman.
“It is so nice to have you back.” Layla said cheerfully, but not long after, the smile disappeared from her face, and she looked Amanda in the eyes. “Madam, why are you back? Are you not supposed to be on your honeymoon?” Layla asked. Just then, Amanda was truly lost for words, even though she had so much to say. Knowing the situation of her marriage with Ryland, she could not say much, so Amanda did what she did best and plastered a fake smile on her face before responding.
“As you know, I am a hard worker, and besides, we wanted to keep the honeymoon till after we had a lovely baby,” Amanda said with a smile as she placed her hand on her swollen belly, and seeing the smile on Layla’s face alerted Amanda that Layla
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Chapter 37
had believed her lie.
“Well, that is great, madam. Please make sure that you take care of yourself,” she told Amanda cheerfully.
“I promise, I will do just that, and besides, I am used to having meetings with big names,” Amanda spoke confidently, making sure to switch to her professional level while answering.
“Yes, madam, I know that the meeting will start in an hour’s time, but in the meantime, we can go to the cafeteria, and you can have something to cat, Layla offered, as cheerful as a bumblebec.
“No, I don’t think I should eat. I had quite a lot to eat this morning,” Amanda responded, but as then, she had a flashback of the incident that had happened that morning with Jay. Amanda was quick to remember how Jay had laid out the table filled with food that he had made himself just for her, and a small part of her felt special, as though she were the only person that really mattered. He made her feel loved, whereas, Ryland amde her feel like she was the enemy.
“Come on, ma’am, you should have something small, and besides, you are the boss’s wife. Oh, and I forgot to give this to you. Here you go,” Layla pulled out the black card and handed it to Amanda, who retrived it but wasted no time studying the
card.
“What is this?” Amanda was quick to ask because the card was black and had the company’s name on it.
“Mr. Scorpio told me to give this to you as soon as you come back to work. It is the company’s card. All senior boses have one, but now that you are the boss’s wife, you get to have one as well,” Layla reponded happily, but Amanda was confused as to what this meant, and Layla could see that. “So what this means is that you can basically use this card to buy yourself anything, and everything will be charged to the company’s account,” Layla continued.
“Oh, I see, Amanda said, but even though she tried her best to display a look of confidence, she still could not hide that she was shocked by Ryland’s action to gift her with an exclusive company card. Ufortunately for Amanda, Layla had picked up on her odd behaviour, and the young employee looked concerned by Amanda’s confusion.
“Wait, so you did not know that you get a card along with being the boss’s wife?”
“Of course I knew that!” Amanda responded once again while plasterign a nervous smile. “It is just that I did not expect the card to come so soon. I thought it would take some time. That’s all,” Amanda lied confidently as it was becoming part of her everyday life.
“Great! Now let’s get you something to eat. We have an hour before this meeting begins,” Layla informed her.
“And why exactly are we meeting with this client?” Amanda questioned Layla as she looked through some of the files, which contained minor details about the client that they were to meet.
“Oh, it’s just some investor who wants to invest in Mr. Scorpio’s racetrack. You know, it’s gotten a lot of hype, and everyone wants to invest in it. Many analysts are projecting that it will most likely generate trillions of dollars every year.
Forty-five minutes later
This behavior was extremely uncommon for Ryland, who would always make sure that he was at work at least an hour before. This behavior left Amanda feeling worried and wondering if something had happened to him on his way to work. She looked up at Layla, who was nervously walking up and down the hallway. The poor girl looked nervous as she stopped right in front of Amanda.
“Is he here yet?” She asked nervously.
“Unfortunately, he’s not here yet, and I’ve been trying to call his phone, but he’s not answering.” Amanda explained as she tapped her phone against her palm lightly. Amanda’s heart was flooded with worry, wondering if Ryland was drunk again.
The very moment she heard a phone ring, Amanda looked at the caller ID, and her heart rested as she saw that it was none other than Ryland calling her. She had wasted no time before answering the phone and pressing it to her ear. “Hello,” she said, as she was filled with relief.
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“not to never done this before, the showered, as the realizars of what Ryland was asking her to do was finally setting in
Amands you have been working with me for a long time, and fould not trust anyone else to chair this meeting if not you Now handle this before I get there,” he told her fiercely before endling the call Amarula’s eyes grew wide as she looked at Layla, who was impatiently waiting for her to say something
“What did he say? What did he say?” Layla pamped up and downs,
My husband said that he is stuck in traffic and her will not make it for the meeting Amanda explained, and just then, she saw the fearful expression on Layla’s face. He also said that I should chair the meeting and handle everything.” Amanda continued, but then Layla’s face went from being scared to looking believed.
“Great! that is a relief” Layla said as she threw her hands in the air and jumped up and down excitedly.
“I don’t think I can do this.” Amanda began panicking, and Layla was quick to grab the nearby chair for Amanda to sit down
on.
“What do you mean that you cannot do this? You are the wife of Mr. Scorpio, and he would not have married you if he did not think that you had the capability of running his company” Layla spoke passionately, and that somehow encouraged Amanda.
If only you knew that our marriage is based on a lie. Amanda thought to herself. Not wanting to panic, she got herself legether before the meeting. Looking at the wrist watch, she realized that there were ten minutes left and she was due to be in the boardroom by then.
Side by side, both Amanda and Layla walked toward the boardroom. Even though she was nervous about chairing the meeting, Amanda knew that she had done it a hundred times, but only at her previous work with Stephen. She did not know so much about this new client, but one thing is for sure: Amanda knew that she could handle anything that was thrown her way. Surely she would prove that Ryland was right to trust her.
Lay unlocked the door to the boardroom, allowing Manad to walk through first, and just as she stepped into the boardroom, she saw their potential client stand up from his seat.
The very moment that Amanda saw the potential client, she felt sweat rolling down her forehead as she was in disbelief as to who it was that she was looking at. But unlike Amanda, who was clearly nervous, this potential client was smiling confidently.
“Good morning, Amanda. I mean, good morning, Mrs. Scorpio, and I must say it is a pleasure to meet you,” Stephen Benson told her as he smiled brightly.
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