CHAPTER 23 A WELCOMING PARTY

Yvonne left the study, went downstairs to get some cleaning tools, and cleaned up the mess in front of Henry's party before returning to the room.

The next day, she showed up at work looking like a panda. Lynette was shocked when she saw Yvonne. " Dang, what did you do last night? Steal your neighbor's cow?”

"Don't sit here, you'll get into trouble if someone sees you.” Yvonne pushed Lynette off her desk. "I didn’t steal any cow. I just had nightmares all night.” 1

"All night?”

"Yeah. It just repeats over and over again. What torture.” Yvonne yawned, looking listless with her bloodshot eyes. 1

She didn't manage to sleep for almost an entire night. As soon as she closed her eyes, she kept seeing dreams of Henry asking someone to forcefully take her bone marrow when she refused to be a donor.

The dream felt so real and terrifying that she wondered if Henry would really do that to her if she didn't agree to be the donor. 1

"Just what kind of nightmare did you have?" Lynette leaned closer to Yvonne and asked curiously.

Yvonne lowered her gaze. "Let's not talk about that anymore. Why are you looking for me this early in the morning?"

Lynette raised her eyebrow at the change in topic. " Did you forget about the welcoming party?"

"I haven't forgotten it, but that’s in the evening. Why are you telling me about it now?” Yvonne sorted out some documents and replied with little interest.

"Of course I'm asking if you’ve prepared an evening dress.”

"An evening dress?" Yvonne was taken aback and stopped her work.

Lynette winked at her gleefully. "You haven't, right?"

"Do we have to wear an evening dress to the welcoming party?" Yvonne looked at her friend blankly.

Lynette's smile faded as her expression turned serious. "You didn’t know? The secretarial team informed everyone about it yesterday."

Yesterday...

Yvonne bit her lip, feeling a bit angry.

Lynette understood everything the instant she saw Yvonne’s reaction. "They didn’t inform you on purpose?"

"Most likely." Yvonne nodded.

The secretarial team had never seen eye to eye with her since the beginning and even targeted her

yesterday. It was no surprise that they had deliberately concealed the news from her.

"That's too much! I'll settle the score with them! You're all secretaries and you are even Mr. Lancaster’s personal secretary. How dare they treat you like this!" Lynette clenched her fist and gritted her teeth.

She was about to rush outside when Yvonne quickly held her back. "Calm down, Lyn! You can't offend them! They're not worth getting into trouble for!"

"You're letting them slide?" Lynette looked at her with unwilling eyes. 1

Yvonne offered a glass of water to her. "They’re only bullying me because it's my first time being a secretary and I know nothing. They won't dare to do that again once I become fully familiar with my job."

"Oh man, you’re really too soft! Can't you steel yourself up a little?" Lynette poked Yvonne on her forehead angrily.

Yvonne chuckled, then looked at the time on her computer screen. "You should go back to your department - they're about to check up on everyone."

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that. I’ll get going then. Let’s go choose a dress during lunchtime?"

The expression on Yvonne's face stiffened a little when she remembered about her empty wallet. She could feel her heart bleeding. "Okay..." 1 "Then that's settled, bye!"

After Lynette left, Yvonne slumped in her seat and looked at her savings of less than three digits on her phone. She could feel her head spin. "What kind of dress can I possibly buy with this?"

"Dress?” A cold male voice suddenly rang out at the door.

Yvonne quickly straightened up and looked toward the door. Henry was standing there in a silver- gray suit with Joe behind him.

"What dress were you talking about just now?" Henry repeated his question.

Yvonne put her phone down and stood up. "It's for the welcoming party tonight. They said everyone should attend in formal attire."

"Is that so?" Henry turned to look at his assistant.

Joe pushed up his glasses. "Yes. Since you have invited many well-known figures in the industry, the vice general manager informed everyone to wear formal attire."

"I see,” Henry replied faintly, then went back to his office.

Joe gave Yvonne a polite smile, then quickly followed behind him.

Yvonne pouted and closed the door of her office in confusion, wondering why Henry just left after asking her that.

Unable to figure out the reason, Yvonne forced their encounter to the back of her head and resumed sorting out her documents.

There weren’t many documents. She would be done with her work after scanning them into her computer.

When she was done with work, she made a cup of coffee for herself and casually browsed the Internet on her computer. A thought then suddenly invaded her mind. Her eyes dimmed a little as she set her coffee down and solemnly typed a line of words with her keyboard. A web page immediately popped up: 'The Drawbacks of Bone Marrow Donation', i

Yvonne was slightly relieved to find that a bone marrow donation wouldn't kill anyone, but she was instantly concerned again when she saw the other long-term side effects.

"Thirty percent of donors show signs of aging, decreased bone marrow production, and increased white blood cells that could lead to leukemia..."

Yvonne paled after reading that. Her hand that was holding the mouse trembled as she felt fear in her heart.

She didn't expect the long-term side effects to be this serious. She wasn't willing to accept any of that.

After all, no one knew if she would be in that thirty percent.

What should she do?

Yvonne shuddered while biting her nails.

She suddenly felt so cold. The air conditioner was not turned on in her office, but she felt as though she was i n an ice cellar. The anxiety she felt in her heart was suffocating her.

She continued feeling anxious until noon, when another secretary came with a stack of documents and asked her to deliver it to the CEO's office.

Yvonne slapped her cheeks and took a deep breath. After adjusting her emotions, she gathered up the documents and went to Henry's office. The door was opened for her before she even had to knock.

Joe came out of the room and was surprised to see her. "Great timing, Miss Frey. I was just about to look for you."

Yvonne twisted awkwardly at his politeness. "Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Woods?”

"Mr. Lancaster told me to inform you that you don't need to come to work this afternoon." Content is © by .

"No need to come to work?" Yvonne widened her eyes as her voice grew louder. "He's firing me?"

The corner of Joe’s lips twitched and he smiled. "Oh n o, you've misunderstood me. Mr. Lancaster isn't firing you. He is giving you a half-day vacation so that you can go back and rest. Otherwise,

you won’t have the energy to attend the welcoming party tonight.” "Oh, I see." Yvonne breathed a sigh of relief and scratched her neck awkwardly.

Joe's gaze fell on the documents on her other hand." Are these for Mr. Lancaster?”

"Yes," she nodded.

"Give them to me, I'll bring them in. You should go home and rest."

"Alright. Thank you, Mr. Woods." Yvonne didn't refuse and handed over the stack of documents.

Joe took the documents, then returned to the office and placed them on Henry’s desk. 2

Henry heard him and raised his head from behind the computer screen. "Did you tell her already?"

His assistant nodded.

Henry rubbed his tired eyes. "Go buy an evening dress that suits Yvonne Frey later.” 2

"Anything else aside from an evening dress?" Joe asked hesitantly.

Henry rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment." Prepare a pair of high heels too. As for the accessories ... I recall that the swan necklace has arrived at customs. Go get it this afternoon.”

Joe looked at Henry in surprise. "Are you giving it to Miss Frey? I thought it was a gift you prepared for Miss Conrad."