Chapter 716
Still concerned, Natalie p**ssed, Truly? Have the Harding family caused you any recent disturbances? Pregnant women mustn’t be troubled. You need to be more cautious.
Touched by Natalie’s solicitude, warmth flooded Laney’s heart. “Fear not. They’ve left me be. I intended to stay in the hospital for the birth anyway; I’ve merely arrived a few days early.” Relieved, Natalie hung up the phone. While doctors and nurses were present in the hospital to attend to Laney, ensuring her comfort and convenience, Natalie couldn’t help but question the reliability of Laney’s assistant, Lola.
Recalling Lola’s surly demeanor the last time they had interacted, Natalie furrowed her brow in disapproval.
Lola, a pawn deployed by Leo, adopted a haughty and cursory attitude in her duties, knowing she worked under Leo’s protection. How could someone like her be entrusted with Laney’s care?
Suddenly, an ingenious idea sprouted Natalie s mind.
The assistant chosen by the Harding family for Laney had proved unreliable, so Natalie decided to source a replacement personally. When Natalie arrived home, she requested information about the White family’s assistants. She wanted to find someone with a strong sense of professionalism to care for Laney.
But after looking through the profiles, Natalie couldn’t find anyone she liked.
The assistants’ resumes were good, but each lacked something.
When she reached the final one, her eyes lit up. Ian Lopez was the last assistant listed on the document.
He had beautiful long hair and a handsome face. His resume was as strong as Sean’s, and he even had a medical background. According to his resume, Ian had been part of an emergency medical team for several years.
He would be the perfect choice to take care of Laney, especially as she would soon give birth. Natalie studied Ian’s information with great interest. She didn’t notice Brandon’s return. When Brandon entered the room, he saw Natalie scrutinizing the documents absorbedly.
Curious, he leaned over her shoulder to see what she was reading.
After he discovered that these documents were all resumes of assistants, Brandon k**sed Natalie’s cheek and asked, “Are you looking for a new assistant?”
Natalie was startled by Brandon’s voice. She touched his nose with her fi**gertip. “Why didn’t you tell me you were home?”
“I was intrigued to know what you were so interested in.”
Brandon sat beside her and held her tightly. He pinched her cheek affectionately. “Have you found a suitable assistant?”
Natalie nodded. “It’s for Laney. The one hired by the Harding family isn’t reliable.”
She pointed at Ian’s resume as she spoke. “I think this guy is quite suitable. He’s got all the capabilities I need. And he probably could take good care of Laney. But I want to double check. I need to make sure she has the best.” Brandon didn’t appreciate Natalie’s attention being diverted away from him.
She was only choosing an assistant. Why did she need to be so thorough? Whoever Natalie chose would be perfect. Brandon grabbed the documents from her hands and threw them aside. “You don’t need to look any further. If your first instinct is to like him, he will be the right one. I chose Sean because I liked him straight away, and he has worked for me for many years and always been suitable.”
Natalie thought that made sense. And p**ssed against Brandon’s ch*st, she found it impossible to focus her attention on anything else.
She would choose Ian and hope that he would take good care of Laney until she safely gave birth.
Laney’s due day was getting closer and closer, her belly was getting heavier, and her movements slower.
The assistant Leo had hired, Lola, frequently disappeared, and Laney had to do many things herself.
Early that morning, when Laney woke, she felt thirsty, but Lola did not answer her call. She held her stomach and struggled to get out of bed for some water.
However, her hand trembled, spilling the water and smashing the cup.
Laney felt discouraged. Her belly was too big for her to bend down and clean up. Just as she was trying to decide what she should do, a large but slender hand began picking up the pieces from the floor.
Laney raised her head and saw a long-haired handsome man. He threw the debris into the trashcan and poured another glass of water for her.
“Thank you,” Laney said, accepting the cup. The man smiled at Laney and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Harding.”
The man’s deep voice rendered Laney dazed for a while. She didn’t expect that there’d be such a handsome male nurse in the hospital.
Before Laney could even react, the man took out his ID card and handed it to her. “I’m the personal assistant that Mrs. Larson has hired for you. My name’s Ian. Just let me know if you need anything and I’ll do my best to attend to your needs.”
Laney was even more astonished. The personal assistant Natalie had hired for her was a man? Was she serious?
“Let me have a look.” Laney took the ID card from him, and was about to check it over carefully when footsteps were heard coming from the door.
She raised her head and saw Lola walk in with several bags in her hands. It seemed like she’d had some good fortune on her way there, as she wore a bright smile on her face.
Despite Laney’s good temper, Lola’s irresponsibility annoyed her. In a stern tone, she asked, “Where have you been, Lola?”
Still completely immersed in her euphoria, Lola failed to notice anything different about Laney’s demeanor. She simply shook the bags in her hand gleefully and said, “I just went to get the gifts. These are the ones that Miss Kailee Gibson asked me to give to you. She said she wanted to offer you an apology.”
As soon as Laney heard Kailee’s name, she remembered the malicious intent that Kailee had clearly shown towards her at the reunion. She frowned and said, “I don’t want them. Return them to her immediately.”
When Lola heard this, however, her facial exp**ssion quickly transformed into one of anger. She placed the gifts on the ground and said, “Miss. Gibson got you these gift out of kindness. Don’t be so stubborn, Mrs. Harding. All these nutritious tonics are going to be good for the baby anyway. Even if you don’t want to eat any of it, don’t you think you should consider the developing child in your womb?”
With restrained anger, Laney retorted, “Are you her assistant or mine? Just return them to her. I can buy tonics myself!”
Despite this, Lola remained unconvinced and wanted to talk back. Just then, Ian had finished checking the gifts. He immediately stood up with a frown. “These foods don’t provide any real benefits to pregnant women. Some of the ingredients may even cause Mrs. Harding to have an allergic reaction, so they are not suitable for her consumption.”
As Laney’s personal assistant, Lola didn’t check the food nor even know that Laney was allergic to the ingredients.
Being so incompetent, how did she manage to get the job as an assistant? Ian was befuddled. Lola’s face darkened. She glared at Ian and asked, “Who are you? Why do you say that it’s not good for her health? And how do you know that they contain any allergenic ingredients?”
Ian smiled and said unapologetically, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m the personal assistant that Miss Natalie Quinn hired for Mrs. Harding. I’ll be in charge of her day-to-day affairs from now on.”
When Lola heard that Ian was also Laney’s personal assistant, she felt like she had been slighted.
She became so infuriated that her face almost turned red. She turned around and spoke to Laney in a very direct tone. “Mrs. Harding, Mr. Leo Harding has already arranged for me to be your personal assistant. Why did you hire another one without his permission? Do you still hold him in high esteem? Do you hold the entire Harding family in high esteem?”
Although Lola had put up a bad attitude earlier, she still showed respect to Laney outwardly. But now she’d be bold enough to throw a series of questions at Laney, which made Laney get very angry, despite her good temper. Just when Laney was about to refute Lola’s allegations, Ian stepped in.
“Don’t you understand why Mrs. Harding needs a new assistant? It’s because you are not qualified for the job,” Ian said coldly. It was evident that he also disliked Lola’s brazen attitude.
The most important duty of a personal assistant was to treat their employer with respect while properly managing their day-to- day activities, and Lola seemed to have failed in this duty.
“What?” Her eyes widened in disbelief. Ian then ruthlessly pointed out Lola’s defects, “First, as Mrs. Harding’s personal assistant, you didn’t tell her about your temporary leave. What if something had happened to her while you were away?”
Lola bit her l*p and stood speechless. Ian continued, “Secondly, you recklessly accepted people’s food gifts without checking their ingredients first. The worst thing that a pregnant woman can experience is an allergic reaction. If anything were to happen, would you be able to take responsibility for it? Thirdly, emotional fluctuation within a pregnant woman will not only affect her body, but also the baby in her belly. Yet you quarreled with her and made her upset.”
After a long pause, Ian’s tone became even colder. “As an assistant, you have completely failed in your duties.”
Ready for more Chapters please
Interesting book