The Mysterious Billionaire and His Substitute Bride (Ethan and Janet)

Chapter 142 Catching Up

Tiffany had a pretty clear understanding of what Kaya was doing. Unfortunately for the girl, she hated it the most when her subordinates were playing tricks to get ahead of their peers.

Tiffany raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "If you're so worried," she said impatiently, "then why don't you repair it yourself? If you can, then I will give you due credit for it."

Kaya blinked, speechless. But Tiffany wasn't done yet. She added, "Since it was you who broke the laptop last night, make sure to compensate the company for loss of property, and do it as soon as possible."

With that, she turned away and headed in Janet's direction.

Computers played a big role in their job as designers, and the Larson Group had spared no expense in equipping them with the latest tools the market had to offer. All in all, the damages would cost at least a month's worth of Kaya's salary.

She glared at Janet, her hands clenching into fists.

It irked her to realize that she would have to lose a large amount of money without even accomplishing anything.

Janet, on the other hand, was about to leave after seeing that the matter had been resolved. To her surprise, Tiffany stopped in front of her.

"Hurry and get back to redoing your drafts. Tomorrow's meeting will be at ten in the morning." Tiffany glanced at her watch. "You still have twenty-four hours left. I look forward to your designs."

"Yes, Ms. Fisher. I'm going back to work now." Janet left with a wide smile on her face.

*******

As soon as Janet got home, she made a beeline for her room and dove into her drafts.

The window was open, letting in a soft breeze that played with the white lace curtain. A beam of sunlight poured into the room and landed on the desk, where she was hunched over, drawing. Janet rolled her long hair into a haphazard bun and used one of her pencils to hold it in place. Now and then, she would stand and walk around to stretch her muscles, and then she would get right back to her sketches.

This was decidedly more taxing than preparing for the final exams back at the university. It felt as though she was racing against time, and both her hands were barely enough to keep up with the ideas that constantly came to mind.

Soon, the light outside dimmed, and rain began to pour. When it finally lightened up, the leaves outside glistened with water, and the fresh scent of damp grass hung in the air.

A knock suddenly came at her door.

"Come in," Janet called out automatically, her eyes still fixed on her computer screen. She didn't turn around, even as footfalls came up behind her.

"You've been holed up in here for almost a day.

Aren't you hungry?" Ethan was carrying a steaming bowl, which he set down on the wooden table on the other side of the room.

"Thank you. Just leave it there. I'll eat later. I still have a lot to finish." Janet gave him one grateful glance before getting back to her computer.

He was wearing a casual gray shirt today, paired with loose, linen trousers. His lustrous black hair was somewhat tousled, making his curls stand out more than usual.

"I want to stay. Don't worry, I won't bother you. Just carry on with your work. May I read these books?" Ethan had pocketed one of his hands, while his other hand was now fiddling with the spines of her books. Judging from the slight rasp in his voice, Janet assumed that he had just gotten up.

"Of course, you—" she paused, realizing something. The books had been here when she had moved in, and were in either Russian or Greek. She couldn't read them at all.

Janet finally turned to look at Ethan. "You can read them? Those are foreign books."

Ethan leaned against the bookshelf, his curls dangling over his forehead. A faint smile was dancing on his lips. "No, I can't, but they do have illustrations on some of the pages." Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

But of course, he could read these books. He had a talent for languages even as a young child, and he had grown up learning dozens from all over the world.

"Oh, all right," Janet said lightly. She faced her screen again, and began to color her draft with a digital pen.

Ethan plucked a book and turned its page. "By the way, why are you home all day? Don't you need to be in your office?"

Janet visibly brightened at the question. "Well, there was a power outage at the company, and I must admit that it worked in my favor. As a result, the deadline was moved to tomorrow, and I got an extra day off. With this, I'll be able to catch up with the schedule and make some last -minute polishing on my designs, too."

"That is very lucky, indeed," Ethan commented with a smile.

"How about you?" Janet asked, still engrossed with her work. "Why aren't you at work? Is there a power outage in the convenience store, too?"