Jacob sat in the car peculiarly expressionless. The driver held his breath, afraid of annoying him. The
driver realized Jacob was an arrogant man. Earlier, he had dared to joke with him.
But now he was reminded where he belonged. Jacob was after all a CEO and he had to put on his best
behavior in front of him. If he showed any sort of carelessness, his job would be at stake.
When they arrived at the company, the driver sat holding back his breath. Once Jacob got off, he
released his breath. The driver couldn't help but notice that Jacob had looked like a cold devil.
'Something definitely happened, ' he mused, unable to get Jacob's expression out of his mind. Once he
was certain that his boss had entered the company, the driver's curiosity got the best of him. He
decided to inquire about the matter with the security guard.
"What happened, buddy? Mr. Jacob looks a little vexed." As the driver spoke, he took a pack of
cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to the security guard.
"You don't know what's the matter? I thought as Mr. Jacob's driver, you will be far more well-informed
than anyone else. It looks like I was mistaken,"
the security guard said, teasing the driver. The driver often acted arrogantly in front of everyone else.
Hence, this piece of information gave the security guard something to laugh about. Making use of this
opportunity, he snickered.
A little exasperated, the driver said, "Well, you have made a mistake. I may often stay with Mr. Jacob,
but I know very little about him." As he spoke, his face turned crimson with embarrassment.
But the truth was, he knew nothing. He had acted quite arrogantly before.
But now he guessed that the cleaning staff had more information about Mr. Jacob than he did.
"Buddy, you have come to the wrong person. The information you want is all over the newspaper. So
go ahead and find it out for yourself."
The security guard had no desire to spell it out for this man. In fact, he was afraid that would get him
into trouble. Truth be told, he didn't think of this news as a big deal.
Company CEOs were rich men. They often had affairs with many women. Nothing about it looked out
of the ordinary to him. If anything, he would be surprised if they didn't have affairs.
Besides, Mr. Jacob was a divorced man now. What he did hardly sounded like the wrong thing.
People at present blamed him for being an irresponsible man. However, he thought the news would
soon subside. There were a lot of women who vied for Jacob's attention. Perhaps those women had
some ulterior motive. Jacob's title made him appealing to them.
Even winning his attention was like a victory for them. All in all, he had girls willing to give their lives to
him.
The driver went back to the car and eagerly held the newspaper. After scanning a little, his eyes fell on
the news about Jacob. Shocked, it suddenly dawned upon him why Jacob had gone to visit Sara early
this morning.
As if he couldn't believe his own eyes, he read it twice. What would happen next was inevitable.
As soon as Jacob stepped into his company, lots of burning eyes were fixed on him. Even the
receptionist, who was always warm to him, looked at him differently.
Normally whenever he entered the company, he would receive welcoming looks from people. Every
now and then, he would also catch people gazing at him in awe.
But today, Jacob could tell there was no warmth in any of their expressions. As soon as their eyes
caught him, they began to whisper about him.
Bewildered, Jacob looked around. He couldn't understand why they were all acting so oddly.
On a closer look, he even noticed a few disdainful sneers on some faces.
"Who could tell a devil resides behind that handsome face," someone said, glancing at him.
"I really thought he was a good man. But it turns out I was wrong. Only a handful of men are good,"
another one said.
"Stop it guys! This is none of our business. We could get into trouble for gossiping," a third person said.
"Fine! Let's get back to work!"
Such were the talks that took place in the company.
Jacob overheard some of their words. He didn't have the slightest idea as to why they were speaking
like this, but he knew without a doubt they were talking about him.
He made his way to his office. The elevator door opened and Cindy was there in it.
He entered the elevator. His assistant's eyes bore into him, a mix of surprise and shock written on her
face.
"Mr. Jacob, you're finally back! I was sent by Mr. James to pick you up. I also want to fill you in about
everything that's happening, in case you haven't heard of it already,"
she exclaimed anxiously. She had a strong feeling he was oblivious to the chaos happening around.
"What's the matter?" he asked, standing beside her in the elevator. His domineering aura made her
look small.
"You haven't watched the news this morning, have you?" she asked, taking out her cell phone. She had
already readied the page she wanted to show him. She handed her phone to him. The news was about
Jacob and Alice.
She knew the content would disappoint him. It called Jacob out for being irresponsible. It also stated he
had a debauched private lifestyle.
The second he was done reading, he passed the phone back to Cindy. His expression was calm, not
an ounce of shock shown in it. His eyes were as clear as water, and he slowly understood why
everyone looked at him differently.
"Okay, I see. What does Mr. James have to say about it?" he inquired.
Jacob's heart ached at the thought of his uncle. His uncle was his biggest concern. He couldn't care
less about the crap that the media had fabricated.
After all, it was impossible for one to predict everything in life. Throughout the elevator ride, Jacob put
on an indifferent face. His gaze remained glued to the glass mirror in the elevator.
It was an uneven mirror and gave him a twisted look. His well-shaped face was distorted in it, and so
was his body. Cindy stood quietly behind him.
After a few seconds of silence, she cleared her throat and responded, "He is of the belief you have the
right to choose. He won't force you. He respects your choice."
Her voice was calm, but there was an undertone of sadness.
Jacob's gaze fell on his assistant, wondering how much she knew. A tumult of feelings rose inside him.
Everything seemed to be a mess. The last time when Sara had left him, this was exactly how he felt.
"Okay, I see,"
he spoke, feigning a calm voice. He told himself he had no choice but to face the problem ahead of
him.
He began to look at this as a challenge. 'This is my chance to choose a different path, ' he chanted in
his mind.
As the seconds ticked by, Jacob began to get nervous. His hands were trembling. In his mind, he
replayed the events of the past.
He had expected what was happening today for a long time.
After getting out of the elevator, he didn't go to the meeting room immediately. Instead, he chose to go
to his office.
He stood in front of the large mirror in his office. Calmly, he regarded his appearance and fixed his suit.
Even in this dire predicament, he cared about his looks.
He prided himself on this. In the past, he had worked quite hard on the company's affairs. Yet others
were quick to label him as arrogant. They said he thought too highly of himself.
Now, he was actually going to be arrogant but he doubted people would see it. Realizing how dumb
people could be, Jacob couldn't help but break into a confident smile.
He had a catastrophe waiting for him yet he felt somehow convinced that he could handle it well. He
promised himself he would be brave. Things looked bleak, but he wouldn't give up.
Instead, he would bear it all alone. After all, he had anticipated this turn of events already. Therefore,
Jacob didn't blame anyone. 'This is something I have to do, ' he told himself.
With such positive thoughts, he stepped out of the office and confidently made his way to the meeting
room.
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