Tina was happy that her boss has finally left her father's house where the mother and daughter duo are. It's a good thing she's married and that too to the son of the Johan family. That family was so powerful and influential that only the name Johan could make a grown man pee on himself. With this power and influence, she was sure no one would dare to bully Madeline, not her sister, not her mother, and not even her father. She was safe from those bullies.
"I'm not interested and I don't want to know what men like. Thank you for taking care of the restaurant in my absence. I really appreciate it," Madeline appreciated.
"It's fine Mrs. Johan. It's my job and I'm being paid for it. B...but we have only one problem," Tina informed.
"What? What's the problem?"
"One of our workers stole money from the restaurant,"
"Omo. Really? Who did?" Madeline asked in shock. There has never been any case of stealing in her restaurant before. All her workers were always screened every day and she made sure to check their backgrounds before hiring them. She was so nice to them and she treated them all like family. She would take them out almost every weekend, give them an allowance, and their salaries were even higher than what the other restaurants pay so who would have stolen from the restaurant?
"It's, Betty the accountant."
"Oh no, this is bad. Betty is not the kind of person to steal. I've never seen her that way. How much did she steal?"
"5 million dollars."
"What!!! 5 million dollars?" Madeline exclaimed as she abruptly stood up from the ground and started pacing around. That was huge money.
"Calm down Mrs. Johan. You shouldn't stress yourself as you just got married. We couldn't find Betty but I fixed everything. I balanced it and since we had a lot of sales, it covered it up," Tina said but that didn't calm Madeline.
"You think that's it? Just because you balanced it doesn't mean it won't show. At the end of the month, it would become a huge problem. 5 million dollars is not a little money that can be balanced easily. This would make us face lots of shortages."
"That's true ma'am. Why didn't I think of this?"
"Look, forget it. I'll be there tomorrow," Madeline said and hung up the phone.
She threw the phone on the bed and slumped on the floor. Her restaurant was facing such difficulty and she was here letting someone treat her like shit. But not anymore. She was not going to allow it any longer. What to do? What to do? Madeline thought. She was going to sneak out to go check up on her restaurant and nobody was going to stop her from doing that.
.......
"Hey brother Elias," a sweet feminine voice called and he turned to look at her. She walked forward, swaying her hips left and right, and sat on the high black stool next to him. "What's up?" She asked loudly, due to the high music in the club. Elias looked at her with a bored expression and continued drinking. He was here to clear his mind with some drinks and not to chit-chat with anyone. That was why he came here alone. He doesn't desire to go home early and has to see Madeline's face which might ruin his mood more.
"Why are you here, Evelyn?' he asked, sipping from his glass of vodka.
"Oh come on, brother Elias. This is a club, so of course, anyone can be in it," she answered in a sweet voice that one would think honey was added to it. Any guy would easily fall for that voice as long as it's sweet like now.
"I didn't mean why you're in the club. I meant what are you doing sitting on the chair next to me? Did I ask you to?" Elias asked in a cold voice. So cold that Evelyn flinched and wondered if her sweet tiny voice did not work on him. Maybe she needs to make it sweeter than ever. She didn't think he would get angry at her just because she sat on the chair next to him without permission. She knew he always likes respect but this...
"No, you did not. You don't have to be so cold to me. We're not enemies," Evelyn said, showing him her shiny pure white teeth.
"We're not friends either, is it not?" She heard his rough voice. Evelyn decided not to answer that question and she called on the bartender.
"A bottle of cocktail," she ordered and the bartender quickly brought the cocktail, and placed it in front of her. She poured her desired quality into the glass and sipped from it.
"Ahh, it's been so long since I have cocktail. So long since I even came into a club, right brother Elias?" She asked peering at him. He ignored her and continued sipping from his glass occasionally.
"Hmm, lest I forget. I heard something about you getting married to a lady less beautiful than I am."
"Don't deceive yourself."
"Haha. You wanna know what I also heard? I heard she doesn't love you and she doesn't want to be your wife," she said and his eyes immediately snapped toward her in shock.
"What did you say?
"I said, I heard the lady you introduced as your wife, doesn't love you and she doesn't desire to be your wife," Evelyn repeated.
"Who told you that?" She heard him ask in a chilly voice causing her to feel shivers down her back.
"I...It doesn't matter, does it?"
"I asked a question and you know how much I hate someone answering my question with a question," Elias said and she gulped and quickly answered
"I...It's Claire."
That brat. She always tells her friend everything, does she not? He felt like scolding her for leaking everything even their secrets to this girl sitting next to him, but when he thinks of how much he cherished her, he just let it go.