Page 13 of Ellie 1

“Yes.”

“Then we’ll get along just fine, Mrs. Clark. I love people who don’t give me problems, are on my side, and especially feed me.”

The woman laughed so hard that she had to lean on my desk. Good. I didn’t need someone as powerful as her pissed at me when there was absolutely no need to be.

Or a fight.

4

Ha-joon

My phone vibrated with a message right as I walked into the hospital.

Father: Your mum isn’t here. She had the kitchen make a bunch of food and our real estate manager just asked me how much we’re planning to spend on the condo in Atlanta she’s interested in. Thought you would want the heads up.

Shit.

Double shit.

That meant Mum was here, and I didn’t need many guesses to know who her goal was. Just as I was texting back to ask for more information, I heard her laugh from off to my right.

And there she stood with Ellie Reed.

Shit, shit,shit.

I jogged over there and glanced between them. “Mum, what are you—”

“Ha-joon, don’t be rude,” she said firmly.

I cleared my throat and turned to the other woman. “Good morning, Ms. Reed. I’m sorry that—”

“Don’t apologize for your mother when I did nothing wrong,” Mum cut in. She pulled me down into a hug and kissedmy cheek before handing me over the bags she had. “Share with your new coworkers. Ms. Reed and I had a lovely chat and she’s a woman of good taste.”

“You’ll change your mind when I call your chef demanding more soy eggs and asking when the dumplings are coming,” she teased.

“Any time, any time,” Mum accepted. “I hear you have some nice seafood here in this part of America. Now I’m craving some seafood spring rolls.” She pulled me down to kiss my cheek again. “I will find you a nice place and handle everything with the politics of the move. You focus here and leave the rest to me.”

“Oh, Mum, I can find my own—” I started to argue.

“Of course youcan,” she chuckled. “You’re a grown man—a successful and smart grown man who we’re proud of. You’re simply blessed that you don’t have to and I will. You have enough on your plate.” She turned back to Ms. Reed and put on her best charm before walking towards the exit before I could even try to argue.

“I am so sorry that my mum came and… I don’t even know,” I said under my breath, bracing for impact.

Ms. Reed took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She’s worried about you moving out of the country to a place where she can’t protect you—your name can hurt you more than help you. Just leave it at that and it didn’t upset me that she—she didn’t upset me.”

I snorted, biting back a smile when she raised an eyebrow at me. “My mum is many things. She doesn’t upset people unless they’re assholes, Ms. Reed. Mum is the only person who can tell me that I’m an idiot and I never get offended because she’s right and more importantly she doesn’t judge it. She simply wants to fix it and everyone to be happy.”

She seemed to think about that a moment. “Yes, she has that gift. Even as she told me that I was wrong to not consider yousooner, she was understanding and on my side of the decision as well. You’re lucky to have her.”

“I am. Thank you.” I almost asked about her family, but it was as if I saw some sort of armor slam into place, even in her gaze.

Then it filled my nose. So her family was clearly a topic that was off-limits.

“I’m glad you’re starting off on the right foot and are early,” she said as she switched the topic before waving me to follow.

I won another brownie point with her when I agreed to the complete package that was offered. It was more than competitive and I wasn’t hard up for money, so trying to argue for more was—it wasn’t something I would do. Especially not for a job I would want.

“My current hospital doesn’t want to let me out of my contract,” I told her, feeling like a child confessing I broke an expensive vase. “I didn’t think it would be this big of a deal considering it’s almost up and I’d hinted that I didn’t want to resign but—”

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