Who had she offended?
The only person Rowan Keller could think of was Zion Hawthorne.
Besides him, no one else had that kind of power.
Anxious, she pulled out her phone and called him, her disgust for him reaching its peak.
“Hello, who’s calling?” a secretary’s flat voice came through the phone.
Rowan was confused.
Rowan glanced at the number she had dialed.
It was definitely Zion Hawthorne’s private line, so why was a secretary answering?
“This is Rowan Keller.” She didn’t have time to overthink it; she just wanted to get to the bottom of this.
“I need to speak with Zion Hawthorne.”
The secretary glanced at Zion Hawthorne in his executive chair.
Understanding his silent signal, she said unhurriedly, “Mr.
Hawthorne is in a meeting.
It won’t be over for another two hours.
I can pass on a message for you if you’d like.”
“He’s right next to you,” Rowan said with conviction.
He never gave his private phone to anyone else, not even his secretary.
The secretary instinctively looked toward Zion Hawthorne.
“I thought when my secretary said that, Ms.
Keller, you would understand that I don’t wish to take your call.”
“I wouldn’t be calling you if you weren’t intentionally sabotaging my job prospects,” Rowan said truthfully, then demanded, “Why did you have people reject me for the job?”
Zion Hawthorne said, “What job?”
Rowan retorted, “Don’t play dumb.”
“If you were rejected for a job, you should be considering your lack of qualifications, not calling me,” Zion Hawthorne said mercilessly.
“After all, you haven’t worked in five years.
It’s perfectly normal for people to reject you.”
Rowan didn’t believe his excuses.
“Are you telling me you didn’t have someone interfere?”
“I didn’t,” Zion Hawthorne replied quickly.
“I simply told them there was no need to lower their standards for you on my account.
You’re not Mrs.
Hawthorne anymore; you don’t deserve special treatment.”
He hadn’t said it directly, but the effect was even more potent than if he had.
Everyone in their circle was sharp; they could read between the lines.
“Is this fun for you?” Rowan didn’t understand why he was so dead set on making things difficult for her.
‘Didn’t he agree to the divorce?
Wasn’t he the one who cheated?
Why is he the one giving me a hard time in the end?’
“What was that?” Zion Hawthorne hadn’t heard her clearly.
Rowan hung up.
She knew there was no point in saying more, and it was clear that finding a suitable job was going to be incredibly difficult.
BUZZ.
A message came through on her phone.
It was from Zion Hawthorne: [If you really want to find a job, for the sake of our past marriage, I can relax the requirements and let you work at Hawthorne.]
Rowan didn’t reply.
She knew he only wanted her to work at Hawthorne so he could torment her.
With her job prospects looking bleak, she had no choice but to start filtering companies all over again.
She eliminated any company that had ever worked with Zion Hawthorne, had any connection to him, or was in the same industry.
After all that, the only options left were a few small and medium-sized businesses.
After sending out her resume again, she started looking for an apartment.
「That day.」
She had just returned from viewing an apartment.
Before she even reached her door, she saw Serena Sterling standing outside, waiting for her.
When Rowan tried to walk past, Serena stretched out an arm to block her.
“Let’s talk.”
“I have nothing to talk about with a homewrecker,” Rowan said, pushing her hand away and heading inside.
“I know Zion didn’t give you a single cent in the divorce, and I know you’re desperate for money right now.” Serena Sterling, clad in the season’s latest limited-edition designer outfit, stepped in front of her on stiletto heels.
“As long as you take your child and leave Kyoro, the one million in this card is yours.”