"Take some time to study it. The O'Connors are genuinely a great family. The only
real challenge for women who marry into it is the pressure to have children. But with our family's genes, having sons has never been a problem. As long as you have a boy first, nobody will care whether the second or third child is a son or a daughter."
They had yet to establish a connection with Louis, and Manny was already thinking about how many grandchildren his daughter might give him.
Roxy accepted the folder he handed her.
“Pa, if there's nothing else, I'll head back."
"Go ahead. I'll take you to an auction next week, so make sure you're prepared. Get yourself a few new outfits and some jewelry. I'll transfer some money to you later.”
Roxy was not short on money.
Still, since Manny wanted to give her some, she was not about to refuse.
With that, she left.
As she drove out through the front gate, she noticed that the pile of discarded flowers had been cleaned up.
She stopped the car for a moment.
It was the first time she had ever prepared so many flowers for a man, planning a grand and romantic confession. Not only had it failed, but the flowers had been sent back and dumped in front of her family's company for everyone to see, making her the laughingstock of the company.
"Laurence, from now on, I don't have to pretend to like you or pursue you anymore. I'm moving on to someone else."
That evening, Callia left FC & Co. with the rest of her coworkers after work.
There, nobody knew she was a daughter of the York family.
Even when she saw Chloe, she addressed her as Ms. Young-Johnson, like
everyone else. Chloe was known for separating business from personal matters. So,
at the company, Chloe was no longer a big sister figure to Callia.
However, the moment Callia spotted Jane and Iris, she knew her identity might not stay secret for much longer.
"Callia."
Jane had specifically come to see her after work.
Iris was carrying a box of pastries. The two women walked toward Callia with warm smiles, their attention focused entirely on her. They were completely oblivious to the curious glances everyone was casting her way.
Everyone wanted to know who this new employee was. After all, how could an ordinary employee have the CEO's mother waiting outside to pick her up?
Callia could not even pretend not to know them. The coworkers she had recently met were all looking at her with questioning eyes.
“Aunt Jane is a friend of my mom's,” Callia explained briefly.
Her coworkers immediately understood. Smiling, they left, giving Callia some privacy with the two older women.
"Aunt Jane, Aunt Iris, when did you get here?" Callia asked.
Jane replied, “We know you get off work at five-thirty, so we arrived about five minutes early and waited here for you. We just got here. How's work going? Are you adjusting well?
"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask your coworkers. They'll help you."
Iris handed over the box of pastries to Callia and said, "You're not working overtime tonight, are you? Come join us for dinner at Jane's place. It's a bit of a drive, and we were worried you'd get hungry, so we packed some pastries for you to eat on the way."
"I don't have to work overtime tonight. Thank you."
"Oh, please. You don't need to be so formal with us." Iris said with a smile, "Now that you're here in Annenburg, it's our responsibility to take good care of you. You must eat well."