Chapter 43: Love-Hate Relationship
"Mr. Hans... Nancy was the one who filled up the bathtub, and she was also the one who called the ambulance. We... we don't know what happened, we just follow what she said." The aroma lamp in the bathroom was still on, giving off a dim light.
Hans took a deep breath and felt something was wrong.
"Who turned on the aroma lamp?"
The two old servants looked at each other, and one of them trembled and lowered her head. "It's Daisy..."
"Where is she?"
"She, she said something happened at home two days ago and asked for leave to go home."
In other words, the aroma lamp had been in Jennifer's bathroom for a long time.
There was nothing wrong with the aroma lamp, it was no different from the ones in other bathrooms in the villa. The only difference was the mixture of essential oil inside the lamp.
The moment Hans took a sniff, he knew that it was the Lavender essential oil that his friend brought back from abroad to treat his insomnia. After a while, the doctor said that it was too potent and it could be dangerous, so he casually asked the servant to throw it out. Who knew that they changed the normal essential oil in the bathroom without him knowing.
Late at night, outside the hospital ward nearest to the villa.
"Daisy's family was poor, so she always secretly took Miss Jennifer's things to sell. Usually, she would take some branded shopping bags. A shopping bag can sell for more than 100 dollars. I caught her twice, but she said these things were just trash for Miss Jennifer, so she was just helping her to dispose of it. Later, she would take some small things like the makeups that Miss Jennifer bought... Miss Jennifer was very easy-going, I reminded her a few times but she didn't take it seriously..."
Hans's face darkened.
Daisy was definitely the one who changed the essential oil.
These servants, thinking they could bully Jennifer just because he wasn't nice to her. He could turn a blind eye to them stealing things from her room, but this time they actually went after things she used frequently.
Everything was of high quality in Hans's villa. A bottle of essential oil could easily be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Who knew that some servants would be brave enough to swap things out.
"Sir, I'm not sure if Daisy really did this. She has been home for several days. I'd better ask her when she comes to work tomorrow..."
"There's no need for that. When you go back, just tell all the servants that you guys don't have to come in for work anymore after tonight."
Nancy's face froze and she stuttered incoherently, "Sir... we, we didn't do anything..."
Hans did not listen to her explanation, nor did he care that her eyes were filled with tears. He went straight into the ward and shut her outside the door.
The night wind was blowing, but it might not be colder than people's hearts.
Sometimes, inaction was also a crime, at least it was the case for Hans. If he could be heartless to Jennifer who had lived with him for ten years, of course he could do it to the servants who were not related to him.
In the ward, the air conditioner was on and the temperature was pleasant.
In the single ward, Jennifer who was on the bed was frowning as if she was having a nightmare. Her whole face was twisted together.
She was choking on the water, luckily she was found just in time. Any later, she might not have made it. She was fine now, but the doctor was worried about a respiratory tract infection, so she had to stay for a night for observation.
He pulled over a chair from the side and stared at Jennifer lividly, not knowing if she was unconscious or asleep.
Ever since he heard what the doctor had to say, his face gradually gloomed.
Jennifer was really good at getting into trouble. She could drown just by taking a bath. She was so fragile. Even if she left him, there were still many dangerous things waiting for her in the outside world. He suddenly remembered that morning when she was eating in his car, she was choking, and her whole face turned red. If he had not given her water, she might have choked to death. Where did she get that from? Her mother, Stephanie was so smart, it seemed unlikely she could give birth to such a stupid daughter. Did she get it from her father who died young? Hans even suspected that Stephanie was so smart, she could see into the future. If her ex-husband didn't die early, she would never have married into the Miller's family. When he realized that he had thought too much, it had been a long time. Jennifer seemed to be tossing and turning. She turned over with her back to Hans.
He immediately gathered his thoughts and his face turned cold.
She was avoiding him even in her dream. Didn't she say she love him? She was exactly a fake woman.
As he stared at her, he couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild. In the past ten years, he had been unable to explain his feelings for Jennifer, even to himself. After the death of Stephanie and Thomas in a car accident, the old Mrs. Miller was really upset and she took Jennifer to the family house as a companion.
But after all, Jennifer was still not a member of the Miller's family. There were many servants gossiping about her. Without Stephanie and Thomas to back her up, some gossip got even more unscrupulous, especially the wives of Thomas's old business partners. Hans was not a insensitive person so they tried to get close to the old Mrs. Miller by visiting her. It was inevitable that they would be tempted to use Jennifer when they saw her.
Firstly, they would praise Jennifer exaggeratedly. Then, they would try to figure out Jennifer's relationship with the Miller's family based on what Mrs. Miller said. They all sounded like they wanted to use Jennifer to get closer to the Miller's family.
However, when they knew that Jennifer was just Thomas's stepdaughter, their attitude immediately changed drastically. More often than not, the words that came out of their mouths would change subtly. "My son" became "my nephew" and "my brother-in-law" became a distant nephew who studied abroad.
They were still nice young men, but the meaning had changed.
They looked down on Jennifer after all.
This was also one of the reasons why the old Mrs. Miller was eager to find a good husband for her. After all, she couldn't let the Miller's family become a burden to Jennifer. Stephanie had always tried her best to treat the old Mrs. Miller well, unlike Alice who was cold and indifferent. Stephanie was indeed a good daughter-in-law, and the old Mrs. Miller took pity on the girl she left behind.
Ever since then, Jennifer always felt a little uneasy at the family house so Hans found an excuse to take her out of the family house and let her stay in the house where Stephanie and Thomas used to live. It was a little empty, so Hans also asked if she needed a nanny, but she refused.
"How often will you come to see me?" This was the first question she asked when she moved out.
Hans frowned. "The company is very busy. Maybe once a week, or once a month. I'm not sure."
Thomas was in his prime when he suddenly passed away, and the company suddenly fell into Hans's hands. Although he had honed himself in the position of deputy director for many years, in the eyes of the board of directors, he was still an ignorant young man. There were many people who wanted to seize power, publicly and privately.
There were competitors on the outside and restless traitors on the inside. Hans was under attack on both sides at that time and he really had no time for Jennifer.
So when she asked him this question, he was not trying to dodge the question.‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒