My Secret Husband Is My Cold Boss novel Chapter 58

He gave a slight grimace. "Even instant oatmeal is better than a soggy, reheated egg sandwich."

Fair enough.

She silently agreed with that logic.

If she wasn't forced by a brutal schedule, she avoided soggy bread at all costs too.

"Go finish getting ready. I'll prep the food."

She barely took two steps before his deep voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait."

"Do you want coffee with that, Director Sanders?" she asked, spinning back around.

He leaned lazily against the bathroom doorframe, letting out a long, heavy sigh.

"Wendy, when we're in this apartment, use my first name."

"I'm fairly certain no subordinate violently knocks on their boss's bathroom door at six in the morning."

Oh, so that was his issue.

She winced slightly, caught off guard. "Right. Got it."

She tossed two bowls of oatmeal in the microwave, poured two cups of black coffee, and threw some frozen pastries into the air fryer for good measure.

Knowing his diet clearly wasn't as militant as she initially thought, she casually slid a piping hot pastry onto his plate without asking.

They inhaled their breakfast in comfortable silence and drove to work together.

He took the Maybach again.

She had gotten her license way back in college but practically never drove, making her utterly terrified of rush-hour traffic.

Especially merging onto the viciously congested highways.

Thankfully, the Maybach's windows were heavily tinted, so slipping out a block away didn't draw a crowd.

She slid into her office precisely on the hour.

"Chief Gates, you have a consult scheduled for today."

It had been two days since she stepped down, but absolutely no one had adjusted to her new title.

She slipped into her pristine white coat, booted up her computer, and scanned the notification. "With Neurosurgery?"

"Yeah," Dr. Sullivan, her successor, confirmed with a nod.

"Bed 16 is getting discharged. Director Sawyer insisted you handle the sign-off since you know the case inside and out."

High-profile VIPs always demanded VIP service. She completely understood the politics.

The meeting was in the usual sterile conference room.

Quinn's sharp eyes raked over her features, dissecting her reaction.

Recognizing the icy shutdown, she smoothly shifted tactics. "It's really no big deal."

"I just remembered something. The day Sampson officially joined the staff, he definitely used your first name."

Quinn closed the distance between them, boring into her eyes. "Did you know him before he started working here?"

"As far as I know, his entire academic and professional career has been strictly overseas. And you've never studied abroad, correct?"

Anyone who secured a residency at this hospital was a terrifyingly brilliant, calculating survivor.

And Quinn was fiercely intelligent.

Wendy instantly realized she was being cornered and tested.

So, she maintained a flawless, indifferent poker face. "We crossed paths briefly at a Cardiothoracic conference a few years ago. The Director simply has an incredible memory."

"Is that so?" Quinn nodded slowly, thoroughly unconvinced. "What an amazing coincidence."

"It's nothing, really. I was just hoping you were close enough to him to spill the details on his mysterious new wife."

"Never mind."

"Thanks for indulging me, Dr. Gates."