Chapter 69: Daphne spent the whole night at the office.

"What did you say?" Elowen turned to him so quickly that she nearly forgot to breathe. "You want me to have dinner with his parents?"

"You heard me."

She stared at him in disbelief.

Moments ago, his jaw had been clenched with barely restrained rage. Now he was encouraging her to accept the very invitation that had upset him.

"Are you sure?" she wondered with growing disbelief.

Soren’s eyes remained on the road as he navigated the car through the winding road. "I am sure. After all, he is your boss. You shouldn’t turn him down."

His reply didn’t ease her at all. If anything, it only heightened her suspicion. Then a frown settled on her brow as she thought he was testing her.

"Soren, stop testing me," she muttered. "I know you are upset. Don’t pretend that everything is fine."

"I am not testing you. I genuinely want you to go."

She turned to him fully, her frown deepening. "What game are you playing?"

Soren didn’t reply right away. He took the next turn, his gaze straight on the road ahead.

"I am only asking you to accept your boss’s dinner invitation," he said calmly. "Besides, I think it’s time I break the ice and extend a hand of friendship toward him. I’ll go with you."

"What? Are you serious?" His words left Elowen utterly baffled.

He took a quick look at her, his lips quirking. "Of course, I am serious. He is your boss. And as your husband, I should maintain harmony with him. I don’t want him to give a hard time to my pregnant wife at work."

His words sounded reasonable and considerate. But in reality, Soren was trying to mark his territory.

He intended to look Theron in the eye and warn him to stay away from his wife. He would show up as Elowen’s devoted husband, make it clear that their marriage was no longer a distant formality, and leave Theron with no doubt about where Elowen stood.

Elowen gaped at him, her mouth agape. She struggled to understand the sudden change in his attitude toward Theron.

Only a few days ago, Soren had punched Theron at that party. He had been openly hostile toward him and had even told her to resign from Aurevia.

Yet now, he was volunteering to accompany her to the dinner at Theron’s place.

The change was so sudden and jarring that Elowen wondered whether she was missing something.

Soren could sense her unwavering gaze on him. But he didn’t look at her. His focus remained on the road.

"Tell him you would be there this weekend. But don’t tell him yet that I’ll be joining you." He glanced at her, his voice dropping to a playful murmur. "Let it be a surprise."

Elowen was still dazed. She couldn’t figure out what her husband was planning. But she found herself nodding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across from the city, Daphne sat hunched over her desk, looking disheveled as she worked through the files. Her eyes were fixed on the documents, her pen moving on the notepad at regular intervals.

She had no idea what time it was. She hadn’t even thought to check. If truth be told, she barely had time to lift her head and look around.

When the room suddenly grew quieter, she looked up to see the entire office was empty.

No one was there. She was the only one left. And she had not finished checking the files yet, let alone preparing the reports.

’When am I supposed to finish all this?’

Frustrated, she slammed the pen against the desk.

"This is inhuman. The amount of work she gave me would take a week to complete. And she expects me to do it in half a day. This is bullying."

She thought no one was watching her, that no one was listening to her. She snorted with indignation.

"What kind of grudge does she have against me?"

"Are you cursing me?" A figure appeared from the shadow.

Daphne almost jumped out of her chair. When she noticed Mara approaching, her scalp pricked.

"Miss Mara," she almost blurted, her eyes widening.

Mara gave her an unforgiving look. "I was actually considering letting you leave for the night and finish the rest of the work tomorrow. But instead, I find you sitting here cursing me?"

Daphne gasped. Then she shook her head frantically. "Miss Mara. I know I was wrong." She scrambled to her feet and folded her hands, her tone pleading. "Please forgive me. I promise I’ll finish everything tomorrow."

"This is not a choice I’m giving you," Mara said with a cold finality in her tone. "You have to finish the reports by tomorrow."

She pointed toward the stack of documents. "You are not leaving until the work is done. I want the reports on my desk the first thing in the morning. If you fail to meet that deadline, you will face the consequences."

Leaving that warning hanging low over Daphne’s head, Mara turned on her heel and left.

Daphne sank back into the chair, trembling in shock and indignation. Then she let out a frustrated groan.

"This is too much. It’s a workplace bully."

But complaining wouldn’t make the work disappear. She had no choice but to listen to her.

By the following morning, Daphne looked utterly exhausted. Her eyes were red-rimmed, dark circles swallowing them. Her hair had fallen into a disheveled mess.

She had spent the entire night at the office, yet she still hadn’t finished the reports.

At this point, she barely cared about her appearance. All that mattered was getting the documents done before Mara arrived to demand them.

She remained bent over her desk, oblivious to the employees settling into their cubicles.

Murmurs soon spread across the room.

"Look at Daphne. She looks terrible. Did she work all night?"

"Probably..."

"I saw Miss Mara handing her a mountain of files yesterday. Maybe Daphne couldn’t finish her work in time."

When Elowen arrived, Vera rushed to her.

"Have you noticed Daphne?" Vera asked in a hushed tone. "She has been working all night."

Elowen paused and turned, her gaze landing on Daphne hunching over her desk.

"I heard Miss Mara assigned her some reports," Vera continued. "Seems like Daphne failed to finish them."

Her tone turned mocking. "All these years, she let others do the job for her. And now that she had to handle things on her own, she couldn’t complete the task in time."

Elowen let out a quiet sigh as she took a last look at Daphne’s haggard appearance before settling at her desk.

"Forget about her. We should focus on our work."

Vera nodded. "You are right. I don’t want to stay up at the office the whole night."

She returned to her desk.

Meanwhile, Daphne saw Mara entering her office.

Panic seized her.

She quickly finished the last report, gathered the documents, and stuffed them into a folder. Then she headed straight to Mara’s office.

"Miss Mara. I’ve finished the report." She placed the file on the table.

Mara’s nose wrinkled slightly. "You smell awful, Daphne."

Daphne froze.

She lowered her head and cautiously sniffed her clothes. Her face turned red in embarrassment.

She had been so focused on finishing the report that she hadn’t even noticed how bad she smelled after spending the whole night at the office.

Mara, however, showed no interest in discussing it further. She pulled the folder and checked the documents. Her face darkened with every page she turned.

Finally, she slammed the folder shut.

"This is what you did the whole night?" she snapped, glaring up at Daphne. "You can’t even make a proper report?"