Chapter881


    Zachary showed a sour face and held his tongue.


    Since there was no point talking sense into Zachary now, Josh suggested, “Why don’t you stay in the


    office while I do the snooping around for you? I think you need some distraction and what better way to


    get your mind off things than work? It will take more than a day or two before the conflict between you


    and your wife can be


    resolved.


    “It doesn’t help to hurry things along. You’re only making more room for mistakes if you rush into it.”


    It was true that Zachary needed to do something to distract himself. Helpless, he said, “You’ve just


    gotta let me know that you want to skip work. Don’t use spying for me as an excuse.”


    Josh chuckled. “I’ve been working my *ss for you for so many years. It’s time I get a couple of days off.”


    He and Jasmine had not made progress in their rtionship.


    It was probably due to Zachary and Serenity that Jasmine remained on the sidelines. Josh could tell


    Jasmine was interested, but she held her feelings back from liking him.


    Sigh!


    Josh had epted that it would be a long road ahead till he could bring home a wife. Only time would


    show Jasmine his heart. One day, Jasmine would wee him wholeheartedly into her life.


    He happily went on his way.


    Josh dumped all his work on Zachary.


    He went to get a bouquet of flowers from the florist and some of Jasmine’s favorite desserts from the


    bakery before heading to the bookshop.


    With Elisa taking Serenity to the hospital to check out her injury, Jasmine remained at the shop. After


    cleaning up the bloody crime scene, she sat behind the cash register and read a book.


    “You seem free,” a familiar and gentle voice interrupted her moment of peace.


    Jasmine lifted her head to the sound. Seeing that it was Josh, she put down the book in her hand and


    said with a smile, “Why are you here? Do you have nothing to


    do today?”


    “I had to sort out work that had been piled up sincest year. I have to work overtime today, but I’ll be


    off tomorrow.”


    Jasmine responded, “Oh. I thought you get the weekends off.”


    “That’s usually the case unless the workload significantly increases like right now. We’ll have to work


    on Saturday and take Sunday off.”


    While handing the flowers to Jasmine, Josh took notice of the bouquet sitting by theputer. He was


    fixated on the flowers for a while.


    “That’s for Serenity from Mr. York,” Jasmine stated and took the bouquet from Josh.


    Leaning in for a whiff, Jasmine got up and drew close to a rack. She took an empty vase from the top


    shelf, stuck the flowers in, and put the vase back.


    “I bought you some of your favorite desserts.”


    Josh put the confectionery down on the table and took a seat. Looking down, he caught a glimpse of


    the red–stained paper towels in the trash can under the table.


    Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    He shot his gaze back up to Jasmine. He made sure Jasmine was not hurt before asking with worry,


    “Why are there so many bloody paper towels in the can? What happened? Is that blood or paint?”


    “Seren’s blood.”


    With widened eyes, Josh inquired, “Is Serenity hurt?”


    Did Zachary do something to her?


    “She cut her finger with the scissors. The cut must be deep since the bleeding didn’t stop after she


    bandaged it. She wouldn’t let us examine her injury. Elisa dragged her to the hospital to redress the


    wound.”


    Needless to ask, he knew Zachary was the reason.


    “That’s a lot of blood. I can tell from the bloodied paper towels that the cut is deep.”


    Josh pulled out his phone to snap pictures for his tantrum–throwing boss.


    Jasmine watched on and did not stop Josh from taking pictures.