Leland ended up getting pulled into one of those group chats, but he kept quiet about it. There was no way he was telling Dane that the whole office was chatting about Dane's personal life. Not that Dane cared-whatever his staff got up to in their downtime was none of his business. He just saved the photo Leland sent him, told Leland to go take a break, and decided it was time to get some sleep himself.
After he finished washing up, Dane propped himself up against the headboard and started looking through the materials he'd need tomorrow. He glanced at the clock, figured it was a good time, and picked up his phone to call Claire.
"Hey,” she answered, her voice sounding a little muffled. She'd just gotten home, sent Dane a quick text, and was in the bathroom, squeezing toothpaste onto her brush.
"You should get some rest now that you're home," he said.
"Okay,” she replied. Neither of them was much for small talk tonight, and after a quick exchange, they ended the call.
Claire looked around and noticed Pandora still hadn't come back, so she dialed her grandma's number. Pandora let her know she was staying over with Queenie, planning to take Queenie for a visit to the countryside the next day.
"Grandma, I might need to go to the hospital tomorrow," Claire said. "I'll be busy for a few days, so I won't be able to go to the countryside with you and Grandpa. Once my exam results are out, I'll come home for a bit, is that all right?"
Pandora didn't miss a beat. "That's perfectly fine, sweetheart. You focus on what you need to do. Don't worry about us."
She probably knew what Claire was busy with but didn't ask any more questions. Claire got her things together and headed out to the hospital.
On the other side of town, Octavia hadn't checked in with her daughter lately. She'd been too wrapped up in the private investigator she hired to look into Fallon. The report was more than she bargained for: Fallon was back in touch with Latham, and on top of that, she seemed to have a close relationship with Latham's assistant, Wheeler. Claire had sponsored Wheeler's tuition, and when he graduated, he landed a job at The James Group.
Had Fallon helped him behind the scenes? Octavia stared at the file, her anger simmering.
At the same time, another envelope landed on Latham's desk. Octavia stormed into the building arriving at the office ahead of Latham. She spotted the new envelope and, almost without thinking, picked it up. She checked to make sure the office door was closed, then opened it.
The shock hit her instantly. Inside were photos of her secretly meeting Wade. Who took these? When did that even happen? She didn't remember any of it. With shaking hands, she dropped the envelope and the photos spilled onto the floor.
Right then, she heard someone at the door. Panic set in. She scrambled to push the envelope and the scattered photos under the desk with her foot, barely finishing before the door swung open.
Latham's assistant, Wheeler, walked in first, followed by a secretary carrying a cup of coffee.
"Here's your coffee, ma'am."
Whenever Octavia showed up, the staff acted like they were walking on eggshells. But Octavia always put on a polished, gracious face in front of others. When she realized it wasn't Latham, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Just set it down," she said, adjusting her composure.
Wheeler couldn't help noticing something was off about her mood, but as the assistant, it wasn't his
place to interfere with the bonet
wife. He just asked, "Latham is stiff in a meeting. Did you need tosee him about something urgent?" Cóntent
Pretty much everyone in the office had spotted Octavia marching in; she obviously wasn't there for friendly chat. Wheeler hurried over, hoping to tame any potental chaus Latham's meeting was important, and the last thing Wheeler wanted was a scene with the boss's wife.
Luckily, even though Octavia's expression was tense, she didn't seem ready to make a scene.
"It's nothing. I was just in the area and wanted to stop by," Octavia replied with a gentle smile. She'd already pulled herself back together.