When Two Winters Met (Henrietta and Yosef) novel Chapter 127

Henrietta stared at the blank screen, confused. She waited a moment, but nothing happened. She placed her phone on the nightstand, lay down, and hugged her large pillow. He must have had an emergency.

Meanwhile, Yosef stood up and turned to the several executives standing behind him. They immediately lowered their eyes, not daring to breathe too loudly.

Yosef walked out of the room, phone in hand.

Her phone rang again. Henrietta sat up, picked it up, and answered.

“Are you angry?” Yosef asked as soon as the call connected. Being hung up on so abruptly would annoy most people.

But Henrietta shook her head. “No. Did something urgent come up?”

A hint of appreciation touched Yosef’s lips. “Not urgent. I was in a meeting, and there were a few people standing behind me.”

Henrietta’s eyebrows shot up. So that was it. He was worried the people behind him would see her in her nightgown?

At that thought, she quickly looked down, pulled the lapels of her robe tighter, and then grabbed the covers, wrapping them around herself. “Oh, you’re in a meeting? Am I interrupting?”

“It’s fine,” Yosef said. “I can take a break.”

“Okay,” Henrietta nodded.

Yosef looked at her through the screen and said unexpectedly, “My apologies for making you sleep alone on our first night.”

Hearing such a phrase from a man so high and mighty, so cool and composed, was incredibly striking. The way he said it with a completely straight face, while she was sitting in the very bed he always slept in…

Henrietta felt her face heat up again. “It’s fine,” she said quickly. “Of course, your work is more important.”

Yosef nodded. “Good. We have plenty of time.”

Henrietta could only purse her lips and manage a small “Mm,” as her face grew even warmer. She didn’t know if he was intentionally trying to flirt, if it was unintentional, or if she was just overthinking things.

Seeing him just watching her silently, she urged, “You should get back to your meeting.”

Only then did Yosef avert his gaze. “Alright. Rest well.”

They hung up. The call had been so short that she hadn't had a chance to bring up the one thing she really wanted to talk to him about—the wedding. He was just too busy, always squeezing her into the small gaps in his schedule.

Henrietta closed the chat window and noticed a message from Calvert, along with several new friend requests.

She opened Calvert’s message: [Madam, I’ve had the other three assistants add you. My apologies for the delay, I forgot amidst all the work. Please forgive me!]

Calvert had posted a simple smiling emoji.

Leslie had posted a question mark.

Marlin had also posted a question mark, followed by, “Whose love?”

Cheryl had replied: “Mr. Nash’s.”

Marlin’s response was a string of ellipses, followed by: “Congrats, you’re officially insane. Please block me, thanks.”

Henrietta didn't know what to make of it. Marlin seemed to be another woman. The two of them seemed to be playing off each other, yet there was a clear tension between them.

Henrietta closed the page, feeling neither pleased nor angry, just a sense of bizarre fascination. To be beaten so severely and then to show off the marks on her back… perhaps the point wasn't the injury, but the back itself. Could that post have been meant for her to see?

What was most intriguing was the juxtaposition. Right above that post was the pinned photo of Yosef’s back. Together, they created a… strange, suggestive narrative. It was brimming with a one-sided, ambiguous intimacy.

Perhaps this was just a game Cheryl played for her own amusement.

Had Yosef seen it? She guessed not. Cheryl had probably set the privacy so that only Henrietta and the other three assistants could see it.