"Alright. I'll send them over now." After affirming with a nod, Rita took the documents and said, "Chairman Reed, please excuse me."
Sonia waved her hand. "Go ahead. Thank you for your hard work."
"Chairman Reed, you're too kind." With that, Rita smiled and turned to walk out the door.
However, she suddenly thought of something and stopped in her tracks to turn back around. "Oh, right, Chairman Reed. There's something I'm not sure whether I should say."
"Go ahead." Sonia slightly raised her chin to signal Rita to continue.
When Rita got her permission, she did not hesitate as she stood properly to explain, "Chairman Reed, I went to the Human Resources Department this afternoon. We, at the Secretary Department, were thinking of hiring a new assistant, so I went to the HR to ask if there were any suitable candidates."
"Hmm. I heard about it." Sonia nodded. "What happened next?"
She knew this was not the matter her secretary wanted to mention.
As she expected, Rita took in a breath and continued, "Later, I heard someone from the Human Resources Department mention Daphne, saying that she called them this morning to ask them to prepare a letter of resignation and mail it to her."
"What?" Sonia's expression changed slightly. "If I heard it correctly, you said a letter of resignation, right? Daphne asked for a letter of resignation from the HR Department?"
"Yes." Rita nodded to confirm Sonia's words.
Frowning, Sonia's expression looked sullen. "Daphne wants to resign?"
"According to the current situation, it seems to be that. After I heard that, I went to ask one of the employees from HR for confirmation to make sure that the employees weren't spreading fake news. Then, the employee told me that it was true and they did receive a call from her. According to the director of human resources, he was shocked when he heard the news and wanted to notify you but was stopped by Daphne. She said to not tell you for the time being, so I was hesitant on whether to tell you. If I told you, I would be going against Daphne's wishes, but if I don't tell you, I'll feel sorry for her because this is a strange time to resign. Also, Daphne has been with you for the longest and you both have a good relationship. So, after I thought about it, I thought I should tell you because I also hope you could ask Daphne why she wanted to resign. All of us have a good relationship with her and we don't want her to resign. Moreover…"
"Moreover, what?" Sonia looked at her.
Biting her lips, Rita looked uncertain about something.
A few seconds later, she finally persuaded herself and clenched her hands before looking at Sonia. "Chairman Reed, it's like this. I have a suspicion. I think Daphne's sudden resignation means something has happened to her. According to my understanding of her, she loves this job, so she wouldn't resign without reason. She didn't intend to resign when she was pregnant, and even after she wanted to abort the child, she still didn't intend to leave. It was up until her surgery that she suddenly mentioned about resigning. I think something might have happened with her surgery, which caused her health to deteriorate and she couldn't continue with this job."
"Wait. How did you know Daphne was pregnant? And that she wanted to abort the child?" Sonia stood up in surprise and locked her gaze on Rita's body.
Meanwhile, Rita did not hide anything and immediately answered, "I found out about it on my own. Chairman Reed, you also know that I'm married and have children, so I understand pregnancy symptoms better than the unmarried employees in our company. I noticed that Daphne had been showing symptoms of early pregnancy recently. Though once or twice could mean she was sick, once it happened more frequently, I was sure that she's pregnant and not sick. It was until I found a slip related to abortion in Daphne's trash can that I was certain that she was pregnant and didn't intend on keeping the child."
"So, that's why." Sonia could not help but heave a sigh of relief. Then, she sat back on her chair. "I thought someone had told you about this."
"No, no one told me. I figured it out myself." While shaking her head, Rita seemed to realize something and asked Sonia, "Chairman Reed, did you know about Daphne's pregnancy?"
Sonia did not intend to reveal anything initially, but upon looking at Rita and knowing that she was in on this, she decided to not hide it anymore and nodded. "That's right. I knew from the beginning, which was why I was so shocked. Daphne had asked me to keep it a secret, so I didn't tell you guys anything. That's also why I got shocked when you mentioned her pregnancy 'cause I thought someone had overheard it and sold it.
"No, I didn't," Rita immediately shook her hand while speaking up guiltily, "but I have told the others from the department."
"What?" Sonia was baffled.
That made Rita feel even more guilty as she lowered her head to say, "I didn't do it on purpose. It was on the second day where Daphne was absent from work. I was looking around her desk while muttering about whether she had gone through surgery. Then, someone from the office and her friends heard that. When they asked me about it, I couldn't stand it anymore and told them."
Meanwhile, Sonia felt her lips twitch as she felt resigned.
What is this situation called?
Is this blocking one side of the window while the other side is open?
Seeing that Sonia was speechless, Rita immediately praised, "But Chairman Reed, I didn't let the others spread the news. When Daphne hid her pregnancy from us, we knew that she wanted to keep it a secret, which was why I told my friends to zip their lips. I told them that this was a secret between us and it shouldn't be spread to the public. The others agreed, and we're all secretaries, so we have no problem with keeping a secret."
Hearing that, Sonia felt relieved. "That's good, but are you sure none of them told a soul about this, and that you really did find out about this yourself?"
"I'm positive. Anyway, I didn't hear anyone beside us mention Daphne's pregnancy, so the others definitely did not mention this to anyone else. Otherwise, with Daphne's identity, everyone in the building might have already found out about this," Rita explained.
Then, Sonia nodded lightly.
That is true.
It seems like no one has said a word.
"That's better. Since you guys are the only ones who know about this, remember to keep it sealed. Daphne doesn't want anyone to know about this, so we can't disappoint her. Also, this matter concerns her privacy," Sonia reminded Rita again.
Nodding repeatedly, Rita promised, "Don't worry, Chairman Reed. I'll remind them after I head back to our office and guilt-trip them so that they won't spread that news. We can't let anyone know about this."
Then, Rita's mind suddenly went blank as she remembered that besides the others in her office, there seemed to be one outsider who knew about this.
And that was President Lane.
However, to Daphne and Chairman Reed, President Lane isn't an outsider, right?
Which means it doesn't matter if he knows about this, right?
Charles and Daphne were college classmates. Not only did they have a few dozen years of subordinate-superior relationship, but they were also friends. Thus, when something like this happened to Daphne, Charles would definitely take their relationship into account and not do anything to upset her.
It seems like I have nothing to worry about.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Boss, Your Wife's Asking For A Divorce, Again
Same story i read about Jarred and Amber Reed...